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

[425979]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。尽管这很重要，但从来没有一本关于北美草的全面指南。现有的最好的记录只涵盖了较低的48个州，而且是从1951年开始的。目前对整个北美缺乏一种有效的治疗方法，这对许多不同领域的工作者来说是一个主要问题，包括生态学、土地管理、园艺学、杂草控制和植物系统学，因为所有这些都依赖于对所涉及植物的准确识别。另一个需要是清晰的线条图，以显示单个草物种的显著特征，因为草没有用来识别大多数其他开花植物的明显的花特征。玛丽·巴克沃斯博士的项目将完成关于草类的第二卷，即最后一卷的出版，这将首次提供对北美草类的全面说明。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多个贡献者，还有更多的人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，许多植物标本馆，包括海外的植物标本馆，提供了分布资料档案和/或借出标本作说明。犹他州立大学（Utah State University）的一个编辑团队负责确保处理方法之间、识别密钥与描述之间的一致性，并检查插图是否与识别密钥相辅相成。此外，他们还编制了索引，使人们能够利用一个普通名称或一个科学名称来确定个别物种的位置，并编制了两份参考书目，其中一份列出了编制分布图时所使用的公开资料来源，另一份列出了卷中所载的所有文献引文。这两个草卷将为那些寻求识别草的人提供无与伦比的资源。虽然是为北美地区设计的，但这本书在全世界都有价值，因为书中的物种包括墨西哥以北北美地区的所有原生物种，所有在该地区建立的引进物种，以及一些只在北美种植的物种，一些用于食物，一些用于娱乐用途（如高尔夫球场和足球场），还有一些作为观赏植物。此外，该卷还包括美国农业部确定的对美国农业构成潜在杂草威胁的所有草种，无论它们是否在北美被发现。本项目的主要重点是完成印刷卷，但一旦有了材料，就将其登载到网上，以便将其纳入教育材料，供正式和非正式场合使用。

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.