Abstract Detail

The Contribution of Regional Flora Projects to the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation

Van Welzen, Peter [1], Thomas, Daniel [2].

Flora Malesiana Project.

The Flora Malesiana project was initiated by Prof. van Steenis in the 1950's to write the flora of Indonesia, but the geographical scope was subsequently modified to encompass  a wider, natural phytogeographic area. As species were still badly known Van Steenis looked for demarcation points in genus distributions. Three of these points (the Thai-Malay border, Taiwan-Philippines, New Guinea-Australia) were enough to circumscribe the area formed by the triangle Malaysia-Philippines-Papua New Guinea (the Malay Archipelago). In hindsight, a sample of the published species, showed that the area is indeed a phytogeographic area with 70% of the species endemic. The flora is estimated to have 40,000-45,000 species of vascular plants of which perhaps 20,000 are described. From the beginning this project was an international endeavour. There are two series, series 1 deals with seed plants, series 2 with ferns. The flora had to be a critical evaluation of specimens and literature as many extreme forms, as can be expected with islands, had different names and botanists from the various colonising countries each added their own species names and delimitations. Nomenclature and descriptions, as well as additional notes are generally extensive in Flora Malesiana. At present most small and middle-sized families are treated and international teams tackle the large families. Progress is slow because of less taxonomists and insufficient commitment within the region as local flora projects are generally deemed more important. In the future, an online flora presenting not only published family accounts, but also progress on on-going taxon treatments, intensified collaboration with and between the local floras, and newer techniques like Next-Gen sequencing in combination with image recognition may help to speed up the output.

Related Links:
Flora Malesiana

1 - Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Tropical Botany, PO Box 9517, Leiden, Zuid-Holland, 2300 RA, Netherlands
2 - National Parks Board, Singapore Botanic Gardens, Herbarium , 1 Cluny Road, Singapore, 259569, Singapore

Keywords:
Islands flora.

Presentation Type: Colloquium Presentations
Session: C10, The Contribution of Regional Flora Projects to the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation
Location: /
Date: Friday, July 23rd, 2021
Time: 12:30 PM(EDT)
Number: C10010
Abstract ID:533
Candidate for Awards:None