Growing resources

Botanical gardens have been assembling collections of data on local computer networks for some time, but access to these databases via the internet is a more recent innovation. For a look at some of the latest trends in online botanical-garden resources, check out the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE). The RBGE’s searchable data sets lead visitors to the Araliales Resource Centre, which provides molecular, taxonomic and genetic resources, as well as lists of researchers and recent publications. Other databases at RBGE include the Flora Europaea and the Dipterocarpaceae Data Base. Perhaps the best resource at RBGE, at least in terms of its general usefulness, is BG-Base. This application makes it easy for individual sites to build large relational databases and to create virtual collections online. For an example of the power of this data-amassing tool, see Multisite Living Collections Searches at RBGE. This one search form accesses information from ten different institutions. On the other side of the Atlantic, the Missouri Botanical Garden (MBG) is doing its part to put resources for botanists online. W3TROPICOS provides online access to MBG’s Vascular Tropicos database. If you’re interested in pictures, try the TROPICOS Image Index. It groups entries by family or, using the Generic Alphabetical Lists option, by species name. Other offerings from MBG’s crop of research sites include Bryology at the Missouri Botanical Garden, Field Techniques Used by Missouri Botanical Garden and Taxonomic Treatments, a collection of sites covering seven families of angiosperms. The Australian National Botanic Gardens (ANBG) web site focuses its efforts on documenting the southern continent’s wealth of native species. Along with expected information on the gardens themselves, this site includes the Australian Biological Resources Study, Access to Database Information, and more. Many of ANBG’s resources keep track of rare or threatened species. The Centre for Plant Biodiversity Research, a collaboration between ANBG and Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), documents and conserves the diversity of Australia’s flora. The Australian National Herbarium, which has grown out of this collaboration, now consists of 1.3 million plant specimens. Many botanical garden databases currently lack photos of the plants and herbarium specimens they feature. The ANBG’s National Plant Photographic Index, as its name suggests, stands out in this respect. The version that uses the ‘frames’ on-screen format makes hunting for plants easy, if you know the family name. Otherwise, try the ANBG Photo Search. The New York Botanical Garden’s strength lies in its searchable databases. The Botanical Science Division gives an overview of the research-related information offered at this site and facilitates navigation. The Herbarium Specimen Catalog provides researchers with a powerful searching tool for isolating information from this vast collection. Visitors can limit searches to specific projects, such as North American Gymnosperms or Macrofungi. Alternatively, they can search the whole collection using one or more of the 11 data fields. A resource of a different type is the Index Herbariorum, which is the ultimate yellow-page listing for herbaria and their associated researchers. Visitors can use the search page to explore an index of 2,010 herbaria in 134 countries, arranged by institution, geographical region, person, or research specialty. People will always visit botanical gardens to see plants from all over the world. With the web, however, these institutions can also share their collections with researchers from a wide geographical distribution. It might not compare with getting out and seeing these plants in their native environments, but improving access to valuable research materials can only be a good thing when it comes to understanding plants and preserving botanical diversity.