Plants of the World Online

Plants of the World Online
Name	Plants of the World Online
Type	Botanical database
Owner	Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
Launched	2017
Languages	English
Cost	Free

Plants of the World Online Plants of the World Online is an online botanical resource maintained by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. The portal aggregates taxonomic, nomenclatural, distributional, and conservation information about vascular plants and bryophytes to support research by institutions such as the Natural History Museum, Smithsonian Institution, and Missouri Botanical Garden. It serves users from universities like the University of Oxford, Harvard University, and University of Tokyo, as well as agencies including the United Nations Environment Programme and International Union for Conservation of Nature.

Overview

The database provides authoritative species names, synonyms, specimen citations, and geographic ranges used by herbaria such as the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Herbarium Berolinense, and New York Botanical Garden. It references floras including Flora Europaea, Flora of China, Flora Malesiana, and Flora of North America, and integrates standards from the International Plant Names Index and the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants. Researchers at institutions like Royal Society, Linnean Society, and Alexander von Humboldt Institute rely on the portal for curation, while policy makers at World Wildlife Fund, Convention on Biological Diversity, and Global Environment Facility use it for reporting.

History and Development

Origins trace to historical collections and figures such as Sir Joseph Banks, Carl Linnaeus, and Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker, with foundational specimens from explorers like Alexander von Humboldt, James Cook, and Joseph Hooker. The project built on earlier initiatives including Kew’s Index Kewensis, the Millennium Seed Bank Partnership, and the Kew Gardens' digitisation efforts undertaken with partners like the Wellcome Trust and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Key milestones involved collaborations with institutions such as the British Museum, Royal Society, and European Commission projects that paralleled initiatives like the Global Biodiversity Information Facility and the Barcode of Life Data Systems.

Content and Coverage

Coverage spans flowering plants, gymnosperms, ferns, lycophytes, and mosses, drawing on works such as Species Plantarum, Genera Plantarum, and regional monographs from Botanischer Garten und Botanisches Museum Berlin, Australian National Herbarium, and South African National Biodiversity Institute. Entries include taxon treatments analogous to those in Curtis’s Botanical Magazine, K Botanical Monographs, and monographs by authors like Asa Gray, George Bentham, and Alphonse de Candolle. Conservation assessments reference the IUCN Red List, CITES appendices, and assessments used by institutions including WWF, BirdLife International, and Conservation International.

Taxonomy and Data Sources

Taxonomic backbone integrates datasets from the International Plant Names Index, World Checklist of Selected Plant Families, Tropicos, Global Compositae Checklist, and Catalogue of Life, with nomenclatural authorities such as Linnaeus, Bentham, and Gray cited. Specimen data derive from herbaria including Kew (K), BM, NY, P, US, and E, and from digitisation initiatives by Biodiversity Heritage Library, JSTOR Global Plants, and Royal Society archives. Phylogenetic input references studies published in journals like Nature, Science, Taxon, and American Journal of Botany, and from researchers at institutions such as Max Planck Institute, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, and Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh.

Technology and Platform

The platform uses database and web technologies comparable to those employed by Global Biodiversity Information Facility, Encyclopedia of Life, and Dryad, with indexing and search features similar to Google Scholar and CrossRef. Geographic mapping leverages standards and tools akin to GeoServer and ArcGIS, and integrates taxonomic concept management approaches used by Plazi and Scratchpads. Digitisation pipelines mirror projects at Zooniverse and the Biodiversity Heritage Library, while persistent identifiers and metadata practices relate to DOI assignments by CrossRef and data schemas endorsed by Research Data Alliance.

Collaborations and Contributors

Major contributors include Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew staff and curators, collaborating botanists from universities such as Cambridge, Yale, and Kyoto University, and partner organizations including the Royal Society, Linnean Society, and Natural History Museum, London. International collaborators comprise staff from Missouri Botanical Garden, New York Botanical Garden, Australian National Herbarium, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, and South African National Biodiversity Institute, as well as projects funded or supported by the Wellcome Trust, Leverhulme Trust, European Commission, and Darwin Initiative. Named botanists and taxonomists associated with content include David Mabberley, Peter Raven, John Hutchinson, Richard Spruce, and Barbara Pickersgill.

Impact and Reception

Scholars and institutions such as the Royal Society, National Academies, and International Union for Conservation of Nature cite the database for taxonomy, conservation planning, and biodiversity assessments. It is used in policy contexts by the Convention on Biological Diversity, Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, and national red listing processes in countries such as Brazil, South Africa, and Australia. Reviews and usage by journals like Nature, Science, PLOS Biology, and Conservation Biology highlight its role alongside resources such as GBIF, Tropicos, and Catalogue of Life in supporting botanical research, restoration projects, and international conservation programs.

Category:Botanical databases