Moss Flora of Colombia

苔藓在许多热带生态系统中是一个显眼的元素，但居住在热带国家的人对它们知之甚少，甚至对那些研究苔藓的人也知之甚少。纽约植物园的史蒂文·丘吉尔博士开始了南美国家哥伦比亚的第一份完整的苔藓植物清单，对这个富饶的多山国家估计有900种苔藓进行了图文并茂的描述。该项目涉及与哥伦比亚机构的合作活动；丘吉尔博士将就他的苔藓研究发表演讲，将帮助为博物馆建立参考藏品，并将与教职员工和学生合作，促进对这一组植物的更好了解和研究。第一阶段将包括在哥伦比亚32个省中的一半进行密集的实地采集，以扩大美国、哥伦比亚和其他地方现有的植物标本收藏。收集区域将包括哥伦比亚的西半部，从沿海的太平洋和大西洋地区，那里既有潮湿的热带植被，也有干燥的热带植被，并延伸到中部山地地区。在这一阶段的同时，将为预期物种的一半编写说明和插图。还将完成编制哥伦比亚苔藓学名核对表和哥伦比亚植物标本馆标本目录的工作，编入纽约植物园的计算机数据库。

Mosses form a conspicuous element in many tropical ecosystems, yet they remain little known to those residing in tropical countries and little known even to those conducting research on mosses. Dr. Steven Churchill of the New York Botanical Garden has embarked on the first complete moss inventory of a South American country, Colombia, to produce an illustrated and descriptive account of the estimated 900 species of mosses of this rich, mountainous country. The project involves cooperative activities with Colombian institutions; Dr. Churchill will lecture on his moss researches, will help build reference collections for museums, and will work with staff and students to promote better understanding and research possbilities for this group of plants. The first phase will include intensive field collecting in half of the 32 departments of Colombia, to augment existing herbarium collections in the U.S., Colombia, and elsewhere. The area for collection will inlude the western half of Colombia from the coastal Pacific and Atlantic departments which contain both wet and dry tropical vegetation, and extending to central montane regions. Concurrent with this phase will be the preparation of descriptions and illustrations for half of the expected species. Also to be accomplished are preparation of a checklist of scientific names of Colombian mosses and a catalogue of herbarium specimens of Colombian taxa, compiled in a computer database at the New York Botanical Garden.