Format: ORAL

Joo Iganci*, Gustavo Heiden, Josimar Klkamp, Daiane Vahl, Emanuel Scherdien, Alessandra Menezes, Mauricio Bonifacino, Eimear Nic Lughada4

1. Universidade Federal de Pelotas, Brazil. 2. Embrapa Clima Temperado, Pelotas, Brazil. 3. Universidad de La República, Montevideo, Uruguay. 4. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, United Kingdom. *joaoiganci@gmail.com

The Pampas is one of South Americas major grassland ecosystems, extending from northern Argentina to Uruguay and southern Brazil. In addition to natural grasslands, rocky outcrops, coastal vegetation, swampy areas, savannas, and small patches of dry forests increase landscape heterogeneity and are home to a remarkable diversity of plant species, of which c. 5% are endemic to the Pampas. Cattle grazing was the dominant economic activity in the area until the late 20th century, and the natural grasslands were used in a more sustainable manner. However, the growth of agriculture, silviculture, and mining throughout the Pampas in recent decades has resulted in significant habitat loss and accelerated habitat fragmentation. Pampa Singular is an integrative project that focuses on understanding biodiversity in the Pampas, as well as the conservation of unique landscapes and rare plant species. We produced endemic flora species inventories and searched for crop wild relatives from the Pampas. Furthermore, science outreach initiatives were designed to raise awareness in the local population and to promote science and conservation for future generations. Most plant species endemic to the Pampas have never been assessed for their conservation status (extinction risk) and many lack sufficient data to be assessed. We used the Rapid Least Concern method to identify species that were not threatened and focused our efforts on likely threatened species. We mapped the most diverse areas for endemic species and for crop wild relatives, comparing historic and current species distributions taking into account land conversion to economic uses.