Phyllanthus gladiatus (Phyllanthus gladiatus)

Mohamed bin Zayed Species project number 210528056

Conservation of Phyllanthus gladiatus, an exclusive and critically endangered species from Brazil

Phyllanthus gladiatus belongs to a small group of 12 species that present a very rare morphological adaptation in wetland plants: the formation of phylloclades. The target species had its original known distribution for the states of Sergipe, Bahia and Espírito Santo, states on the Brazilian coast with the Atlantic Forest biome as the predominant formation. However, with the increase in housing pressure and reduction of habitat, P. gladiatus has not been collected in Espírito Santo and Bahia for 30 years. This work aims to carry out collections and searches in these two states, especially in areas with a low collection rate, in addition to expanding the areas studied in Sergipe. Therefore, this work aims to produce solid and robust data about the currently existing populations of this species, which will provide even more bases for the conservation of this endemic and threatened species. This will be achieved by performing fieldwork in Bahia, Espírito Santo and Sergipe to search for new populations, conducting studies to understand its morphological and phylogenetic diversity, characterizing its importance as food resources for native fauna, and performing an updated assessment of the extinction risk based on the new data to be obtained in this project.