Gaps and challenges in the knowledge of algal biodiversity in Paraguay
2020
Rosset, Vitória Kalana | Bartozek, Elaine Cristina Rodrigues | Lambrecht, Richard Wilander | Auricchio, Marina Ramos | Dos Santos, Melissa | Peres, Cleto Kaveski
Tropical environments comprise some of the largest megadiverse centres on earth, and yet, even in the face of rapid biodiversity loss, a lack of knowledge of such areas prevails today. Paraguay is a landlocked, tropical country, which still holds enormous forested areas despite intense degradation. The country shows enormous potential algal biodiversity. We searched published records of algal species within Paraguay, checked their taxonomic status, and provided their locations, resulting in a thorough list of the algae known to date in Paraguay. Only 33 articles were published between 1897 and 2020. From the early 20ᵗʰ century and until the late 1970s, there were few publications on algae, and most studies were conducted within the last 7 years. We compiled records of 893 species from 54 orders and 10 phyla. Only freshwater algal records were found; none were terrestrial or from brackish lagoons. Most species belong to Charophyta, Chlorophyta, and Bacillariophyta. The Lower Paraguay basin showed the highest number of records, i.e. 564 species, 309 not found in any other basin in Paraguay. The highest number of algal records are from the Humid Chaco ecoregion, with 610 species, 343 of which did not occur in any other ecoregion of the country. Our results indicate that Paraguay requires extensive research and human resource training programs in phycology. Because of its threatened status, we consider the Dry Chaco to be the most important area where research should be intensified.
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