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- Species Diversity and Endemicity in the Angolan Leguminosae FloraPublication . Catarino, Silvia; Goyder, David; Darbyshire, Iain; Costa, Esperança; Figueira, Rui; Duarte, Maria Cristina; Romeiras, Maria ManuelAngola has a great diversity of species and ecosystems and a high level of endemism. However, knowledge of the native flora remains very incomplete and outdated. Leguminosae is the largest family in the country, including many species which are of local or more regional economic importance. Based on an extensive review of bibliographic sources, natural history collections, and online databases, the checklist of Angolan Leguminosae plants was updated, including data on their native distribution, conservation status, and principal uses. The endemic taxa were the subject of additional investigation, including the main habitat, the number of collections preserved in herbaria, and the locality of the first collection. We identified 953 Leguminosae taxa occurring in Angola, of which 165 are endemic to the country. Among the 180 genera found, Crotalaria (136) and Indigofera (96) have the highest number of taxa. Almost half of the studied species have important applications, mainly in traditional medicine (385), forage (267), timber (188), and food (120). Nevertheless, only 27.7% have been assessed according to the IUCN Red List and 10 species are classified as threatened. Thirty-three endemics are known only from the type specimen, revealing the lack of knowledge on these species and the need for further field research. More than 30 type specimens were collected in the Serra da Chela, which highlights the importance of this region for biodiversity conservation.
- Conservation and sustainable use of the medicinal Leguminosae plants from AngolaPublication . Catarino, Silvia; Duarte, Maria Cristina; Costa, Esperança; Carrero, Paula Garcia; Romeiras, Maria M.Leguminosae is an economically important family that contains a large number of medicinal plants, many of which are widely used in African traditional medicine. Angola holds a great socio-cultural diversity and is one of the richest floristic regions of the world, with over 900 native Leguminosae species. This study is the first to assess the medicinal uses of the legumes in Angola and provides new data to promote the conservation and the sustainable use of these unique resources. We document the ethnobotanical knowledge on Angola by reviewing the most important herbarium collections and literature, complemented by recent field surveys. Our results revealed that 127 native legume species have medicinal uses and 65% of them have other important uses by local populations. The species with most medicinal applications are Erythrina abyssinica, Bauhinia thonningii and Pterocarpus angolensis. The rich flora found in Angola suggests an enormous potential for discovery of new drugs with therapeutic value. However, the overexploitation and the indiscriminate collection of legumes for multiple uses such as forage, food, timber and medical uses, increases the threats upon the native vegetation. Efforts to assess the conservation status of these species are urgently needed, and future actions should promote the sustainable use of medicinal plants in Angola together with the implementation of conservation strategies.
- Conservation priorities for African Vigna species: Unveiling Angola’s diversity hotspotsPublication . Catarino, Sílvia; Rangel, Josefa; Darbyshire, Iain; Costa, Esperança; Duarte, Maria Cristina; Romeiras, Maria M.It is widely recognized that the conservation of the Crop Wild Relatives (CWR) in their wild habitats is fundamental to ensure the continuous supply of novel genetic material, crucial for future crop improvement. Vigna unguiculata (cowpea) and V. subterranea (bambara groundnut) are amongst the most significant African legumes as sources of food and fodder. In this study we investigated the diversity of Vigna species in Angola, to identify hotspot areas for their in situ conservation, and thus underpin future food security in Sub- Saharan Africa. Based on four criteria (i.e. potential utilization for crop improvement, threat status, ethnobotanical value, and geographical distribution) we prioritize Vigna CWR for conservation actions in Angola. Our results reveal that 28 Vigna species occur in Angola, two of which are endemic (V. mendesii and V. ramanniana). These species are unevenly distributed across the country, with greater dominance in the central-north and western areas, where four hotspot areas (Saurimo, Serra da Chela, N’dalatando, and Huambo) are identified. However, significant gaps in the current in situ conservation strategies are highlighted by our results, since the CWR diversity hotspots remain unprotected and only nine of the 28 Vigna species are recorded in protected areas. Moreover, in light of the fact that only one accession of Vigna collected in Angola exists in genebanks globally at present, we recommend a targeted seed collecting programme to support future management and ex situ conservation of plant genetic resources in Angola. Our study calls attention to the fact that Angola, together with Zambia, has the highest Vigna species richness in Sub- Saharan Africa, and provides new data and tools for the sustainable use of these species in crop improvement.