Abstract Detail

Floristics & Taxonomy

Tyrrell, Christopher [1], Ruiz-Sanchez, Eduardo [2], Londono, Ximena [3], Oliveira, Reyjane P. [4], Clark, Lynn [5].

How many Neotropical woody bamboos are there?

Bamboos can be found in the Nearctic, Palearctic, Afrotropical, Indomalayan, Australasian and Neotropical realms. The lignifed species native to the Neotropics form a well supported clade and are colloquially referred to as the Neotropical woody bamboos (NWB). The NWB clade comprises three subtribes: Arthrostylidiinae, Chusqueinae, and Guaduinae. The species are found at sea level to over 4,000 m in elevation and distributed from northern Mexico and the West Indies down through South America to central Argentina. There has been an explosion of newly described NWB species over the past 20 years and new taxa have brought changes to our understanding of bamboo classification and distribution. How many Neotropical woody bamboo species are there? We review the rates of NWB species and genera descriptions and present a biogeographic analysis. Since 2000, NWB species richness has increased 30% (>100 new species). Highlights from these new taxa include the creation of five new genera, discovery of the most drought tolerant bamboo, and expansion of the Guaduinae's range into the West Indies. The rate of species discovery is steeply increasing suggesting many new taxa yet to be discovered.

1 - Milwaukee Public Museum, 800 W Wells St, Milwaukee, WI, 53233, United States
2 -
3 - Sociedad Colombiana del Bambú, Quindío, Colombia
4 - Universidade Estadual de Feira de Santana, Departamento de Ciências Biológicas, Bahia, Brazil
5 - Iowa State University, Department Of Ecology, Evolution, And Organismal Biology, 251 Bessey Hall, 2200 Osborn Dr., Ames, IA, 50011, United States

Keywords:
bamboo
Taxonomy 
Diversity
species distributions.

Presentation Type: Poster
Number: PFT007
Abstract ID:461
Candidate for Awards:None