RESEARCH
The Alcantara Lab members study plant ecology and evolution from an integrative perspective, focusing especially on Neotropical plants able to survive on extreme environmental conditions. Our research group, the PLENTBio, also includes active collaborators from other institutions and focuses on PLant Evolution & NeoTropical Biogeography.
Photos by ©SuzanaAlcantara unless stated otherwise.
DIVERSIFICATION IN THE "CAMPOS RUPESTRES"
Our main projects focus on macroevolution and ecology of the huge plant diversity in the “campos rupestres” (literally, rocky fields). This habitat is marked by outcrops & poor sand soils, seasonal climates and open vegetation. Our main group of study is the monocot family Velloziaceae, a well-known taxonomic nightmare, and one of the ecological dominant elements of this flora. Recently, we elucidated the major macroevolutionary patterns of this group (here). We also collaborated with Thaís Vasconcelos & a great team to detect the prevalent patterns of diversification in several lineages diverse in the "campos rupestres" (here). We are now focusing on test more specific hypotheses concerning species diversification and adaptive evolution in Velloziaceae, with several collaborators (please, get in touch if you want to discuss about it). These projects have been supported by FAPESP (from 2010 to 2014) and by the Instituto Serrapilheira (2018).
FUNCTIONAL STRATEGIES IN VELLOZIACEAE
This plant family has the largest number of resurrection plant species within the vascular plants. We showed that some species can keep their metabolism during extended dry seasons (here). The Master thesis of Patricia Padilha has just added another piece in this puzzle, elucidating the evolution of climatic niche in Vellozia (manuscript in prep.) Paula Larocca investigated the diversification of morphofunctional traits (here). P.P & P.L. were supported by CAPES fellowships during their Master courses at PPGFAP. We are collaborating with several colleagues in these studies, especially Drs. Fernanda T. Brum-UFPR in the modeling approach, Rafael S. Oliveira-UNICAMP & Grazielle S. Teodoro-UFPA in the ecophysiological investigation (check here for a revision on ecophysiology of "campos rupestres" in general).
FLORAL EVOLUTION AND DIVERSIFICATION OF TRIMEZIEAE
Iridaceae is a monocot family notable by species floral display, being largely used as ornamentals. Within Iridaceae, the tribe Trimezieae is one of the diverse monocot lineages in the "campos rupestres." We investigated the floral evolution in Trimezieae by combining field experiments that elucidate the functional aspects of floral traits and phylogenetic comparative analyses (here). We have also obtained RAD-seq markers for species of Trimezieae from the "campos rupestres" in order to elucidate the complex phylogenetic patterns found in the clade. This research is been conducted by the master student Victor Santibañez and counts with the collaboration of Dr. Juliana Lovo, an expert in this group of plants, with past support by FAPESP and CNPq/Universal grants awarded to Dr. Lovo and CAPES fellowship to V. Santibañez.
EVOLUTION OF MUTUALISMS AND DEFENSE TRAITS IN CHAMAECRISTA
This project is lead by Dr. Anselmo Nogueira-UFABC and includes several collaborators from Brazil and abroad, as also the Master student Luana Prochazka, co-advised by Dr. Alcantara. The genus Chamaecrista is a lineage of Fabaceae with recent radiations in the "campos rupestres," as also association with rhizobia mediated by root nodules, interactions with ants mediated by extrafloral nectaries, and with bees mediated by floral features. In this study, we aim to describe the evolutionary patterns of such morphological and ecological traits as a path to test predictions derived from hypotheses concerning these mutualistic interactions. Dr. Nogueira has been awarded with CNPq/Universal and Young Research FAPESP grants for this project.
BIOGEOGRAPHY AND COMMUNITY COMPOSITION OF THE “RESTINGA" FLORA
The vegetation associated with coastal dunes (i.e., restingas) is particularly under threat of anthropogenic changes. Several piece of evidence highlight the dynamic aspects of this area. In this project, the master students Taise Gonçalves and Mauricio Velho are investigating the phylogenetic structure of the plant communities and the origin of the lineages inhabiting these habitats across the coast of the SC state, respectively. Both are been supported by CAPES fellowships. We will also carry out analyses concerning the evolution of specific/generalist lineages in the restinga flora, as well as the putative adaptive pressures driven it.
FLORISTIC AND BIOGEOGRAPHY OF GRASSLANDS HABITATS
This project is a joint effort with the group of Dr. Rafael Trevisan (also from the Dept. de Botânica-UFSC) in order to map and investigate the origins of open areas from austral and central Brazil. We are currently working on funding support and would welcome graduate students interested in develop their researches on these topics.
ANATOMICAL EVOLUTION IN MALPIGHIACEAE
This project is lead by Dr. Marcelo Pace-UNAM, and also includes Drs. Veronica Angyalossy-USP and André Amorim-UESC/CEPEC herbarium. Malpighiaceae is a diverse Pantropical family that varies from herbs to lianas or trees, with lianas showing diverse stem anatomies. The goals of this project are to understand the processes involved in the development and evolution of the stem diversity in Malpighiaceae. Aspects of secondary phloem and xylem will also be evaluated.
EPIPHYTES FROM THE ATLANTIC RAINFOREST
We are currently collaborating with Dr. Flavio Nunes Ramos (UNIFAL-MG) and his students in the phylogenetic approaches concerning the huge database compiled by his team about the distribution of epiphytes from the Atlantic rainforest - check it here. Suzana’s interests in epiphytic orchids started during her undergrad thesis study (here.)
PAST PROJECTS
Floral evolution and community structure in Bignonieae
Suzana’s PhD, advised by Dr. Lucia Lohmann-USP, focused on the investigation of the patterns of floral traits evolution and on the test of hypotheses concerning putative shifts among pollinator syndromes in the tribe Bignonieae (here, here and here.) On the community level, we test the Gentry’s hypothesis that Bignonieae assemblages are limited by pollinator saturation - here. During the PhD, she advised María Natalia Umaña-Medina in her undergrad thesis concerning the floral biology of Bignonia corymbosa (here) and collaborate with other grad students at Dr. Lohmann’s team - here and here. Suzana was supported by a FAPESP PhD fellowship, and awarded with SSE, SBG, and CCSD-Missouri Botanical Garden grants during her PhD.
Evolution and Biogeography of Bombacoideae
Suzana gladly collaborated with Drs. Jefferson Carvalho-Sobrinho & Alexander Zyzka (plus a great team) in this project. Bombacoideae (Malvaceae) is a clade of deciduous trees with dominance in many forests, especially in the Neotropics; most emblematic ones known as baobabs, ceibas and kapok trees ("barrigudas" and "paineiras" in Portuguese.) In one of the Jeff’s PhD results, we were able to elucidate phylogenetic relationships in this tribe, as well as to propose a new classification based on multi locus phylogeny combined with the ancestral state reconstruction of several morphological traits (here.) More recently, Alex had led a manuscript were we investigated the frequency of biome shifts (i.e., evergreen versus seasonally dry biomes) along the evolution of Bombacoideae (here.)
FIC-Flora Ilustrada Catarinense
The FIC is one of the most important regional floristic inventories carried out in Brazil. It had been originally led by P. Raulino Reitz and has been discontinued until recently. In this project, coordinated by Dr. Pedro Fiaschi-UFSC and supported by a FAPESC grant, several plant families that had not been approached in the original FIC edition are being revisited, in order to update the botanical knowledge about the flora of Santa Catarina. In our group, the family Violaceae and the genus Hyppeastrum (Amaryllidaceae) were focus of the undergrad thesis’s studies carried out by Jessica S. Mancio and Mariana A. Borgert, respectively, with collaboration of Luciana Pereira da Silva and Dr. Juliana de Paula-Souza.