Rio de Janeiro Botanical Garden: Biodiversity Conservation in a Tropical Arboretum

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

As the authors mentioned; botanic gardens in the tropics are few and far between. Therefore more publications such as this article are sorely lacking.  The article is interesting, informative and easy to read. Since botanic gardens world wide are strong on education and extension, perhaps a paragraph on any educational programmes the Rio Botanic Garden is involved in would be welcome. Does the Garden work with local schools on environmental education? If so, please mention; how many schools, teachers, students?.

Does the Garden asses any extra mural projects such as sustainable management nurseries? especially for threatened species, or reforestation projects?

Regarding the species held in the collection, a gap analysis would be very informative as to what species are under-presented, thus indicating which species should be collected in the future.

Seed banks are not always appropriate for tropical species, but the Rio Garden does have a large seed bank that I had visited in the early 1990s. Since no mention was made on the seed bank I was left wondering if it still exists. If it does I think it is worth a mention.

Author Response

Dear Reviewer,

Please see the attachment.

Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Reviewer 2 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

The paper is well written and provides important and new information on the species composition of the Rio de Janeiro Arboretum, the representation of endangered species within the collection and the contribution of the collections to ex situ conservation.

The methodology is clear and appropriate, the results are well presented, and the discussion provides useful information on the history of the collections, the representation of different families, the ratio of native and exotic species, and future strategies and guidelines for improving the collection to contribute to conservation efforts and achieve the goals of the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation.

I have enjoyed reading this paper in detail and I propose to accept it for publication as it is.

Author Response

Dear Reviewer,

Please see the attachment.

Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Reviewer 3 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

Dear authors, congratulations for your work.

The article provides a comprehensive overview of the arboretum and botanical garden collection at Rio de Janeiro Botanic Garden (JBRJ), highlighting its historical evolution, species diversity, conservation efforts, and future directions.

I have a few suggestions for improvement:

1. Abstract

The text emphasizes the urgency of species conservation efforts and the role of ex situ conservation. It would be beneficial to underline how the study contributes to addressing these urgent needs and what specific actions or strategies are being recommended.

 

2. Introduction

Lines 30-31: Please replace the sentence "Over recent years, there has been a significant increase in human activities within natural areas, imposing considerable pressure on the environment" with "In recent years, human activities within natural areas have significantly increased, putting considerable pressure on the environment.”

Line 32: Replace “towards” with “in” and “Nonetheless” with “However.”

Line 34: Replace “arises” with “is.”

Lines 38-40: Please rewrite your sentence as “Botanic gardens play a critical role in ex situ conservation by maintaining plant collections that encompass more than a third of the planet’s taxa [6].”

Line 40: Please replace “highlighting” with “underscoring”.

Lines 41-42: Replace the sentence “However, a significant disparity exists between the count of endangered species and the botanic gardens capacity of cultivating them [3]”with “However, a significant disparity exists between the number of endangered species and the capacity of botanic gardens to cultivate them”.

Line 43: Please replace “becomes” with “is”.

Line 46: Replace “merely” with “only”.

Line 47: Replace “them” with “which”.

Line 50: Please replace “only have” with “have only”.  

Lines 52-56: Please rewrite your sentence as “Safeguarding this richness is a monumental task that requires great responsibility. Unfortunately, the number of national botanic gardens in Brazil is also limited and unevenly distributed across the country [10]. Furthermore,. To fully realize the potential of these institutions in contributing to biodiversity efforts, it is necessary to evaluate the collections they contain [11]”.

Line 63: Please replace “or” with “and”.

Lines 67-72:  Please delete “ ”: During the early years of its establishment, the collection saw the incorporation of  diverse exotic species including "breadfruit" (Artocarpus altilis (Parkinson) Fosberg), “cinnamon” (Cinnamomum verum J.Presl), “clove tree” (Syzygium aromaticum (L.) Merr. &  L.M.Perry), “horse-radish tree” (Moringa oleifera Lam.), "lychee" (Litchi chinensis Sonn.), "nutmeg" (Myristica fragrans Houtt.), “pepper” (Piper nigrum L.), “star fruit” (Averrhoa carambola L.), and “sugarcane” (Saccharum officinarum L.)[14].

Line 74: Please place a period after "collection," delete "and," and start a new sentence with "He found that at the beginning ..."

Line 76: Please delete “under cultivation”.

Line 79: Please change “charged” with “who were tasked”.

Line 83: Please delete “instances of”.

Line 87: Please place a period after “hectares.

Line 91: Replace “inclusive” with “including”.

Line 92: Replace “within different” with “within various”.

Line 96: Please replace “its” with “JBRI’s”.  

Line 110: Please delete “on”.

 

3. Material and Methods

Lines 117-118: Please replace the sentence “The living plant collection at JBRJ is spread across both the arboretum beds, including  the rose garden, the sensory garden, and the Japanese garden, and themed collections…” with “The living plant collection at JBRJ is spread across areas, including the arboretum beds, which encompass the rose garden, the sensory garden, and the Japanese garden, and themed collections…”.

Line 121: Please delete “a collection of”.

Line 123: Delete "The" at the beginning of the sentence and replace "allocated" with "designated".

Line 124: Please delete “hereinafter”. 

Line 125: Replace “as well as” with “along with”.

Lines 149-150: Rephrase as “We performed a quantitative analysis to delineate the attributes of the living collection”.

 

4. Results

The results presented in the article are comprehensive and detailed, providing valuable insights into the composition and characteristics of the JBRJ Arboretum. However, the percentages and statistics provided throughout the text could be more effectively communicated through the use of diagrams and charts. Visual representations would enhance the reader's understanding and allow for quicker interpretation of the data.

 

5. Discussion

 

Lines 381-382: It might be necessary to provide a more detailed description of the method for calculating the conservation value of species in cultivation.

Comments on the Quality of English Language

The manuscript is well written. I have only a few suggestions for improvement, as mentioned above.

Author Response

Dear Reviewer,

Please see the attachment.

Author Response File: Author Response.docx