U.S.-Vietnam Planning Visit: Systematics and Conservation Assessment of Rattans in the Indo-Burma Region of Tropical Asia

该奖项支持布朗克斯纽约植物园的Andrew Henderson博士与河内生态与生物资源研究所（IEBR）的Le Xuan Canh博士的计划访问。此次访问将有助于制定藤本植物系统学和生态学合作计划，并对越南藤本植物区系进行联合调查。热带亚洲的印度-缅甸地区拥有世界上最多样化和最受威胁的陆地栖息地。这次访问是对该地区藤本植物进行长期分类研究和保护评估的一部分。这项研究将在该地区的几个关键国家产生第一个权威的、基于标本的藤处理方法。这项研究具有特别的分类学价值，因为它采用了区域性方法，即在每个国家的评估中使用了类似的方法和共享的标本数据库。这种方法避免了一个国家的未识别标本被描述为新的当地特有物种的常见问题，而它们可能是邻国的知名物种。采集活性与目标属样线取样的耦合是有效表征植物多样性的重要进展。拟议研究的结果还将有助于培训当地科学家和外地工作人员收集和处理藤标本的方法以及进行数量清查，这将对藤的养护和野生种群的监测产生重大影响。预计未来的研究将为美国研究生提供独特的培训和教育机会，使他们能够获得全球经验。预计来自两国的科学家和学生之间的这些早期合作将导致长期合作，这将使两个机构受益。

0512110HendersonThis award supports a planning visit to enable Dr. Andrew Henderson of the New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx to meet with Dr. Le Xuan Canh in the Institute of Ecology and Biological Resources (IEBR) in Hanoi. The visit will help develop a collaborative plan for the systematics and ecology of rattans and provide for a joint survey on rattan flora in Vietnam. The Indo-Burma region of tropical Asia contains some of the most diverse and threatened terrestrial habitats in the world. This visit is part of a long-term taxonomic study and conservation assessment of the rattans (Palmae) in this region. The research will produce the first authoritative, specimen-based treatment of rattans in several key countries in the regions. The research is of particular taxonomic value because of its regional approach, i.e. a similar methodology and a shared specimen database is used in each country assessment. This approach avoids the common problem of unidentified specimens from one country being described a new local endemics when they may be a well-known species in a neighboring country. The coupling of collecting activity with line-transect sampling of targeted genera is a significant advance in the efficient characterization of botanical diversity. The results of the proposed research will also assists in the training of local scientists and field crews in the methodologies of collecting and processing rattan specimens and conducting quantitative inventories will have significant implications for rattan conservation and the monitoring of wild stocks. It is also anticipated that future research will provide unique training and educational opportunities for U.S. graduate students by enabling them to obtain a global experience. It is anticipated that these early collaborations between the scientists and students from each country will lead to long-term collaborations that will benefit both institutions.