Revival of Biodiversity: Century-Old Tropical Plants Unearthed Once More

In a collective endeavor involving botanists from Germany, Ecuador, Peru, and Costa Rica, in conjunction with non-professional plant enthusiasts, plants that were hidden in the tropical Andes and that have been missing from scientific understanding for as long as a century have been found once again. Credit goes to P. Gonzáles for the discovery of Nasa hastata.

Utilizing the citizen science platform iNaturalist, the botanists and plant aficionados have unearthed species of plants that were long absent in the tropical Andes. This effort has highlighted hidden biodiversity and underlined the vital role botany plays in conservational initiatives.

The tropical Andes conceal plants that were once identified and subsequently neglected; species about which very little was known. Now, owing to the concerted actions of botanists from countries including Germany, Ecuador, Peru, and Costa Rica, as well as hobbyist plant lovers, these plants have been unearthed once more, some after a period exceeding 100 years. This research was detailed in PhytoKeys, an open-access scientific journal.

The plants that have been found again belong to Nasa, a genus within the Blazing Star family (Loasaceae), a group that has historically troubled scientists due to its fragile yet sharply stinging leaves, making collection a challenge. Many of these plants are rare, highly endemic, and present only for brief periods, thus rendering their inclusion in a herbarium collection improbable.

Technology’s Role in Re-discovering Plants

Thanks to global networking and the expanding use of freely available data repositories, today’s scientists have a wealth of biodiversity information at their fingertips, not restricted to herbariums alone. Examples include geo-referenced occurrence records and photographs. iNaturalist, where users can post such records, has become an essential resource for biodiversity experts and was crucial in re-finding these Andean plants.

Credit: A. A. Wong Sato for the image of Nasa colanii’s flowering branch.

Notable Rediscoveries

The species Nasa colanii, last recorded in 1978 until a 2019 photograph emerged, grows in an extremely inaccessible area, in a cloud forest in Peru’s Cordillera de Colán National Sanctuary, at an elevation of 2,605 meters (8,550 feet).

Nasa ferox, unreported for nearly 130 years, was confirmed to still exist in 2022 through uploaded photos. It was known for centuries but was scientifically described only in 2000. Its absence from reports, considering its location near the Ecuadorian city of Cuenca and a major road, was particularly astonishing, especially given the frequent botanical expeditions in the area. The species was found in sheltered locations like rock crevices or at the base of shrubs, with only about ten fertile plants discovered.

Credit: E. Segovia for the image of Nasa ferox’s flower.

Nasa humboldtiana subspecies humboldtiana was rediscovered after 162 years in a conserved fragment of montane Andean forest in Ecuador’s Chimborazo province.

The most thrilling discoveries involved species believed to be extinct in the wild, such as N. hastata and N. solaria, both from Peru’s Department of Lima. Recently, both species were found in the region, assisted by iNaturalist, despite prior unsuccessful attempts to locate them.

Credits: P. Gonzáles for the images of Nasa solaria and Nasa hastata.

Contributions to Botany and Prospects for the Future

iNaturalist has also disclosed valuable information on another species, Nasa ramirezii, offering the first images of living plants from Ecuador and data on its precise location.

Tilo Henning of the Leibniz Center for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF) emphasizes that these findings remind us that even in well-studied regions, overlooked and unexplored diversity exists. Botanists’ role in documenting this biodiversity is crucial for conservation.

The researchers express hope that the expanding database will lead to more professionals and the public contributing to it, helping uncover more undescribed or ‘long lost’ taxa. They highlight the rediscoveries of Nasa ferox after 130 years and Nasa hastata after 100 years, both ‘found’ on iNaturalist, as prime examples.

The study, titled “When the absence of evidence is not the evidence of absence: Nasa (Loasaceae) rediscoveries from Peru and Ecuador, and the contribution of community science networks” was authored by Tilo Henning, Rafael Acuña-Castillo, Xavier Cornejo, Paúl Gonzáles, Edgar Segovia, Akira Armando Wong Sato, and Maximilian Weigend, and published on 30 June 2023 in PhytoKeys.
DOI: 10.3897/phytokeys.229.100082

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More about rediscovery

• PhytoKeys Journal Article
• iNaturalist Citizen Science Platform
• Leibniz Center for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF)