Poster

         Ecology

MyrteaeFruits: a dataset of fleshy fruited species from Neotropical Myrtaceae

Presenting Author
Hercilia Cunha
Description
Myrtaceae is one of the richest plant families in the Neotropics, where it is used as a resource by both invertebrate and vertebrate groups. Datasets with information on characters of the species are essential to help in this understanding of the diversification of lineages and their evolutionary success. Some studies point out that flower morphology is very homogeneous in the group and not informative about the diversification of these species. However, more variable characters, such as fruit and seed morphology, still need to be explored. To fill this knowledge gap, we reviewed the scientific literature by compiling information on fruit and seed length and diameter, seed number, and fruit color for species of Myrtaceae native to the Neotropics. We added to this database taxonomic information (subtribe and infrageneric sections already described for the major genera Eugenia and Myrcia) that may broaden the potential use of these data in the context of macroecological analyses. The database has data published from 1857 to 2021. A total of 153 references were consulted, including 127 scientific articles, 10 books, 14 theses, and two virtual databases. The resulting database includes information for 683 Neotropical species belonging to 26 genera and 8 subtribes. This database of color and morphology of fruits and seeds of Myrtaceae provides information for analysis of evolutionary patterns that will be useful for understanding the diversification success of distinct clades and will serve as a basis for future studies aim to better understand the ecological strategies of this diverse family. Furthermore, this information can be used in studies of ecological interactions with the disperser fauna and also in studies that explore phenological patterns of fruiting and seed germination.