Contribution to the biosystematic study of liverworts (Marchantiophyta) of Senegal: Case of Senegaleses herbaria and check-lists Djibril Diop 1, *, Mamadou Sydibé 1, Ali Mohamed Abdou Salam 1, Doudou Diop 2, Seydina Diop 2, Jules Diouf 1, Abdoul Aziz Camara 1, Mame Samba Mbaye 1 and Kandioura Noba 1 Botany - Biodiversity Laboratory, Department of Plant Biology, Faculty of Science and Technology, Cheikh Anta Diop University, BP 5005, Dakar-Fann, Senegal. 2 Fundamental Institute of Black Africa Cheikh Anta Diop (IFAN-CAD) Dakar- Senegal. 1 GSC Biological and Pharmaceutical Sciences, 2021, 17(03), 078–084 Publication history: Received on 30 October 2021; revised on 10 December 2021; accepted on 12 December 2021 Article DOI: https://doi.org/10.30574/gscbps.2021.17.3.0342 Abstract The aim of this work is to contribute to a better knowledge of liverworts in the herbaria of Senegal in order to provide basic knowledge for a better sustainable management. This study is carried out in the firstly in the herbaria of the University Cheikh Anta Diop of Dakar/Senegal: the herbarium of the Herbarium of the Institut Fondamental d'Afrique Noire (IFAN UCAD) and the herbarium DAKAR of the Department of Plant Biology of the Faculty of Sciences and Techniques. Secondly, a consultation of different checklists and databases was conducted to collect more information. This research work on the flora of liverworts is rich with nearly 39 species divided into 24 genera and 13 families. The order Jungermanniales is dominant in terms of families and the Porellales Jubulineae in terms of genera and species. The family Lejeuneaceae is in the majority in this flora before the families Ricciaceae, Plagiochilaceae and Metzgeriaceae. These results are important for the conservation of the environment and the development of the plant biodiversity of Senegal. Keywords: Liverworts; IFAN herbarium; DAKAR herbarium; Biodiversity; Senegal 1. Introduction The Marchantiophyta comprise about 5000-6000 species in 391 genera [26, 7, 14, 19, 20, 15, 8, 9, 35] sometimes even reaching 7500 species [37, 38] of which 80% are leafy liverworts. According to the results of recent monographic work, these species show a cosmopolitan distribution [33, 34, 32, 7, 13]. The Marchantiophyta are the earliest diverging lineage in terrestrial plants, probably dating from the Silurian period [25, 31, 36, 39, 17, 18]. In Senegal, studies on the specific diversity of liverworts are still at an embryonic stage, despite the presence of samples in the Dakar and IFAN herbaria. The present work aims to contribute to a better knowledge of the diversity of liverworts in the herbaria of Senegal in order to provide a data base for a sustainable management.  Corresponding author: Djibril Diop Botany - Biodiversity Laboratory, Department of Plant Biology, Faculty of Science and Technology, Cheikh Anta Diop University, BP 5005, Dakar-Fann, Senegal. Copyright © 2021 Author(s) retain the copyright of this article. This article is published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Liscense 4.0. GSC Biological and Pharmaceutical Sciences, 2021, 17(03), 078–084 2. Material and methods 2.1. Study sites 2.1.1. The Herbarium of the Institut Fondamental d'Afrique Noire (IFAN) The Herbarium of the Institut Fondamental d'Afrique Noire (IFAN UCAD) created in 1941 by Professor Paul JAEGER is the oldest herbarium in French-speaking Africa. Indeed, it centralized most of the botanical activities in the former French metropolis. Its main objective was to create a bank of all the plant species of French-speaking Africa, then of all continental and insular Africa with nearly 60,000 specimens. 2.1.2. The Herbarium of the Department of Plant Biology: DAKAR Herbarium Created in 1960 by Professor J. MIEGE and rehabilitated in 1994, the DAKAR herbarium is the second herbarium of Senegal. The main objective is to constitute a collection of good quality and representative of the flora of Senegal and a remarkable knowledge base in the fields of research, training, knowledge, conservation of plant resources and African and international collaboration. The herbarium houses about 13000 samples. 2.2. Material The material consisted of samples from the DAKAR and IFAN herbaria and samples reported in the Checklist and distribution of the liverworts and hornworts of Sub-Saharan Africa, including the East African Islands [41]. Consultations of herbarium collections and databases were carried out to establish the floristic list of liverworts. 2.3. Methods Scientific names were verified via Tropicos, Plant List and efloras. The classification of [35]; was used for liverworts. African identification keys: for liverworts [40], from [22, 23], the flora of Kenyan mosses and liverworts [4]; volume 14 of the Rwandan Liverworts and Hornworts [11] and Catalogue of the Hepaticae and Anthocerotae of sub-Saharan Africa [42] were used to facilitate identification as well as Augier's [2, 3] flora of Bryophytes and many other articles. 3. Results 3.1. Specific composition Table 1 represents the global list of species and families encountered during this study. Thus 39 species of liverworts were recorded in these herbaria and check-list belonging to 7 orders, 24 genera and 13 families. 3.2. Taxonomic spectrum Table 2 gives indications on the structure of the Marchantiophyta flora. These results show a great specific diversity of these herbarium collections. The order Jungermanniales are dominant in terms of families with 38.5% and the Porellales Jubulineae in terms of genera with 54.2% and species with 43.6%. Except for the order Metzgeriales with 2 families; all other orders are represented by a single family. The analysis of Table 3 of the distribution of genera and species in the families shows an important diversity. This flora is dominated by species of the family Lejeuneaceae occupying 50% of the genera and 41% of the species of the total number. All other remaining families are represented by only one genus. In terms of species, after the Lejeuneaceae come the species of the families Ricciaceae, Plagiochilaceae and Metzgeriaceae with 15%, 13% and 7.7% respectively. It appears from this analysis that the remaining families are represented by only one species. 79 GSC Biological and Pharmaceutical Sciences, 2021, 17(03), 078–084 Table 1 List of species of Marchantiophyta surveyed Orders Metzgeriales Roseuv. Families Species Aneuraceae H. Klinggr. *Riccardia limbata (Stephani) E.W. Jones *Metzgeria australis Stephani Metzgeriaceae H. Klinggr. *Metzgeria camerunensis Stephani *Metzgeria hamata Lindb. Marchantiales Limpr. Dumortieraceae D.G. Long *Dumortiera hirsuta (Sw.) Nees *Riccia discolor Lehm. & Lindenb. R. intermedia E.W. Jones *Riccia frostii Austin Ricciales L. Ricciaceae Rchb. *Riccia fluitans L. *Riccia cavernosa Hoffm. R. rautanenii (Steph.) Steph. ***Riccia sp1 ***Riccia sp2 Herbertaceae Müll. Frib. Ex *Herbertus juniperoideus (Sw.) Grolle. Herbertia juniperina Fulford et Hatcher (Sw.) Evs. Lepidoziaceae Limpr. *Bazzania herminieri (Gottsche ex Steph.) Pagán Bazzania herminieri (Gottsche) Lophocoleaceae Müll. Frib. *Lophocolea difformis Nees ex Vanden Berghen Jungermanniales H. Klinggr. - Lophocoleineae Schljakov. *Plagiochila barteri Mitt. *Plagiochila pectinata Lindenb. P. pectinata Wild ex Lindenb Plagiochilaceae Müll. Frib. *Plagiochila lastii Mitt. Plagiochila terebrans Nees et Mont. Lindenb. *Plagiochila sp1 ***Plagiochila sp 2 Trichocoleaceae Nakai *Trichocolea tomentosa (Sw.) Nees Jubulaceae H. Klingger. *Frullania serrata Gottsche. *Odontolejeunea tortuosa (Lelm. et Lindenb.) Stephani *Cololejeunea obliqua (Nees et Mont.) Schiffner *Cololejeunea leloutrei (E.W. Jones) R.M. Schust. *Diplasiolejeunea cavifolia Stephani *Hygrolejeunea acuta (Mitt.) Vander Bergham *Leptocolea cuneifolia (Stephani) A. Evans Porellales Schljakov. Jubulineae Müll. Frib. Lejeuneaceae Casares-Gil *Leptocolea sp **Acrolejeunea emergens (Mitt.) Steph. var. confertissima (Steph.) Gradst. **Acrolejeunea emergens (Mitt.) Steph. var. emergens *Ceratolejeunea cornuta (Lindenb.) Steph. C. jungneri Steph. *Drepanolejeunea physifolia (Gottsche) Steph. D. clavicornis Steph.) *Drepanolejeunea cultrella (Mitt.) Stephani 80 GSC Biological and Pharmaceutical Sciences, 2021, 17(03), 078–084 *Lejeunea flava (Sw.) Nees *Leptolejeunea truncatiflora Steph. *Prionolejeunea grata (Gottsche) Schiffn P. serrula (Mitt.) Stephani; P. kindbergii (Steph.) Schiffn **Thysananthus auriculatus (Wilson et Hook.) Sukkharak et Gradst. Mastigolejeunea auriculata (Wilson et Hook.) Steph. Mastigolejeunea auriculata (Wilson) Schiffn. (Steph.) Gradst.) Porellales Schljakov. Radulaceae Müll. Frib. Radulineae R.M. Schust. *Radula flaccida Lindenb. & Gottsche. Pleuroziales Schljakov. *Pleurozia gigantea (F. Weber) Lindb. Pleuroziaceae Müll. Frib. *= IFAN Herbarium, **= Check-List of Wigginton, ***= DAKAR Herbarium Table 2 Structure of the Marchantiophyta Flora Ordres Families Genera Species Nomber % Nomber % Nomber % Porellales Jubulineae 2 15,4 13 54,2 17 43,6 Jungermanniales 5 38,5 5 20,8 9 23,1 Metzgeriales 2 15,4 2 8,3 4 10,3 Marchantiales 1 7,7 1 4,2 1 2,6 Ricciales 1 7,7 1 4,2 6 15,4 Porellales Radulinea 1 7,7 1 4,2 1 2,6 Pleuroziales 1 7,7 1 4,2 1 2,6 Total 13 100 24 100 39 100 Table 3 Distribution of species in the different taxonomic groups Families Genera Species Nomber % Nomber % Lejeuneaceae 12 50 16 41 Ricciaceae 1 4,2 6 15 Plagiochilaceae 1 4,2 5 13 Metzgeriaceae 1 4,2 3 7,7 Aneuraceae 1 4,2 1 2,6 Dumortieraceae 1 4,2 1 2,6 Herbertaceae 1 4,2 1 2,6 Lepidoziaceae 1 4,2 1 2,6 Lophocoleaceae 1 4,2 1 2,6 Trichocoleaceae 1 4,2 1 2,6 Jubulaceae 1 4,2 1 2,6 Radulaceae 1 4,2 1 2,6 Pleuroziaceae 1 4,2 1 2,6 24 100 39 100 Total 81 GSC Biological and Pharmaceutical Sciences, 2021, 17(03), 078–084 4. Discussion This study shows that the flora of liverworts in the herbaria and checklists is rich with nearly 39 species distributed in 24 genera and 13 families. This richness is explained by the fact that Senegal was a strategic point in the management of herbarium collections in Black Africa and the world. The IFAN’s herbarium has hosted during missions collections of bryophytes and phanerogams of several authors. Moreover, the collections of Marchantiophytes of this herbarium represent almost a great part of this flora. Compared to the liverwort flora of Madagascar [28] or the Reunion Islands [1], the latter is less diversified because there are very few field studies, contrary to other countries where many investigations have been conducted for the knowledge of the bryological flora. At the level of families, the dominance of the family Lejeuneaceae is a characteristic of the flora of liverworts in the tropical zone. The Lejeuneaceae are the largest family of the liverworts (Hepaticae), with almost a thousand species in 91 currently accepted genera. They abound in humid tropical forests where they inhabit a large variety of niches, including tree trunks, branches, saplings, twigs and the surfaces of living leaves. In an average tropical lowland rain forest, more than three-quarters of the hepatic species are Lejeuneaceae [12, 16]. The Ricciaceae form a cosmopolitan family with two genera (Riccia, Ricciocarpos). The genus Riccia is represented by about 200 species worldwide [43], including 88 for sub-Sahelian Africa, with the Indian Ocean [40]. Only the Riccia of Mediterranean North Africa [24] and South Africa have been explored and described in some detail [29]. Riccia are very diverse in South Africa (about 80 species), and they show a high rate of endemism, rare for bryophytes. Compared to other African floras, this one is similar with a strong representation of mosses on liverworts: Guinea Conakry [27, 41] and African floras: Reunion Island [1], Mauritius [21, 10], South Africa [30], the Kenyan mosses and liverworts flora [5, 6]. 5. Conclusion The aim of the present work is to contribute to a better knowledge of liverworts in the Senegalese herbaria in order to provide basic knowledge for a better sustainable management. This study shows that the flora of liverworts in the herbaria and check-list is rich with nearly 39 species distributed in 24 genera and 13 families. The order Jungermanniales is dominant in terms of families and the Porellales Jubulineae in terms of genera and species. This flora is dominated by species of the family Lejeuneaceae occupying 50% of the genera and 41% of the species of the total number. In terms of species, after the Lejeuneaceae come the species of the family Ricciaceae, Plagiochilaceae and Metzgeriaceae. 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