| APPENDIX
CONTACT ADDRESSES AND BRIEF DESCRIPTIONS OF PACKAGES AND DATABASES
(a) Examples of dedicated packages for botanical databases
BG-BASE (Botanic Garden-Base)
This package caters for institutions such as botanic gardens, herbaria and arboreta. It is a complex relational database package containing some 4 500 data fields spread across some 200 tables (or files). However, not all of these fields and tables are used for any one application and the package is divided into a number of modules for specific uses - such as for living collections (e.g. botanic gardens), preserved collections (e.g. herbaria), conservation (e.g. conservation laws and areas) and images (e.g. photographs and artwork). The living collections module, for instance, is based on the International Transfer Format (ITF) for botanic garden plant records (see Chapter 4) and includes files for taxonomy, accessions, individual plants, geographical distributions, collectors and data sources.
Not surprisingly, given its complexity, this is a relatively expensive package best suited for institutions; the actual cost depends on which module (or modules) are required.
Further information may be obtained from:
Kerry S. Walter and Rob Cubey
c/o Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh
Inverleith Row, Edinburgh, EH3 5LR, Scotland
E-mail: bg-base@rbre.org.uk
or from:
Michael J. O'Neal
c/o The Holden Arboretum
9500 Sperry Road, Kirtland, OH 44094-5172, USA
E-mail: moneal@pop.holdenarb.org
BG-RECORDER (Botanic Garden Recorder)
This package is similar in some respects to the living collections module of BG-BASE, but is simpler. It has been specially designed for storing botanic garden records and is a relational database consisting of seven tables (or files), as follows:
FAMILIES - A standard list of plant families already provided in the package.
GENERA - A file for each genus represented in the botanic garden collection.
PLANT NAMES - A file for species names in the collection (can also store infraspecific names such as subspecies and varieties).
ACCESSIONS - A file for details of plant accessions.
PLANT - A file for recording information on individual plants.
COUNTRIES - A standard list of countries and country codes (ISO codes) provided in the package.
LOCATIONS - A file for recording plant locations within the botanic garden.
The fields in the database are based on those described in the International Transfer Format (ITF) for botanic garden plant records (see Chapter 4).
Various print-outs can be made from the package, including display and herbarium labels. The package has been designed to be used by non-computer specialists.
It can be obtained at no charge provided you are a member of Botanic Garden Conservation International, whose contact address is as follows:
Botanic Garden Conservation International
Descanso House, 199 Kew Road,
Richmond, Surrey, TW9 3BW, UK
E-mail: bgci@rbgkew.org.uk
BRAHMS (Biological Records and Herbarium Management System)
This package has been developed mainly for storing information on herbarium specimens. It a relational database containing a number of different options, including facilities for map production.
Further information may be obtained from:
Denis Filer
Department of Plant Sciences
Oxford University, Oxford, England
E-mail: denis.filer@plant-sciences.oxford.ac.uk
ALICE
This is a relational database designed for species-based information. A key component of the database is a system for handling plant (or animal) names. Other files include those for distributions, descriptions, bibliographies and for project-specific information. Facilities are provided for report writing and for importing and exporting data.
The cost of the full database system is £1750, and for just the core system £650.
Further information may be obtained from:
Bob Allkin
Royal Botanic Garden
Kew, Richmond, Surrey, TW9 3AB, England
or from:
Peter Winfield
Scottish Agricultural Science Agency
Craigs Road, Edinburgh, EH12 8NJ, Scotland
(b) Examples of established databases
TROPICOS
This is a taxonomic database containing over 400 000 plant names from around the world. It is being used for the flora of North America and for the flora of China. The main files are for names, geographical distributions, herbarium specimens and for bibliographies. The database contains other information on, for example, chromosome numbers and plant uses.
Further information may be obtained from:
TROPICOS
Missouri Botanical Garden
Box 299, St Louis, MO 63166, USA
Threatened Plants Database of the World Conservation Monitoring Centre
A database (using the BG-BASE package) of threatened plants of the world containing some 135 000 plant names. Contact address:
World Conservation Monitoring Centre
219 Huntingdon Road, Cambridge, CB3 ODL, England
Internet site: www.wcmc.org.uk
ILDIS (International Legume Database and Information Service)
This database was set up to record the diversity of the legume family of plants. It is a species-based database containing around 15 000 accepted scientific names. Also included in the database is information on geographical distribution, life form, habitat, conservation status and uses, plus references to published descriptions, illustrations and maps.
Further information may be obtained from:
ILDIS Coordination Centre
School of Biological Sciences
University of Southampton, Southampton, SO16 7PX, England
SEPASAL (Survey of Economic Plants for Arid and Semi-arid Lands)
This database was established to provide development organisations and individual research workers with information on useful plants of drier regions. At present the database contains information on about 6000 species, the main items of information being scientific name, geographical distribution, life form, habitat, uses and site and climate tolerances. Extra fields are to be added, such as for cultivation details, seed sources and chemical analyses. Alongside SEPASAL is a bibliographic database containing over 150 000 references.
Further information may be obtained from:
SEPASAL
Centre for Economic Botany
Royal Botanic Gardens
Kew, Richmond, Surrey, TW9 3AE, England
LEAP (List of East African Plants)
This database is described in Chapter 8.
Further information may be obtained from:
East African Herbarium
National Museums of Kenya
P.O.Box 40658
Nairobi, Kenya, Africa
PRECIS (Pretoria National Herbarium Computerised Information System)
This is a taxonomic database that deals both with an herbarium collection and with a list of the plants of South Africa. The database includes information on the geographical distribution of plant species and on collecting intensity.
Further information may be obtained from:
Pretoria National Herbarium
Pretoria, 0001, South Africa
(c) Contacts regarding standards
TDWG (International Working Group on Taxonomic Databases for Plant Sciences)
TDWG Secretariat: George F. Russell, Department of Botany, MRC 166, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 20560, USA
E-mail: mnhbo005@sivm.si.edu
TDWG current group chairman: Francisco Pando de la Hoz, Real Jardin Botanico, CSIC, Plaza de Murillo 2, 28014, Madrid, Spain
E-mail: pando@ma-rjb.csic.es
ITF (International Transfer Format for Botanic Garden Plant Records)
Diane Wyse Jackson, Botanic Gardens Conservation International, Descanso House, 199 Kew Road, Richmond, Surrey, TW9 3BW, England
Tree Conservation Monitoring Centre of the World Conservation Monitoring Centre
World Conservation Monitoring Centre, 219 Huntingdon Road, Cambridge, CB3 ODL, England
IUCN (International Union for the Conservation of Nature) -- The World Conservation Union
IUCN, Rue Mauverney 28, CH-1196, Gland, Switzerland
DELTA (Descriptive Language for Taxonomy)
Note that DELTA is both an international standard and a specialised set of packages (see Box 1.3)
DELTA, M.J. Dallwitz, CSIRO Division of Entomology, P.O.Box 1700, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia
E-mail: delta@ento.csiro.au
Internet site: http://www.keil.ukans.edu/delta/.
Vascular Plant Families and Genera
This is a standard list of names, available in both book and diskette form)
R.K. Brummitt, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond, Surrey, TW9 3AE, England
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