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| World Checklist of Selected Plant Families | |
|---|---|
| Name | World Checklist of Selected Plant Families |
| Producer | Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Started | 2000s |
| Discipline | Botany |
| Formats | Database, online |
World Checklist of Selected Plant Families is a comprehensive taxonomic database compiled by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, intended to provide authoritative plant name checklists and synonymy for selected vascular plant families. The resource supports biodiversity research, conservation planning and nomenclatural stability and is used by institutions such as the International Union for Conservation of Nature, Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland, and major herbaria including the Missouri Botanical Garden, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and the New York Botanical Garden. Its compilation draws on global floristic projects, engaging taxonomists affiliated with the Natural History Museum, United States Department of Agriculture, and national botanical institutions in Brazil, China, Australia and South Africa.
The World Checklist of Selected Plant Families presents validated scientific names, authorship, publication details and accepted synonyms to support taxonomic decisions used by the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Global Biodiversity Information Facility, the International Plant Names Index and conservation assessments by the IUCN. As a curated dataset it interfaces with major botanical infrastructures such as the Catalogue of Life, Tropicos, Plants of the World Online and the Global Genome Biodiversity Network and underpins floristic works referenced by the Flora of China, Flora Malesiana, Flora Europaea and regional checklists from institutions like Kew, Missouri Botanical Garden and the Australian National Herbarium.
The checklist originated at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew during initiatives in the late 20th and early 21st centuries to harmonize plant nomenclature across projects led by figures associated with Kew, the Natural History Museum and academic networks at the University of Oxford, University of Cambridge and Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. Development intersected with projects supported by the Wellcome Trust, the Leverhulme Trust and the Darwin Initiative, and was influenced by conventions such as the International Botanical Congress and the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants. Collaboration included taxonomists from the National Herbarium of New South Wales, the Botanical Research Institute of Texas, and botanists contributing from the National Museum of Natural History in Paris and the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
The checklist focuses on selected vascular plant families chosen for strategic taxonomic coverage, aligning with priorities set by institutions such as the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation and partners like the United Nations Environment Programme. Methodology relies on primary literature cited by authors from the Missouri Botanical Garden, Harvard University Herbaria, and Smithsonian Institution, and on specimen data from herbaria including Kew, the British Museum, the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh and the Arnold Arboretum. Editorial processes follow standards promoted at meetings of the International Association for Plant Taxonomy and guidance from the Linnean Society, employing peer review by specialists associated with universities such as the University of California, Berkeley, University of São Paulo, and Peking University.
Entries include accepted names, basionyms, synonyms, type citations and publication details drawn from taxonomic monographs, revisions and floras such as the Flora Zambesiaca, Flora of North America, Flora of Australia and the Prodromus works historically associated with institutions like the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle. Coverage spans families treated in projects coordinated by Kew and collaborating centers including the International Rice Research Institute, Centro de Investigación Científica de Yucatán, and the South African National Biodiversity Institute. The dataset supports linkage to specimen records held at the New York Botanical Garden Herbarium, the Field Museum, the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and national collections in China, Brazil, India and Mexico.
The checklist has been disseminated via online services maintained by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and integrated into platforms such as the Global Biodiversity Information Facility, the Catalogue of Life, and national portals run by institutions like the Australian Biological Resources Study and the United States Department of Agriculture PLANTS database. Use policies align with data-sharing agreements invoked by agencies including the European Environment Agency and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization; collaborations have involved legal frameworks negotiated with national governments and collections such as the National Herbarium of New South Wales and the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh.
The resource has been cited in conservation assessments conducted by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, in floristic syntheses by the Missouri Botanical Garden and in taxonomic treatments published through publishers such as Springer and Cambridge University Press. It has influenced botanical policy discussions at meetings of the International Botanical Congress and informed databases run by the Biodiversity Heritage Library, Tropicos, and the International Plant Names Index. Reception among taxonomists at universities and herbaria including Harvard University Herbaria, the Natural History Museum and the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew has emphasized its role in stabilizing nomenclature and supporting global biodiversity informatics initiatives led by organizations like the Global Biodiversity Information Facility and the Catalogue of Life.
The checklist interoperates with international resources such as the Global Biodiversity Information Facility, the Catalogue of Life, the Biodiversity Heritage Library, Tropicos and the International Plant Names Index, enabling cross-references for users at institutions including the New York Botanical Garden, Missouri Botanical Garden, and the Smithsonian Institution. Integration supports workflows used by conservation programs under the Convention on Biological Diversity, by botanical gardens like Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh and by research networks at the University of Cambridge, University of Oxford and Peking University.
Category:Databases Category:Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew