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Brooklyn Botanic Garden 2006 Annual Report
Science
The Garden's Horticultural Taxonomy program conducts research on the classification of cultivated plants and oversees the identification of BBG's plant collections and the records of close to 16,000 plant accessions. Recent grants from the Stanley Smith Horticultural Trust and Hyde Watson Foundation funded the purchase of hardware and software that enables BBG scientists to precisely map the locations of its living collections. The information is used to update the public labels in the Garden as well as our illustrated, searchable database of living plants, which now includes more than 500 photographs.
BBG's Molecular Research Laboratory enables the Science staff to study the evolution and genetics of a wide variety of plants and is an excellent educational resource for middle and high school student interns.
Over the past year, a total of 5,194 new specimens were accessioned into the BBG Herbarium, a collection of approximately 290,000 dried plants dating back as far as 1798. Curator Dr. Kerry Barringer and his staff continued to work on a comprehensive National Science Foundation-funded project to catalog 90,000 contemporary and historical specimens from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut, and to make this information available to the public through a searchable database accessible from BBG's website. Using this resource, researchers and ecologists around the world are able to study vegetation history and environmental change, including the effects of habitat loss and urban sprawl on regional flora. Since work began in July 2004, more than 40,000 specimens have been entered into BBG's proprietary AILANTHUS (All Integrated LiterAture, NomenclaTure, and HerbariUm System) database.
Dr. Susan Pell now has BBG's Molecular Research Laboratory fully operational, having purchased several key pieces of equipment over the past year, including a new tissue disrupter, centrifuge, water purification system, and vacuum concentrator. The facility will enable the Science staff to study the evolution and genetics of a wide variety of plants. Besides facilitating research, the laboratory is an excellent educational resource for the middle and high school students interning at BBG. Dr. Pell also received a grant from Conservation International to fund a collecting expedition to Papua New Guinea.
Researchers with the New York Metropolitan Flora (NYMF) project continued their studies of wetland and aquatic plants, supported in part by funding from the Eppley Foundation for Research. 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.
NYMF staff also devoted much time to preparing a comprehensive set of interactive keys for the woody plants of the New York Metropolitan region. This research was funded in part through a grant from the Biodiversity Research Institute of New York State. The finalized version of the keys, which can be used either on a PC or a handheld PDA, will be released to the public in late 2006. Dr. Gerry Moore gave presentations on the NYMF program at the Northeast Natural History Conference IX, in Albany, New York; at the symposium "What Is Local?: Genetics and Plant Selection in the Urban Context," held at the American Museum of Natural History, in New York City; and at the symposium "Ecology and Management of Atlantic White Cedar (Chamaecyparis thyoides) Ecosystems," held in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
Students from BASE and the Harlem Children Society use interactive keys to the woody plants of the New York Metropolitan area, developed by staff of the New York Metropolitan Flora project, to identify plant specimens.
BBG's six Ph.D.-holding scientists, recognized experts in a wide variety of plant families, carried on systematic research in many areas. Dr. Jinshuang Ma continued his research on the flora of China and in particular on the dawn redwood (Metasequoia glyptostroboides), and he helped plan a conference on the species to be held at Yale University in August 2006. Dr. Pell extended her research in molecular systematics, especially in the cashew family (Anacardiaceae). Dr. Mark Tebbitt expanded his research on the systematics of Begonia, including the description of new species.
Dr. Barringer carried on his research on the local flora, including the preparation of a flora for the Franklin Parker Preserve in the New Jersey Pine Barrens. Dr. Moore continued his involvement in plant nomenclature and edited papers for Taxon, the journal of the International Association for Plant Taxonomy. Dr. Steven Clemants, vice president of Science, reported on his research on the pigweeds and goosefoots (Chenopodiaceae) with publications in Flora of Japan. Drs. Clemants and Moore continued analyzing the changes of the flora of the New York City area and published a paper in Urban Habitats, Brooklyn Botanic Garden's scientific journal, for which they both serve as editors. In summer 2005, Drs. Clemants, Ma, and Moore attended the XVII International Botanical Congress, held in Vienna. Dr. Moore also took part in a weeklong session on botanical nomenclature held before the congress.
In September, the Garden sponsored a one-day conference for the Science Writers in New York (SWINY), a local affiliate of the National Association of Science Writers. Drs. Barringer, Moore, Pell, Tebbitt, and Clemants gave presentations, and conference participants toured the BBG grounds and research facilities.