tween restinga and mangrove that are well represented there?
In order to answer our questions, in January 2014 our
second plant collecting was carried out in the Gargaú restinga,
municipality of São Francisco de Itabapoana, where we could
observe a high level of degradation. But nature always reserves
a surprise and we found an excerpt of Colégio River with a beau-
tiful scenery. Despite deforestation and degradation, we collect-
ed about 41 plant species.
Soon after, in February 2014, in the third plant collecting,
we explored the Atafona sand dunes, also very degraded, and
recorded the last life moments of the Pontal de Atafona. In this
same expedition we reached the beach of Grussaí and in the
devastated restinga we found some tiny little-preserved points,
in which we collected 37 vegetal species.
New questions were asked according to our observa-
tions and also according to the variations of the environments
and species of plants and fungi extracted from the restingas
surveyed. So, why not compare the endophytic fungi diversity
of the different plant species present in all restinga areas, pre-
served and non-preserved? Also, why not compare the fungi of
the same plant species from these different sites? Would there
be any variation in the diversity of endophytic fungi, between the
most preserved and the most degraded areas?
Seeking for more answers, on September 13th, 2014 we
arrived at Caruara Farm Private Natural Heritage Reserve (RPPN),
the largest private restinga conservation unit in the country, and
we came across many stretches of restinga protected by nature
and saved by man. Here, we collected 33 different plant species.
In the following year, on November 3rd, 2015, we arrived
at the beautiful Jurubatiba Restinga National Park (PARNA), a
federal conservation unit that represents the best-preserved
stretch of restinga of the entire Rio de Janeiro coast (39). At PAR-
NA, we collected 34 plant species.
From the point of view of biodiversity, the creation of the
Jurubatiba Restinga National Park (PARNA) in 1998 is a legacy
for future generations (40). This area is located in the northeast
of the state of Rio de Janeiro, in the southern restinga region,
with a coastal area of 14,860 hectares, covering the municipal-
ities of Quissamã (65%), Carapebus (34%) and Macaé (1%) and
is designated as a a Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO (United Na-
tions Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) (41). This
park is part of the northern Fluminense quaternary plain that
corresponds to the group formed from the Paraíba do Sul delta.
It is composed of sandy marine terraces, as well as a lagoon
and fluvial sediments, and in its southern sector, between Ma-
caé and Feia Lagoon, is located the Jurubatiba reserve consist-
ing mainly of Pleistocene marine sands (42) with an extension of
44 km, with a large number of coastal lagoons (43). There, suc-
cessive lagoons, between 14 and 18, depending on the time of
year, were formed from the dams, by the sandy strips, of wa-
ter courses originated in the sedimentary tablelands. Some of
these lagoons still exist, such as that of Cabiúnas and Carape-
bus, although others older or with a greater degree of clogging,
have already disappeared, since the water table is close to the
surface, eventually appearing in periods of higher rainfall (39, 44).The result of all these collections culminated in the re-
lease of the book “Time and Restinga” on February 18th, 2016,
at the Carlos Martins Cultural Palace in São João da Barra,
sponsored by Prumo Global Logística (today Porto do Açu),
which develops and manages the port. The book was coordi-
nated by Maria das Graças Machado Freire and Vicente Mus-
si-Dias, professors at ISECENSA (Institute of Higher Education
of the Educational Center Nossa Senhora Auxiliadora), in Cam-
pos dos Goytacazes. The Forestry engineer Daniel Ferreira do
Nascimento and Geisa Márcia Barcellos de Siqueira, photogra-
phy specialist, were also authors of the book.Time and Restinga (34) is the first book that describes and
presents the plant species that occur in the restingas of São
João da Barra. It highlights the conservation actions carried out
in the region that have as one of the main examples the creation
of the RPPN Caruara Farm, voluntarily created and maintained
by Prumo around the Açu Port.The book rescued what restinga was in the past and
what it represents for the region presently. It is the first book that
unites the past and the present with projections for the future,
inducing readers to know and preserve this ecosystem. It was
built on four pillars: the nostalgic, which shows the local past;
the environmental, with the protection, preservation and recov-
ery of the restinga; the scientific, with the study of biodiversity;
and sensitivity, through the photographs that show the restinga.
The online version is available for free download on the ISSUU
Digital Platform website: https://issuu.com/otempoearestinga.After presenting the restinga plants, we began the prepa-
rations for the presentation of endophytic fungi, the main objec-
tive of our work. With this, the tireless research begun in 2013
provided the creation of a research line from the bioprospection
of these endophytic fungi. For the first time, it was possible to
catalog more than 1700 fungi isolates, which are being kept in
the fungal herbarium of LAQUIBIO (Laboratory of Chemistry and
Biomolecules of ISECENSA). Maintaining these organisms prop-
erly stored and alive is of great importance for research purposes.Dozens of our fungi have already been identified and there
is a growing interest in endophytic microorganisms as a source