REVSYS: Systematics of Amelanchier (Rosaceae)

Amelanchier包含大约20种北温带的树木和灌木。这些植物有吸引人的花朵，它们的果实对野生动物很重要，它们在园艺上很有价值。这些植物通常被称为灌木丛和服务浆果，原产于美国的每一个州，除了夏威夷。确定Amelanchier的种类一直是一个挑战，因为杂交是频繁的，并且通过杂交创造的新种类的植物可以广泛传播。有些形式的阴影很容易区分，而其他形式的阴影则以微小的方式彼此不同。本研究的目的是根据广泛的野外和实验室数据来定义该属的物种。这项研究将提供一个新的物种分类在生态上重要的植物组。研究结果将在科学文献和我们的网站（http：//biology.umaine.edu/Amelanchier/）上向植物学家、园艺学家、野生动物生态学家、保护生物学家、土地使用管理人员和其他人传播。对本科生和研究生进行植物系统学（分类）的培训对于保持我们理解和交流植物物种的能力至关重要。这项研究将通过研讨会提供外展，为K-12教师提供授粉生物学练习。

Amelanchier contains about 20 species of trees and shrubs of the North Temperate Zone. These plants bear attractive flowers, their fruits are important to wildlife, and they are valued horticulturally. Shadbushes and serviceberries, as these plants are commonly called, are native to every state of the United States except Hawaii. It has been a challenge to define the species of Amelanchier because hybridization is frequent, and novel kinds of plants created by hybridization can be widely dispersed. Some forms of shadbushes are easy to distinguish while others differ from one another in minute ways. The goal of this research is to define species in this genus based on extensive field and laboratory data. This research will provide a new classification of species in an ecologically important group of plants. Results will be disseminated in the scientific literature and on our web site (http://biology.umaine.edu/Amelanchier/) for botanists, horticulturists, wildlife ecologists, conservation biologists, land-use managers, and others. Training of undergraduate and graduate students in plant systematics (classification) is essential to maintaining our capacity to understand and communicate about plant species. This research will provide outreach through workshops to give K-12 teachers exercises in pollination biology for their students.