Plant List

Plant List
Name	Plant List
Type	Botanical database
Established	2010
Developer	Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew; Missouri Botanical Garden; other partners
Country	United Kingdom; United States
Access	Online

Plant List The Plant List was a collaborative botanical database created to provide a working list of all known plant species. It aimed to aggregate taxonomic names and synonymy for vascular plants and bryophytes, serving researchers at institutions such as the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, the Missouri Botanical Garden, and universities including University of Oxford and Harvard University. The project intersected with efforts by international bodies like the International Union for Conservation of Nature and the Convention on Biological Diversity to standardize nomenclature for conservation, herbaria curation, and biodiversity informatics.

Overview

The database compiled accepted names and synonyms for plant taxa, integrating contributions from botanical institutions such as the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, the Kew Herbarium, and the New York Botanical Garden. It operated alongside repositories and standards like the International Plant Names Index, the Global Biodiversity Information Facility, and the World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. The initiative supported policy and research stakeholders including the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the United Nations Environment Programme, and botanical networks tied to the Biodiversity Heritage Library.

History and Development

Conceived during meetings among curators and taxonomists from organizations such as the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and the Missouri Botanical Garden, the project launched publicly in 2010. Development drew on historical resources and nomenclatural codes influenced by authorities like the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants and referenced collections from institutions such as the Natural History Museum, London and the Smithsonian Institution. Subsequent updates and successor services involved collaboration with projects at the Botanical Garden of the University of Copenhagen and contributed to dialogues at conferences like the International Botanical Congress.

Taxonomy and Criteria

Taxonomic decisions in the project used conventions from the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants and guidance from taxonomic specialists associated with organizations such as the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh and the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle. The dataset categorized names as "accepted", "synonym", or "unresolved" based on evidence from monographs, floras, and checklists produced by authors linked to institutions like the Missouri Botanical Garden Press and the Harvard University Herbaria. Editorial criteria referenced treatment standards applied in works like the Flora of China, the Flora Europaea, and regional floras maintained by the Australian National Herbarium.

Content and Coverage

At launch the compilation contained names for over a million plant taxa, encompassing entries used by curators at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew herbarium, researchers at the Missouri Botanical Garden, and contributors from the Kew Millennium Seed Bank. Coverage spanned vascular plants, bryophytes, and pteridophytes with linkages to specimen records at the Natural History Museum, London, sequence data repositories referenced by European Bioinformatics Institute, and conservation assessments by the IUCN Red List. The dataset was utilized by botanical gardens such as the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and the New York Botanical Garden for label standardization and by academic projects at the University of Cambridge and Stanford University for biodiversity analyses.

Data Sources and Methodology

Primary data sources included checklists and monographs from institutions such as the Missouri Botanical Garden and the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, and nomenclatural inputs from the International Plant Names Index. Methodology combined expert curation from taxonomists affiliated with the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and automated matching algorithms used in biodiversity informatics platforms like the Global Biodiversity Information Facility. The workflow referenced specimen metadata standards maintained by the Biodiversity Information Standards (TDWG) and digitization practices promoted by the Biodiversity Heritage Library.

Use and Reception

Researchers at universities such as University of Oxford and Harvard University employed the list for taxonomic reconciliation in ecological and phylogenetic studies, while conservation practitioners linked assessments to the IUCN Red List and policy frameworks under the Convention on Biological Diversity. Botanical institutions including the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and the Missouri Botanical Garden recommended the resource as a starting point for nomenclatural checks. Peer communities at meetings of the International Botanical Congress and users of platforms like the Global Biodiversity Information Facility discussed the utility of a unified checklist for specimen data mobilization.

Limitations and Criticism

Critiques from taxonomists associated with academic centers such as Kew-affiliated researchers, curators at the New York Botanical Garden, and contributors to the International Plant Names Index highlighted issues including unresolved names, incomplete synonymy, and the static nature of release cycles compared with dynamic taxonomic revisions published in journals like Taxon and regional floras such as the Flora of North America. Users noted gaps when compared to alternative services like the World Flora Online initiative and the World Checklist of Vascular Plants, prompting calls within forums of the International Botanical Congress and working groups in the Global Biodiversity Information Facility for interoperable, regularly updated taxonomic backbones.

Category:Botanical databases