Rodriguésia 72: e00622019. 2021

http://rodriguesia.jbrj.gov.br
DOI: http://doi.org/10.1590/2175-7860202172035

Abstract 
In this paper we present an overview of the abstracts, scientific and social programs, field trips, and 
achievements in terms of participant number, represented countries, sponsorships, and themes treated during 
the Sixth International Conference on the Comparative Biology of Monocotyledons that took place in Natal, 
Brazil, October 7th -12th 2018. Some comments received by the organizers and a few suggestions for organizers 
of the next meeting, in Costa Rica, are also provided. The conference’s complete abstract book was published 
and provide additional information.
Key words: Araceae, botany, Bromeliaceae, monocots, Poaceae.

Point of View 
An overview of the Sixth International Conference on the Comparative 
Biology of Monocotyledons - Monocots VI - Natal, Brazil, 2018

Leonardo M. Versieux1,20,38, Alice Calvente1,21, Fernanda Antunes Carvalho1,2, Carlos Roberto Fonseca1,22, 
Juliana Espada Lichston1,23, Eduardo Voigt1,24, Anderson Lopes Fontes1,25, Alan Roque1,26, Joseph Hill 
Williams1,3, Reyjane Patrícia de Oliveira4,27, Pedro Lage Viana5, Helenice Mercier6, Clarisse Palma-Silva7, 
Tânia Wendt 8,28, Lívia Godinho Temponi 9, Ivanilza Moreira de Andrade10, Aline Oriani11,29, Thales D. 
Leandro11,30, Edlley Max Pessoa12, Adriana Pinheiro Martinelli13, Thiago André14, Ana Maria Benko-
Iseppon15,31, Cássio van den Berg4,32, Cynthia Fernandes Pinto da Luz16,33, Francisco Prosdocimi 8,34, 
Jomar G. Jardim17, Marccus Alves15,35, Maria das Graças Lapa Wanderley16,36, Rafaela Campostrini 
Forzza18, Vera Lucia Scatena11,37 & Lynn G. Clark19

1 Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, Depto. Botânica e Zoologia, Natal, RN, Brazil.
2 Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Depto. Biologia Geral, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil. ORCID: <https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3485-0797>. 

3 University of Tennessee, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Knoxville, Tennessee, U.S.A. ORCID: <https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1206-5667>.
4 Universidade Estadual de Feira de Santana, Depto. Ciências Biológicas, Feira de Santana, BA, Brazil.
5 Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi, Belém, PA, Brazil. ORCID: <https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5044-0758>.
6 Universidade de São Paulo, Depto. Botânica, São Paulo, SP, Brazil. ORCID: <https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7431-8837>.
7 Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Depto. Biologia Vegetal, Campinas, SP, Brazil. ORCID: <https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0192-5489 >.
8 Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Centro de Ciências da Saúde, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil. 
9 Universidade Estadual do Oeste do Paraná, campus Cascavel, Cascavel, PR, Brazil. ORCID: <https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0449-2703>.
10 Universidade Federal do Piauí, campus Ministro Reis Velloso, Parnaíba, PI, Brazil. ORCID: <https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6059-8540>.
11 Universidade Estadual Paulista Júlio de Mesquita Filho - UNESP, Depto. Biodiversidade, Rio Claro, SP, Brazil.
12 Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso, Depto. Botânica e Ecologia, Cuiabá, MT, Brazil. ORCID: <https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3800-8684>.
13 Universidade de São Paulo, Centro de Energia Nuclear na Agricultura, Piracicaba, SP, Brazil. ORCID: <https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1278-3930>.
14 UUniversidade Federal do Oeste do Pará, Inst. Biodiversidade e Florestas, Santarém, PA, Brazil. ORCID: <https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4148-3662>.
15 Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Centro de Ciências Biológicas, Recife, PE, Brazil. 
16 Instituto de Botânica, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
17 Universidade Federal do Sul da Bahia, Centro de Formação em Ciências Agroflorestais, Itabuna, BA, Brazil. ORCID: <https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5094-0514>.
18 Instituto de Pesquisas Jardim Botânico do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil. ORCID: <https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7035-9313>.
19 Iowa State University, Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Organismal Biology, Ames, Iowa, U.S.A. ORCID: <https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5564-4688>.
20 ORCID: <https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1560-3691>. 21 ORCID: <https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5884-508X>. 22 ORCID: <https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0292-0399 >.23 
ORCID: <https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4042-4524>. 24 ORCID: <https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0481-1129>.25 ORCID: <https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7101-582X>.26 ORCID: 
<https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7762-7774>.27 ORCID: <https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8831-2882>. 28 ORCID: <https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6411-0354>. 29 ORCID: <https://
orcid.org/0000-0003-0843-1254>. 30 ORCID: <https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5800-5432>. 31 ORCID: <https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0575-3197>. 32 ORCID: <https://orcid.
org/0000-0001-5028-0686>. 33 ORCID: <https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7908-155X>. 34 ORCID: <https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6761-3069>. 35 ORCID: <https://orcid.org/ 
0000-0001-9281-2257>. 36 ORCID: <https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7294-6642>. 
38 Author for correspondence: lversieux@yahoo.com.br



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The International Conference on the 
Comparative Biology of Monocotyledons 
(Monocots) is one of the most important conferences 
for botanical science. Although originally focused 
on systematics and evolution - gathering mostly 
specialists from the fields of systematics and 
morphology - the Monocots conference has 
expanded its coverage and themes, which are 
currently addressed under a broader scope of 
comparative biology. Monocot conservation, 
biotechnology, ecology, and physiology are all 
growing topics within the conference, which is 
traditionally held every five years. 

To date, this conference has been held six 
times: (i) 1993, Monocotyledon Systematics and 
Evolution, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, England 
(Rudall et al. 1995); (ii) 1998, International 
Conference on the Comparative Biology of 
Monocotyledons - Monocots II, Royal Botanic 
Gardens Sydney, Australia (Wilson & Morrison 
2000); (iii) 2003, Monocots III: The Third 
International Congress on the Comparative Biology 
of the Monocotyledons & The Fourth International 
Symposium on Grass Systematics and Evolution, 
Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden, California, 
U.S.A. (Columbus et al. 2006, 2007); (iv) 2008, 
Monocots IV, University of Copenhagen, Denmark 
(Seberg et al. 2008); and (v) 2013, Monocots 
V, Fordham University hosted by The New 
York Botanical Garden, U.S.A. marked the 20th 
anniversary of the conference series (Campbell 
et al. 2017). 

Then, after a significant attendance of 
Brazilians at the 2008 and 2013 conferences, a 
Brazilian host city proposal won the voting after 
the New York meeting. Under the motto “Monocots 
for all: building the whole from its parts”, the 6th 
International Conference on the Comparative 
Biology of Monocotyledons - Monocots VI was 
held at the Praiamar Natal Hotel & Convention 
Center, in Natal, Northeastern Brazil, October 
7th–12th, 2018. It was the first time that Latin 
America hosted this important meeting. 

The Monocots VI conference was organized by 
a multidisciplinary group of professors, technicians 
and students from the Universidade Federal do 
Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN, corresponding 
to the first nine authors of this paper) and by a 
Board of Counselors from different universities, 
botanic gardens, and research institutes in Brazil 
and abroad, namely: Adriana Pinheiro Martinelli 
(Plant biotechnology, Universidade de São 
Paulo, CENA, Piracicaba, São Paulo); Ana Maria 
Benko Iseppon (Molecular biology, Universidade 
Federal de Pernambuco); Cássio van den Berg 
(Plant systematics and genetics, Universidade 
Estadual de Feira de Santana, Bahia); Cynthia 
Fernandes Pinto da Luz (Palynology, Instituto 
de Botânica, São Paulo); Francisco Prosdocimi 
(Genomics and Bioinformatics, Universidade 
Federal do Rio de Janeiro); Joseph Williams Jr. 
(Plant evolutionary biology, The University of 
Tennessee, U.S.A.); Marccus Vinícius Alves (Plant 
systematics and floristics, Universidade Federal de 
Pernambuco); Maria das Graças Lapa Wanderley 
(Plant systematics and floristics, Instituto de 
Botânica, São Paulo); Rafaela Campostrini Forzza 
(Plant systematics and collections, Jardim Botânico 
do Rio de Janeiro); and Vera Lucia Scatena (Plant 
morphology, Universidade Estadual Paulista, Rio 
Claro, São Paulo). Also, 20 students from different 
levels of study, mostly from the UFRN Herbarium, 
worked during the event.

It was sponsored by the National Council for 
Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq), 
National Council for the Improvement of Higher 
Education (CAPES), and the Bromeliad Society 
International. Although not a formal sponsor, 
support from FAPESP (São Paulo Research 
Foundation) allowed several researchers from São 
Paulo State to attend the conference.

Considering the difficult moment that 
Brazilian science is going through in terms of 
funding cuts, the organizing committee approved, 
upon request, substantial discounts in registration 
fees for any unemployed professionals attending 

Resumo 
Neste artigo nós apresentamos uma visão geral dos resumos, programação científica e social, viagens de campo 
e informações acerca do número de inscritos, países participantes, patrocínios e temas tratados durante a Sexta 
Conferência Internacional sobre Biologia Comparada de Monocotiledôneas, realizada em Natal, Brasil, de 7 a 
12 de outubro de 2018. Alguns comentários recebidos pelos organizadores e sugestões para os organizadores 
do próximo Monocots, na Costa Rica, também são fornecidos. Este artigo complementa os dados publicados 
no livro de resumos, disponível no Repositório Digital da UFRN.
Palavras-chave: Araceae, botânica, Bromeliaceae, monocotiledôneas, Poaceae.



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the conference or graduate students presenting 
talks in symposia. Students presenting their work 
in BromEvo 2 (see Versieux et al. 2020) were 
assisted by a grant from the Bromeliad Society 
International (BSI), whereas the 7th International 
Symposium on Grass Systematics and Evolution 
was fully covered by the CAPES agency.

The scientific program was organized into 
themes and included keynote lectures, master 
classes, symposium talks, and poster presentations. 
The local committee was responsible for the 
conference development and scientific program, 
headed by Leonardo M. Versieux (chairman), 
Alice Calvente, Fernanda Antunes Carvalho, 
Carlos Roberto Fonseca, Eduardo Voigt, and 
Juliana Espada Lichston; field trip organizers 
were Jomar Gomes Jardim and Alan Roque; and 
Anderson Lopes Fontes organized herbarium 
management and visits. The organizing committee 
also counted on the experience of senior scientists 
who were particularly important during fundraising 
campaigns and in spreading open calls for 
symposia. The poster session was coordinated by 
a group of undergraduate and graduate students 
mostly from UFRN, who also worked in other 
capacities. 

Five lunchtime keynote lectures were given 
during the main event: (i) Monday, October 8, by 
W. John Kress (Smithsonian Institution, U.S.A.): 
Monocots in the Anthropocene: species interactions 
in a rapidly changing world; (ii) Tuesday, October 
9, by Lynn G. Clark (Iowa State University, 
U.S.A. - Special Visiting Researcher  PVE/CNPq, 
Universidade Estadual de Feira de Santana, Bahia): 
3D Biology: What we can learn from the “flat” 
grasses; (iii) Wednesday, October 10, by Christine 
Bacon (University of Gothenburg, Sweden): 
The road to evolutionary success: insights from 
Mauritia flexuosa; (iv) Thursday, October 11, by 
Gerhard Zotz (University Oldenburg, Germany 
& Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, 
Panama): A Sceptic’s view on scientific “facts” and 
“concepts”; and (v) Friday, October 12, by Marccus 
Alves (Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, 
Brazil) in collaboration with Rafaela Campostrini 
Forzza (Jardim Botânico do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil): 
Monocots in the Brazilian Flora 2020: Facilitate 
access to plant diversity. In addition, there were two 
Master Classes: (i) Alexandre Antonelli (University 
of Gothenburg, Sweden, and Royal Botanic 
Gardens, Kew, England) together with Alexander 
Zizka (University of Gothenburg, Sweden) talked 
about recent advances and techniques to investigate 

biogeography with a focus on the Neotropics, and 
(ii) Thomas Givnish (University of Wisconsin, 
U.S.A.) presented a talk about phylogenetics, 
diversification analyses and molecular dating in 
the Bromeliaceae.

Almos t  30  sympos ium ta lks  were 
organized (see the following abstract book for 
the names of organizers <https://repositorio.ufrn.
br/handle/123456789/27097.) into topics and 
included discussions about: (1) Advances in the 
molecular phylogeny, systematics and evolution 
of Dioscoreales; (2) Advances in the anatomy of 
the large Poales clade; (3) Applied botany: Use 
of comparative data in horticulture, reproductive 
biology and systematics of Bromeliaceae; (4) 
Biogeography, ecology and macroevolution of 
grasses; (5) Ecophysiology of Bromeliaceae; (6) 
Evolution and diversification in Cyperaceae; (7) 
Genomic innovation through genome duplication: 
Examples from across Monocots; (8) Grass 
systematics and evolution - Plastome phylogenetics 
and the BOP Clade; (9) Grass systematics, evolution 
and development - The PACMAD clade; (10) 
Growing knowledge on monocot vegetative 
anatomy; (11) How can anatomy contribute to 
understanding monocot evolutionary patterns?; 
(12) III Symposium on Neotropical Araceae - 
systematics and evolution; (13) III Symposium on 
Neotropical Araceae - floristics, morphology and 
evolution; (14) Linking macro- and microevolution 
in Bromeliaceae; (15) Monocot mats on Gondwanan 
inselbergs: binding taxonomy, ecology and 
molecular aspects under a biogeographic view; 
(16) Monocot phylogenomics I; (17) Monocot 
phylogenomics II - new insights on genome 
evolution, diversification and biogeography; 
(18) Monocots in society and tools to spread 
knowledge about monocots; (19) Neotropical 
Eriocaulaceae: answering evolutionary questions 
and supporting sustainability; (20) Orchid ecology 
and conservation, (21) Palms - The ecologically most 
diverse tropical plant family?; (22) Recent advances 
in Bromelioideae systematics, taxonomy, and 
evolution; (23) Recent advances in the systematics 
of Bromeliaceae; (24) Setaria as a model system 
for monocot development and biotechnology; 
(25) Systematics, evolution, and biogeography of 
Orchidaceae; (26) The next generation of research 
on the evolution of Crassulacean acid metabolism: 
integrating physiology, ecology, and genomics; 
(27) Understanding Amaryllidaceae evolution 
using different approaches; (28) Zingiberales I - 
Evolution; and (29) Zingiberales II - Diversity.



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As part of the scientific program of the 
event, three parallel meetings were also held: (i) 
the 2nd World Congress of Bromeliaceae Evolution 
- BromEvo 2, coordinated by Helenice Mercier, 
Clarisse Palma-Silva, Tânia Wendt, and Leonardo 
M. Versieux (Versieux et al. 2020); (ii) the 7th 
International Symposium on Grass Systematics 
and Evolution, coordinated by Reyjane Patrícia 
de Oliveira, Lynn G. Clark, and Pedro Lage 
Viana; and (iii) the III Symposium on Neotropical 
Araceae, coordinated by Ivanilza Moreira de 
Andrade and Lívia Godinho Temponi. Along 
with the remaining scientific program, these 
parallel meetings facilitated a broad exchange 
of knowledge among the attendees, with a 
strong international component, thus increasing 

the visibility of Brazilian researchers within 
the botanical scientific community, but also 
promoting the UFRN Herbarium and botanical 
science at UFRN. 

The Scientific Program was organized 
into themes and included Keynote Lectures, 
Master Classes, Symposium Talks and Poster 
presentations (Figs. 1-8). The main subject 
sessions of Monocots VI were: (i) Systematics, 
evolution, biogeography; (ii) Morphology, 
development and cellular biology; (iii) Physiology 
and biochemistry; (iv) Ecology and conservation; 
(v) Genetics, genomics and bioinformatics; (vi) 
Economic botany, plant breeding and agriculture; 
and (vii) Monocots in society and tools to divulge 
knowledge about monocots (Figs. 1; 2). Social 

Figure 1 – Close-up of the poster describing the six main sessions of the Monocots VI plus thematic and technical 
words, allowing attendees to link the different areas covered by their work. Although Systematics, evolution and 
biogeography has the most concentrated lines, considerable intersections are observed among different fields of 
knowledge. The two areas with fewer marks include Economic botany, plant breeding and agriculture, and the 
popularizing scientific knowledge in different media, Monocots in society.



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events included an opening ceremony hosted by 
Joseph Williams and including the presence of 
UFRN’s Deputy Dean, Prof. José Daniel Diniz 
Melo, a Gala Dinner, a Rock and Roll night, and 
a happy hour closure (Figs. 9-11). 

The poster section, which was available 
during the evenings, totaled 216 posters 
presented, most of them in the session of 
systematics and morphology. It was an excellent 
opportunity to promote a strong interaction 
between students at various levels of study 
and researchers of significant international 
experience and prestige, since posters were 
placed in the main hall near all of the auditoria 
- offering thus a great chance for researchers 
to talk about their findings and network during 
coffee breaks or during any occasional encounter 
(Fig. 8). 

In addition, the meeting also offered, 
through the Programa de Pós-Graduação em 
Sistemática e Evolução - UFRN, before and 
after the conference, three Graduate courses 
(Figs. 12; 13): (i) Evolutionary Biogeography: 
Biodiversity data from field to yield, by 
Alexandre Antonelli and Alexander Zizka 
(University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg Global 
Biodiversity Centre, and iDiv); (ii) Evolution 
of Development of Plants: An introduction to 
comparative developmental biology and (iii) 
Evolution of plant reproduction: current topics, 
both by Joseph Williams Jr. (University of 
Tennessee, U.S.A.).

Figure 2 – Part of the attendees of Monocots VI after one of the keynote lectures.

Figure 3 – Lynn Clark presenting her keynote lecture.

Figure 4 – Ana Maria Giulietti-Harley being honored 
for her outstanding achievements on monocot 
research during the Eriocaulaceae symposium, 
receiving a gift from W. John Kress and Leonardo 
Versieux.



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During and after the scientific activities, it 
was possible to visit the Herbarium UFRN and 
participate in field trips, which were conducted 
in conservation areas in the state of Rio Grande 
do Norte, such as Parque Estadual das Dunas, 
Jenipabu, and the Seridó region. All these field trips 
were guided by professional botanists and included 
a broad international attendance (Figs. 14; 15). 

Monocots VI had 397 attendees in total. 
Twenty-six countries were represented at the 
conference: Argentina (5), Australia (2), Austria 
(3), Brazil (272), Canada (3), China (3), Colombia 
(6), Costa Rica (1), Czech Republic (1), Denmark 
(3), Ecuador (1), France (1), Germany (11), India 
(6), Italy (1), Mexico (3), Netherlands (2), Norway 

(2), Russian Federation (6), Spain (4), Sweden 
(2), Switzerland (5), Taiwan (1), United Kingdom 
(18), United States (32), and Uruguay (1), plus 
two registrations that left their countries and full 
address incomplete. As expected, Brazil leads the 
list, followed by the United States and the United 
Kingdom as the most represented countries.

After the conference, there was a virtual 
election to choose the host for the Monocots VII - 
2023. Three host proposals were presented: China 
(represented by Hangzhou University and the 
China Botanical Society), Costa Rica (represented 
by the Universidad de Costa Rica, Jardín Botánico 
Lankester), and U.S.A. (represented by The Marie 
Selby Botanical Gardens), totaling 211 electoral 
votes. The winning proposal, which received 145 
votes, was submitted by Adam Karremans and 
colleagues from Costa Rica, followed by Sarasota 
(U.S.A) with 42 votes and Hangzhou (China) with 
24 votes.

Some host candidates requested that the next 
election should be restricted to Asia and Africa, 
which have not hosted any Monocot conference so 

Figure 5 – Alexandre Antonelli and Alexander Zizka 
after their masterclass on biogeography receiving gifts 
from the organizers Ana Paula Siva and Alice Calvente.

Figure 6 – Tom Givnish after his masterclass on 
Bromeliaceae receiving a gift from the organizer 
Adriana Martinelli.

Figure 7 – Mike Fay being honored for his outstanding 
achievements on monocot research during the 
Orchidaceae symposium and receiving a gift from 
Edlley Pessoa and Lais Leite Barreto.

Figure 8 – Attendees during a poster session.



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Figure 9 – Informal moment of the opening of the 
conference, in which free invitations for the Gala Dinner 
were “picked from the hat”, by the UFRN’s Dean, Prof. 
José Daniel Diniz Melo and the botanists W. John Kress, 
Gregory Brown, and Leonardo Versieux.

Figure 10 – Monocots VI attendees during the Gala 
dinner.

Figure 11 – Monocots VI attendees during the Gala 
dinner.

Figure 12 – Pre-conference graduate course on 
Biogeography (Prof. Alexandre Antonelli and 
Alexander Zizka) field trip to the restingas of Parque 
Estadual das Dunas.

far. We believe that this is a good strategy to allow 
the conference to keep moving from one continent 
to another, enabling more attendees from different 
countries to participate. This is an interesting point 
of view, and we strongly recommend that countries 
interested in organizing / hosting the Monocots from 
those continents should discuss their candidatures 
in advance. Also, one suggestion received by us 
is to diminish the time from 5 to 4 years between 
each conference, what we also believe could be an 
interesting point for discussion in Costa Rica, in 
2023. We thank all three host candidates for their 
important participation and wish very good luck to 
the Jardín Botánico Lankester and the Universidad 
de Costa Rica in setting up our next meeting.

Our feeling, supported by informal talks with 
colleagues who attended Monocots VI as well as by 
some commentaries which were publicized in social 
media and blogs (e.g., Woudstra & Veltman 2018), is 

that Monocots VI accomplished its objectives, with 
an intense scientific and social program, diversified 
attendance, as well as growing and broadening the 
scope. Even participants from areas less represented, 
such as Economic Botany, Biotechnology, and 
Crops, left very positive comments, which suggest 
to us that the Monocots will become an even 
stronger and more integrative event for all subjects 
involving these important plants (Fig. 1). Also, a 
great number of young researchers were able to 
attend and network, several of them from UFRN 
(Fig. 16). Additionally, the herbarium UFRN was 
visited by a considerable number of specialists, what 
improved identifications of specimens, and received 
many book donations, increasing its library. We are 
thankful to all attendees, symposium organizers, 
speakers, students, and funding / supporting 
agencies (Fig. 16). 



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Figure 13 – Post-conference graduate course on 
Evolution of plant reproduction (Prof. Joe Williams).

Figure 14 – Monocots VI attendees visiting the 
Environmental Protection Area of Jenipabu, in 
Extremoz.

Figure 15 – Monocots VI attendees visiting an area of 
inselbergs within the Caatinga, in the Seridó region.

Figure 16 – Part of the Monocots VI team and UFRN 
herbarium students.

All abstracts from Monocots VI (keynote 
lectures, master classes, symposium talks and 
poster presentations) are available in Versieux & 
Clark (2019). Special issues focused on bromeliads 
and grasses papers presented during the event were 
published by the Botanical Journal of the Linnean 
Society. Official photos of the event may be seen 
in Instagram, @herbarioufrn.

Acknowledgments
We thank the Universidade Federal do 

Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN) for continuous 
support during the organization of this event. 
Earlier organizers of Monocots meetings, Lisa 
Campbell (NYBG) and Paula Rudall (RBGKew), 
for their incentive and supporting letters. Graduate 
programs of Sistemática e Evolução (UFRN), 
Recursos Genéticos Vegetais (UFRB), and 
Botânica (PPGBot, UEFS) also supported our 
candidature by sending letters. Gifts to keynote 
speakers were supplied by Yahto Aroma & Design 

and Capim Macio Publishers. The National Council 
for Scientific and Technological Development 
(CNPq 437706/2016-8 e 407241/2017-5), National 
Council for the Improvement of Higher Education 
(CAPES), São Paulo Research Foundation 
(FAPESP 18/06926-6), and the Bromeliad Society 
International provided critical financial support. 
We thank Klei Sousa and Fernando Sousa for 
illustrating and creating the visual identity of 
the event and Alan Herndon (Bromeliad Society 
International) for help with proofreading the event 
website. Managers of the reserves APA de Jenipabu, 
Parque Estadual das Dunas, Estação Ecológica do 
Seridó are acknowledged for visitation permits. 
The editorial staff of Rodriguésia (especially Vidal 
Mansano and Karen De Toni) and Editora da UFRN 
(Helton Rubiano) provided an important assistance 
with publications.

References
Campbell L, Davis JI, Meerow AW, Naczi RFC, 

Stevenson DW & Thomas WW (2017) Diversity 
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no/news-and-events/blog/building-the-whole-from-
its-parts.html>. Access on 9 March 2019.

Area Editor: Dr. Vidal Mansano
Received in June 07, 2019. Accepted in September 06, 2019.

This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License.