Monocot Checklist-Project Completed


The Monocot Checklist Project is a five-year project initiated in April 2001 to create a global checklist of all Monocot taxa. The primary objective is to consolidate global knowledge on monocot taxonomy and geography by bringing together published data that can be found in many different formats (books, journals, pamphlets, electronic) and in many different places around the world, standardising the data using internationally agreed Taxonomic Databases Working Group standards and presenting the most up-to-date taxonomy. It also aims to bring together knowledge by seeking cooperation with Monocot taxonomists around the world.

The checklist provides basic nomenclatural and biogeographical information, current knowledge and taxonomic opinions. When writing regional checklists or Floras, the data provides the basis for achieving a high quality product. For monographers, it provides all the names in a particular taxonomic group. For conservationists it gives instant synonymised lists of a particular country or region. For the general public it is the most complete tool to check the orthography, geography and synonymy of monocots. As the name is the most important single element to which other data is attached, the database serves as the centre of a larger system such as ePIC, bringing together different kinds of plant-related data, such as images, local uses, anatomical data, DNA and molecular data, and making it run efficiently as names and taxonomies change.

The data have been made widely available on the world wide web since June 2004 and usage has increased as families have been added (see Annex 1). The data are also being published as hard-copy publications, some of which have already appeared (Araceae 2002, Palms 2005, Cyperaceae 2006, Dioscoreales 2006, Myrtaceae 2008); many more are in preparation.

Project Team

Selected CVs

Science Teams:

Project Leader: Govaerts, Rafaël H.A.

Directorate

Eimear Nic Lughadha

Herbarium, Library, Art & Archives


William Baker, Christine Barker, Peter Boyce, Chris Brodie, Richard Brummitt, Stuart Cable, Katherine Challis, Derek Clayton, Philip Cribb, Rosemary Davies, John Dransfield, Aljos Farjon, Mike Gilbert, Rafaël Govaerts, Kate Hardwick, Kehan Harman, Michael Lock, Brian Mathew, Simon Mayo, Noel McGough, Sylvia Phillips, David Roberts, Dave Simpson, Paul Wilkin, Jeffrey Wood

HPE


Nigel Taylor

ISD

Bob Allkin, (Nick Black), (Sally Hinchcliffe), Mark Jackson, Nicola Nicolson, (John Wall)

Jodrell Laboratory


Tim Pearce, Michael Way

Project Partners and Collaborators

Australia

Royal Botanic Garden Sydney

Belgium

National Botanic Garden, Meise
University of Ghent
University of Leuven

Brazil

Pontifíca Universidade Católica do Paraná

Canada

University of British Columbia

China

University of Hong Kong
South China Botanical Garden

Costa Rica

Instituto Nacional de Biodiversidad

Czech Republic

Institute of Botany, Academy of Sciences

Germany

Botanischer Garten und Botanisches Museum Berlin-Dahlem, Munich Botanical Garden

Japan

University of Tokyo
Kochi Prefectural Makino Botanical Garden

Netherlands

Nationaal Herbarium Nederland, Leiden University branch       
Nationaal Herbarium Nederland, Utrecht University branch

Papua New Guinea

University of Papua New Guinea

Russia

V. L. Komarov Botanical Institute

South Africa

Harold Porter National Botanical Garden

Switzerland

Universität Zürich
Université de Neuchâtel
Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich

Trinidad-Tobago

Yasmin Bash-Comeau

UK

Chelsea Physic Garden
Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh

USA

University of Michigan
New York Botanical Garden
Missouri Botanical Garden
Smithsonian Institution
Marie Selby Botanical Gardens
University of Georgia
Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden

Vietnam

National Center for Natural Sciences and Technology

Funders

USA

Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation

Annex Material

Annex 1: Total monthly searches on the World Checklist of Monocotyledons website (Word document)

Scientific Research & Data

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