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Brooklyn Botanic Garden 2005 Annual Report
Science
Paul Harwood reviews Herbarium specimens as part of a 2004 National Science Foundation-funded project to expand on BBG's Herbarium database, known as AILANTHUS.
BBG's Herbarium, a library of 290,000 dried plants collected over the last two centuries, has flourished in the past decade. In 2004 the Garden received a highly competitive National Science Foundation grant for work on its Herbarium database, known as AILANTHUS. The $300,000 grant will allow its curator, Dr. Kerry Barringer, and his staff to add to the existing database material on 60,000 records for a total of 90,000 contemporary and historical specimens from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut and make the information universally accessible via the Garden's website Since work began in July 2004, more than 18,000 specimens have been entered into the database. In addition, a total of 5,217 dried specimens have been accessioned by the Herbarium over the past 12 months.
The NSF-funded project, "AILANTHUS Grows in Brooklyn," will enable researchers around the world to compare contemporary and historical records of the flora in the New York metropolitan area in new ways—from analyzing changes in the distribution of plant species over time to exploring the decline of native species and the spread of invasives—thereby helping build a more accurate model of the contemporary environment. Using this data to track the effects of habitat loss and suburban sprawl, state and federal officials can gain the critical information they need to develop appropriate land-use regulations and improve understanding of native biodiversity.
Horticultural Taxonomy staff continued to update the database of living plants in the Garden, which now includes more than 500 photographs of plants in the BBG collection. The database is available for online searching. In addition, the horticultural taxonomy program will shortly have a major new publication: Dr. Mark Tebbitt's book, Begonias: Cultivation, Identification, and Natural History, will be published in fall 2005 by Timber Press.
Begonias are one of the most diverse and widely grown of all ornamental plants, comprising more than 1,500 wild species, of which about 400 are cultivated. Dr. Tebbitt's book describes more than 300 of the cultivated species and their most popular cultivars. The book also offers a thorough description of begonias' natural history and cultivation—including natural habitats, pollinators, and associated plant collectors and botanists—as well as easy-to-use identification keys. Dr. Tebbitt is currently working on a second book, Bleeding-hearts and Corydalis (also to be published by Timber Press), with co-authors Magnus Lidén and Henrik Zetterlund.
Researchers with the New York Metropolitan Flora (NYMF) continued their studies of wetland and aquatic plants. The main goal of NYMF is to catalog all plant life within a 50-mile radius of New York City and to compare current and historical data to ascertain changes in the area's plant life. Begun in 1989, the award-winning project seeks to provide a baseline understanding of how urbanization is affecting the local environment and to serve as a model of how to collect and use these data in other urban areas throughout the world.
In 2005, NYMF researchers completed a yearlong project, funded by the Eppley Foundation for Research, to study the taxonomy and spread of a number of nonnative species in the genera Aralia (spikenard) and Salix (willow). One important finding of this study was that the Aralia species usually called Hercules'-club in the Northeast is actually Japanese angelica tree, a nonnative plant—critical information for determining how to control this invasive species. NYMF also received a grant from the Biodiversity Research Institute of New York State to prepare and test interactive keys of local woody plants for use on personal digital assistants (PDAs).
The Science staff conducted systematic research in many other areas of the plant world. Dr. Jinshuang Ma continued his long interest in dawn redwood (Metasequoia) with several publications, fieldwork in central China, and contributions to symposia on the tree. Dr. Barringer carried on his work in Central and South American plants with a revision of Gibsoniothamnus and a new species of Daphnopsis. Dr. Tebbitt described several new species and pollinators of Begonia. Dr. Gerry Moore maintained his involvement in plant nomenclature with several publications, contributions to symposia, and service on the Spermatophyta Subcommittee of the International Plant Nomenclature Committee. Dr. Steve Clemants continued his research on the pigweeds and goosefeet with publications in Flora of North America and Flora of China.
BBG's Research Laboratory has been reinvigorated with the hiring of Dr. Susan Pell to oversee the facility. The research laboratory enables the staff to study the variation, structure, function, and genetics of a wide variety of plants. The lab is an integral part of the Garden's research efforts, as well as a tremendous learning environment for BBG's student interns.