From Print to Web - Completing an Account of North America's Grasses and Initiating a Collaborative Web Site for Grass Floristics

巴克沃斯草是世界上最重要的植物群。它们提供了人类消耗的70%以上的卡路里，要么直接作为谷物，要么间接作为饲料。它们几乎生长在任何支持植物的栖息地，曾经是北美大部分地区的优势物种。尽管这一点很重要，但从来没有一本全面的北美牧草指南。最好的可用帐户仅覆盖较低的48个州，日期为1951年。对于包括生态学、土地管理、园艺、杂草控制和植物系统学在内的许多不同领域的工作者来说，目前整个北美缺乏治疗方法是一个主要问题，因为所有这些都依赖于对涉及的植物的准确识别。另外一个需要的是清晰的线条画，以显示个别草物种的区别特征，因为草不具有用于识别大多数其他开花植物的明显的花特征。玛丽·巴克沃斯博士的这个项目将完成关于草的第二卷，也就是最后一卷的出版，这将是第一次对北美的草进行全面的图文并茂的描述。这些卷反映了数百名分类学家的合作努力；这个数字包括70多名贡献者和更多的人，他们审查了个别治疗方法，提供了生成详细分布图所需的信息，并回答了问题。此外，许多草本植物，包括海外草本植物，都提供了分布信息和/或出借标本的档案，以供说明。犹他州立大学的一个编辑团队负责确保治疗之间以及识别关键和描述之间的一致性，并检查插图是否补充了识别关键。此外，他们还编制了索引，以便能够使用通用名称或科学名称和两个书目参考文献来定位单个物种的帐户，其中一个列出了用于编制分布图的已公布的信息来源，另一个列出了卷中所载的所有文献引用。这两种草将为那些寻求识别草的人提供无与伦比的资源。虽然是为在北美使用而设计的，但这些数量将在世界各地具有价值，因为所处理的物种包括所有原产于北美墨西哥北部的物种，所有现已在该地区建立的引进物种，以及就北美而言仅为栽培所知的几个物种，一些用于食用，一些用于娱乐用途(如高尔夫球场和足球场)，以及一些作为观赏植物。此外，这些数量包括美国农业部认定为对美国农业潜在威胁的所有草种，无论它们是否还在北美被发现。该项目的主要重点是完成印刷卷，但一旦有材料可用，就会将其公布在网上，以便编入教育材料，在正式和非正式环境中使用。

0425979Barkworth Grasses are the world's most important plant group. They provide over 70% of the calories humans consume, either directly as cereals or indirectly as forage. They grow in almost any habitat that supports plants, and were once the dominant species over large parts of North America. Despite this importance, there has never been a comprehensive guide to the grasses of North America. The best available account covers only the lower 48 states and dates from 1951. The lack of a current treatment for the whole of North America is a major problem for workers in many different fields, including ecology, land management, horticulture, weed control, and plant systematics because all depend on accurate identification of the plants involved. An additional need is for clear line drawings that show the distinguishing features of individual grass species because grasses do not have the conspicuous floral features that are used to identify most other flowering plants. The project by Dr. Mary Barkworth will complete the publication of the second, final volume on grasses that will provide, for the first time, a fully illustrated account of the grasses of North America. The volumes reflect the collaborative efforts of literally hundreds of taxonomists; this number includes over 70 contributors and an even larger number who have reviewed individual treatments, provided the information needed to generate detailed distribution maps, and answered questions. In addition, many herbaria, including overseas herbaria, have provided files of distributional information and/or loaned specimens for illustration. An editorial team at Utah State University is responsible for ensuring consistency, both among the treatments and between the identification keys and the descriptions, and for checking that the illustrations complement the identification keys. In addition, they developed the indices that enable the account of individual species to be located using either a common name or a scientific name, and two bibliographic references, one listing published sources of information used in preparing the distribution maps and another listing all the literature citations contained in the volume. These two grass volumes will provide an unparalleled resource for those seeking to identify grasses. Although designed for use within North America, the volumes will be of value throughout the world because the species treated include all species native to North America north of Mexico, all the introduced species that are now established in this region, and several species that, so far as North America is concerned, are known only in cultivation, some for food, some for recreational use (such as golf greens and football fields), and some as ornamentals. In addition, the volumes include all the grass species that the USDA has identified as potential weed threats to U.S. agriculture, whether or not they have yet been found in North America. The primary emphasis of this project is on completion of the print volumes but, as material becomes available, it is posted to the Web, so that it can be incorporated into educational materials for use in both formal and informal settings.