Floristic inventory of a neglected biodiversity hotspot: Myanmar's Northern Forest Complex

缅甸北部森林综合体拥有东南亚大陆现存最大的原始森林。该地区被认为是生物多样性的热点，估计有6000种物种，其中1500种估计是其他地方没有的。然而，在过去的75年里，这个鲜为人知且在植物学上很重要的地区基本上对研究人员关闭了，因此植物多样性的真实程度尚未确定。该项目将对Hkakborazi-Hponganrazi地区进行自20世纪初以来的第一次密集的植物学调查，并填补对东南亚植物多样性了解的一个重大空白。来自纽约植物园、野生动物保护协会、爱丁堡皇家植物园和缅甸林业部的研究人员将在一年中的不同时间在Hkakborazi-Hponganrazi地区进行广泛采样，以最大限度地增加收集稀有或狭义特有物种的机会。由此产生的收集和分配数据将直接提供给缅甸林业部，用于该区域内的规划决策。该项目还将改善国际科学基础设施和合作，对植物学家和林农进行田间和植物标本馆技术方面的培训，并提高缅甸森林研究所植物标本馆的研究能力。所有收集的标本将被数字化、数据库和地理参考，其数据将通过一个开放访问的缅甸植物网络门户网站在因特网上提供。此外，还将编制一份Hkakborazi-Hponganrazi维管植物种类的分类清单。作为该项目的一部分进行的收藏将促进研究专家对缅甸植物区系的分类研究，并支持分子系统发育和生态研究。样本数据还将提供做出影响北方森林复合体生态系统的规划决策所需的基线信息，并促进对东南亚地区植物多样性模式的广泛分析。

Myanmar's Northern Forest complex hosts the largest remaining tracts of primary forest in mainland Southeast Asia. The area is recognized as a biodiversity hotspot with an estimated 6,000 species of which 1,500 species are estimated to exist nowhere else. However, this poorly known and botanically important region has been largely closed off to researchers for the past 75 years so the true extent of plant diversity has yet to be established. This project will conduct the first intensive botanical inventory of the Hkakaborazi-Hponganrazi region since the early 20th century and fill a major gap in the understanding of Southeast Asian plant diversity. Researchers from New York Botanical Garden, Wildlife Conservation Society, Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, and the Myanmar Forest Department will sample broadly throughout the Hkakaborazi-Hponganrazi region at different times of the year to maximize chances of collecting rare or narrowly endemic species. Resulting collection and distribution data will be provided directly to the Myanmar Forest Department for use in planning decisions within the region. The project will also improve international scientific infrastructure and collaboration by training botanists and foresters in field and herbarium techniques and by improving research capacity in Myanmar's Forest Research Institute herbarium.All collected specimens will be digitized, databased, georeferenced and their data will be made available on the internet through an open-access Myanmar flora web portal. A taxonomic checklist of the vascular plant species of Hkakaborazi-Hponganrazi will also be produced. Collections made as a part of this project will stimulate taxonomic research on the Myanmar flora by research specialists and support molecular phylogenetic and ecological studies. Specimen data will also provide the baseline information required to make planning decisions affecting the Northern Forest Complex ecosystem, and facilitate broad scale analyses of plant diversity patterns within Southeast Asia.