PBI: A Complete Web-based Monograph of the Tribe Miconieae (Melastomataceae)

由纽约植物园、佛罗里达大学、巴拉那联邦大学和加州科学院的科学家领导的一项合作努力，以及美国、拉丁美洲和欧洲的几个合作者，将产生一份关于野牡丹科植物家族中的小乔亚族的完整分类清单和专题描述。野牡丹科是一类来自美洲的1800多种植物，主要是热带雨林和山地森林中的乔木和灌木。这些植物具有重要的生态意义，因为它们在森林下层中的多样性和丰富性，以及它们是热带鸟类和哺乳动物的重要食物来源。小鼠亚科还包括夏威夷和南太平洋群岛上两种最严重的植物入侵(科斯特诅咒[克利德米亚]和紫色鼠疫[卡维斯滕斯])，这些入侵的分布变化将被记录下来。该项目将对所有1800个物种进行全面审查，结合野外、植物标本馆和实验室的研究，对该物种进行全面的分类调查和系统发育分析。这项研究产生的所有信息都将通过NYBG植物学数据库的专用模块--虚拟植物标本馆在线获取。该数据库将包括所有物种的完整描述和图像、识别它们的关键字以及每个物种的分布图。该项目将对美国和拉丁美洲的博士后助理和研究生进行现代专题治疗和分类学命名工具的培训。当地科学家将是实地工作不可或缺的一部分，还将接受培训，并将在项目第三年为拉丁美洲学生和科学家举办关于野牡丹科系统学和分类学的强化课程。

A collaborative effort led by scientists from The New York Botanical Garden, the University of Florida, the Universidade Federal de Paraná, and the California Academy of Sciences, along with several collaborators in the US, Latin America and Europe, will produce a complete taxonomic inventory and monographic description of the tribe Miconieae in the plant family Melastomataceae. Melastomataceae is a group of over 1800 species from the Americas, mostly trees and shrubs from tropical rain and montane forests. These plants are ecologically important due to their diversity and abundance in forest understories, and because they are an important food source for tropical birds and mammals. The Miconieae also include two of the worst plant invasives in the Hawaii and South Pacific Islands (Koster's curse [Clidemia hirta] and purple plague [Miconia calvescens]), and the distributional changes of these invasives will be documented. The project will comprehensively review all of the 1,800 species, combining studies in the field, herbarium, and laboratory to produce a thorough taxonomic inventory and phylogenetic analysis of the group. All of the information generated by the study will be available online through a dedicated module of NYBG's botanical database, the Virtual Herbarium. The database will include complete description and images for all species, keys for their identification, and distribution maps for each species. The project will train postdoctoral associates and graduate students in the US and Latin America on the tools of modern monographic treatments and taxonomic nomenclature. Local scientists will be integral part of the field work and will also be trained, and an intensive course for Latin American students and scientists on the systematics and taxonomy of the Melastomataceae will take place during the third year of the project.