Moss Flora of Colombia

在许多热带生态系统中，苔藓是一种引人注目的元素，然而，居住在热带国家的人对它们知之甚少，甚至对从事苔藓研究的人也知之甚少。纽约植物园的史蒂文·邱吉尔博士开始了对南美国家哥伦比亚的第一次完整的苔藓盘点，为这个富饶的多山国家的大约900种苔藓制作了一份插图和描述性的报告。该项目涉及与哥伦比亚各机构的合作活动；丘吉尔博士将讲授他的苔藓研究，将帮助建立博物馆参考收藏，并将与教职员工和学生合作，以促进对这组植物的更好理解和研究可能性。第一阶段将包括在哥伦比亚32个省中的一半进行密集的野外采集，以增加美国、哥伦比亚和其他地方现有的植物标本馆的收藏。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部门，包括潮湿和干燥的热带植被，并延伸到中部山区。与此同时，将为一半的预期物种准备描述和插图。还需要完成的工作是编制一份哥伦比亚苔藓的学名清单和一份哥伦比亚分类群的植物标本馆标本目录，并在纽约植物园的一个计算机数据库中汇编。

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.