Plants and trees in the Guiana Shield Setting the scene of the Workshop Introduction by Dominiek Plouvier, Consultant

Setting the scene I. Definition of the Guiana Shield, Amazon biome, Neotropics II. The Kingdom of Plants: Taxonomic overview Evolution of plants and orders/families, number of plants wordwide and region III. Trees in the Guiana Shield IV. Objectives of the workshop

I. Guiana Shield Large part of the Amazon biome (not Amazon bassin) including parts of Brazil, Venezuela, Colombia and the Guianas – see GSF website 40% of the Amazon biome, some 250 million hectares Most intact stretch of tropical forest worldwide Pre-cambrium plate, 1,8 billion years old

Guiana Shield, Guianas, Plateaux des Guianes ONFI REDD+ program Guianas : Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana and Amapa ….only % of the Amazon biome: +/- 65 Million hectares Flora of the Guianas : only the 3 Guianas Checklist of the Plants of the Guiana Shield by Funk et alii, 2007, Smithsonian: only Guianas and the 3 provinces of Venezuelan Amazon

II. Kingdom : Plantae Bryophytae, Pteridophytae, Spermatophytae (some Floras treat also algae, fungi, lichens) Trees in Spermatophytae or Seed Plants : – Gymnospermae = Conifers and others – Angiospermae = Flowering Plants Dicotyledonae : Families Fabaceae, Asteraceae, Rubiaceae, Rosaceae, Apocynaceae Monocotyledonae : Families Arecaceae, Poaceae, Cyperaceae, Orchidaceae, Bromeliaceae

Evolution of plants Siluur : 350 million yrs ago…….. First Pteridophytes or ferns Carboon –Trias : Gymnosperms, later conifers Jura – Cretaceaous : 140 million yrs ago Angiosperms 90% of plants now anno 2015 ….not that old APG III – Angiosperm Phylogeny Group……revise taxonomy based on phylogeny

Total numbers of land plants worldwide Bryophytes : mosses, etc…. +/-20,000 species Pteridophytes : ferns, etc… +/-12,000 species Seed plants between ,000 species – Conifers and alikes : a mere 1000 species – Angiosperms : >90% of total land plants Dicots : +/- 200,000 species Monocots : +/- 50,000 species

Most important plant families worldwide Asteraceae or Compositae (daisy family): 22,750 sp; Asteraceae Orchidaceae (orchid family): 21,950; Orchidaceae Fabaceae or Leguminosae (bean family): 19,400; Fabaceae Rubiaceae (coffee family): 13,150; Rubiaceae Poaceae or Gramineae (grass family): 10,035; Poaceae Lamiaceae or Labiatae (mint family): 7,175; Lamiaceae Euphorbiaceae (spurge family): 5,735; Euphorbiaceae Melastomataceae (melastome family): 5,005; Melastomataceae Myrtaceae (myrtle family): 4,625; Myrtaceae Apocynaceae (dogbane family): 4,555; Apocynaceae

How many plant species in the GS Tropical America home to 30% of all flowering plant species (Angiosperms): +/- 80,000 sp Between 10,000 and 20,000 plant species in the Guianas and Amapa, of which 40% endemic to the region Trees (+/ species) maximum 25% of all plants in the Guianas

III. Trees……..? Trees, shrubs, climbers, vines, herbs, grasses, palms, epifytes, parasites, stranglers, aquatic plants : many plant forms A tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, supporting branches and leaves in most species.perennialplanttrunk A tree is a woody plant with secondary growth, through annual growth through cambium and with lignin in the cellswoodysecondary growth Palms, bananas, bamboos, papaya- no trees ss Trees occur in different plant families

Oldest, tallest, largest Oldest tree in the world : Pinus sp in USA, some 4750 years old. Old trees in the Amazon/Guianas, years maximum Highest tree in the world : 82 metres, Seqouia tree in California. High trees in the Guianas: metres, some individuals up to metres Biggest tree : Sequoia, more than 10 metres diameter. Big trees in Guianas generally not more than 2 meteres above butresses. Exemples : Ceiba, Couratari, Cedrelinga, Parkia sp., etc.

Trees in the Guianas Lots of different species of trees per hectare- heterogenous forest Trees not very tall, not very big Large number of heavy timber trees (more than 700kg/M3) in comparison to tropical forests in Asia and Africa, or even worse, temperate or boreal forests Oak (700kg/M3), Pine ( kg/M3)

Important trees Guianas Important families, genera, and species See next presentations….

IV. Objectives of the workshop Generate a clear overview of existing resources and capacities for recognizing and collecting data on tree species in the Guiana Shield region (Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana, Amapá). Identify knowledge gaps and suggest tools and activities that would be useful for improving tree species identification and reporting in the Guiana Shield. Create a network of experts on tree species in the Guiana Shield and bring them together to share knowledge and explore possible future collaboration beyond the project's scope and lifetime

Results sofar (in the folder) Draft consultant report with state of the art knowledge in 4 Territories (to be improved) Draft list of literature and websites important for tree identification in the Guiana Shield Draft list of all trees (accepted Latin names) in the 4 Territories Preparation of the Tonka workshop materials, logistics, etc.

THANK YOU !!!!