After 12 years of mystery, scientists identify a new species of plant and register an unprecedented genus in Brazil Paulo Gonella A plant with red flowers found in a mountainous region in eastern Minas Gerais has intrigued scientists for more than a decade. Collected for the first time in 2013, it resisted all attempts at identification until genetic analyzes revealed its true origin: it was a new species for science and the first record, in Brazil, of the Oplonia plant genus. Named Oplonia doceana, the plant occurs exclusively in the rocky fields of Serra do Padre Ângelo, between the municipalities of Conselheiro Pena, Alvarenga and Santa Rita do Itueto, in the middle Rio Doce region. The discovery was published in the scientific journal Plant Systematics and Evolution and expands the known distribution of the genus in South America. "Accidental" discovery According to botanist Paulo Gonella, researcher at the National Institute of the Atlantic Forest (INMA) and main author of the study, the story began during an expedition in search of another botanical rarity in the region. "I was looking for Drosera magnifica, a giant carnivorous plant discovered in Serra do Padre Ângelo. During the expedition, I saw a bush with red flowers that caught my attention", he says. After 12 years of mystery, scientists identify a new species of plant and register a new genus in Brazil Paulo Gonella The sample was taken to the laboratory, but neither the scientific literature nor experts from the botanical family to which the plant belongs were able to determine its identity. “The mystery was only solved when we sequenced part of the DNA to understand its evolutionary history and discovered that the plant belonged to the genus Oplonia, which until then had no record in Brazil”, explains the researcher. Relative thousands of kilometers away Analyzes revealed that the closest known species of the genus is Oplonia jujuyensis, found in Argentina and Bolivia. The discovery raises the question of how a genus previously known only in other countries on the continent also came to occur in Brazil and how these plants could have been separated by thousands of kilometers. After 12 years of mystery, scientists identify new species of plant and record unprecedented genus in Brazil Paulo Gonella "During glacial periods, when global temperatures were lower, the continent probably had open and grassland areas that were much more connected than today. This may have allowed the migration of these species between the Andes and eastern Brazil", says Gonella. Over time and natural climate changes, the expansion of the Atlantic Forest would have isolated some of these lineages in specific regions, as occurred with the recently discovered Oplonia doceana. Mountain as a storehouse of discoveries The new species is just one of dozens of organisms recently discovered in Serra do Padre Ângelo and in neighboring mountains of the middle Rio Doce. In recent years, more than 40 species of plants have been described in the region, in addition to several insects and other animals. Many of them are endemic to these mountains, that is, they only occur in this location. For the botanist, part of this wealth is linked to the rupestrian fields themselves, one of the most biodiverse ecosystems in the country. “Many people associate great biodiversity only with forests, but rock fields have a huge variety of species due to the complexity of the relief and the diversity of these micro-habitats”, he explains. Another important factor is that the region remained practically unknown to science until just over a decade ago. “When we started to study the area, we realized that there were many microendemic species, that is, they only exist in very specific locations and nowhere else in the world”, he details. Endangered plant species Despite the discovery, the situation of the new species worries researchers. Oplonia doceana was classified as "Endangered" according to the criteria of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). See what's highlighted in g1:
After 12 years of mystery, scientists identify unprecedented plant in Brazil
After 12 years of mystery, scientists identify a new species of plant and register an unprecedented genus in Brazil Paulo Gonella A plant with red flowers found in a mountainous region in eastern Minas Gerais has...
The plant has a very restricted distribution and occurs only in preserved areas of campo rupestre. Scientists still don't know exactly how many individuals there are in nature. "We don't have a precise count because it is a difficult shrub to identify when it is not in flower. What we know is that its distribution is quite limited", says Paulo. Currently, only one known population occurs within a conservation unit, the Sete Salões State Park. The rest are exposed to various threats. Among the main risks are forest fires, which favor the advancement of invasive species, such as fatgrass, an African grass that competes with native vegetation. These plants end up shading the soil and "suffocating" local species. Homage to Rio Doce The name of the species refers to the Rio Doce basin, where all known populations have been recorded. According to Paulo, the choice seeks to highlight a region often remembered for its environmental impacts, but which continues to reveal surprising biodiversity. The discovery shows that, even in one of the most biodiverse countries on the planet, there are still unknown species awaiting scientific description. "This plant remained a mystery for 12 years. It is a reminder that there is still much to discover and many reasons to conserve these mountains before it is too late", he concludes. *Under the supervision of Rodrigo Peronti.
