Accelerating the discovery of rare tree species in Amazonian forests: integrating long monitoring tree plot data with metabolomics and phylogenetics for the description of a new species in the hyperdiverse genus Inga Mill

Abstract

In species-rich regions and highly speciose genera, the need for species identification and taxonomic recognition has led to the development of emergent technologies. Here, we combine long-term plot data with untargated metabolomics, and morphological and phylogenetic data to describe a new rare species in the hyperdiverse genus of trees Inga Mill. Our combined data show that Inga coleyana is a new lineage splitting from their closest relatives I. coruscans and I. cylindrica. Moreover, analyses of the chemical defensive profile demonstrate that I. coleyana has a very distinctive chemistry from their closest relatives, with I. coleyana having a chemistry based on saponins and I. cylindrica and I. coruscans producing a series of dihydroflavonols in addition to saponins. Finally, data from our network of plots suggest that I. coleyana is a rare and probably endemic taxon in the hyper-diverse genus Inga. Thus, the synergy produced by different approaches, such as long-term plot data and metabolomics, could accelerate taxonomic recognition in challenging tropical biomes.