Notes
Outline
Rediscovering Lost Species
George E. Schatz
Sylvie Andriambololonera
Jeannie Randriampionona
and Porter P. Lowry II
Missouri Botanical Garden
Global Strategy for Plant Conservation
(i) A widely accessible working list of known plant species, as a step towards a complete world flora;
(ii) A preliminary assessment of the conservation status of all known plant species, at national, regional and international levels;
(vii) 60 per cent of the world's threatened species conserved in situ
Natural History Collections
Natural History Collections “Rarity”
Type or single locality only (= single “subpopulation” = single grid cell) or few collections/localities (e.g., 5 or fewer)
Age of collection(s)
Caveats: Taxonomic and collection artifacts
Takhtajania perrieri (Winteraceae)
Revisiting the “What”
Malagasy Endemic Plant Families:
Revised Taxonomic Frameworks
                                        #      Newly          Newly       Placed Into
            Species   Recognized    Described   Synonymy
Asteropeiaceae     8          3   2         -
Didymelaceae                    2 (-3)         (1)               (1)         -
Kaliphoraceae     1          -                  -         -
Melanophyllaceae     6                1                 1                 4
Physenaceae     2                -                  -                  -
Sarcolaenaceae ca. 65         27 (-2)       24 (-2)          -
Sphaerosepalaceae    18          2   -                  -
Total ca.103         36 (35%) 30 (29%)     4
Malagasy Endemic Plant Families:
Revised Taxonomic Frameworks
                                        #      Newly          Newly       Placed Into
            Species   Recognized    Described   Synonymy
Asteropeiaceae     8          3   2         -
Didymelaceae                    2 (-3)         (1)               (1)         -
Kaliphoraceae     1          -                  -         -
Melanophyllaceae     6                1                 1                 4
Physenaceae     2                -                  -                  -
Sarcolaenaceae ca. 65         27 (-2)       24 (-2)          -
Sphaerosepalaceae    18          2   -                  -
Total ca.103         36 (35%) 30 (29%)     4
Melanophylla (Melanophyllaceae)
Keraudren (1958) Schatz et al. (1998)
    M. alnifolia         M. alnifolia
    M. aucubifolia   M. capuronii
    M. capuronii         M. aucubifolia
    M. crenata             M. humbertiana
    M. humbertiana         M. humblotii
    M. humblotii     M. crenata
    M. longipetala     M. longipetala
    M. madagascariensis     M. madagascariensis
    M. perrieri     M. modestei sp. nov.
    M. perrieri
New or recircumscribed Melanophylla species
Reattributing the “Where”
Primary Occurrence Data
Asteropeia densiflora (Asteropeiaceae)
Asteropeia densiflora (Asteropeiaceae)
Asteropeia densiflora (Asteropeiaceae)
Species Richness
Species Richness
Species Richness
Species Richness
Species Richness
Rarity (inverse
range-size)
Rarity (inverse
range-size)
Distribution Profile
One Cell (Irreplaceable) Species
One Cell (Irreplaceable) Species
Schizolaena tampoketsana (Sarcolaenaceae)
Schizolaena tampoketsana (Sarcolaenaceae)
One and Two Cell Species
One, Two, and Three Cell Species
One, Two, Three, and Four
Cell Species
Analysis of Priority Areas for
 Plant Conservation
100% Representation (+ Multiple Representation?)
Irreplaceability
Complementarity by range size rarity and richness
Existing Protected Areas network
The 24 species not currently
represented in the Protected
Areas network (reordered by
inverse range-size rarity)
The 24 species not currently
represented in the Protected
Areas network (reordered by
inverse range-size rarity)
Eastern Littoral Forest
Ibity and Itremo Massifs
Ibity/Itremo Endemics
Far North Endemics
Not in Protected Areas
Far North Endemics
Not in Protected Areas
Relative Conservation “Value” based upon Natural History Collections
What is the most efficient and effective strategy to meet GSPC targets?
Identify the “rarest” species residing the world’s 3,000 herbaria
Reevaluate their existing taxonomic framework
Geo-reference and map them
Rediscover those that are “lost”
Identify irreplaceable areas and area-sets to achieve maximum in situ conservation