Botanical Survey

Some of the work in the herbaria relates to the assessment of plant diversity of a given area – it covers a wide range of plant species in a limited part of the world. We call this aspect of our work botanic survey, in contrast to monography and systematics, which deal typically with a single genus across its whole range. In a broad sense, botanic survey covers botanical exploration and sampling of vegetation, the analysis of patterns in the flora and ultimately recommendations or tools for management.

Botanical survey depends on both an ability to identify plants in the field, and to collate and manage the data associated with species-rich vegetation. We therefore develop databases (see BRAHMS) and identification tools like the virtual field herbarium and field guides for various audiences. Much of the work involves the collection, databasing and management of herbarium specimens and of historical literature and collections.

For many projects our goal is the distillation of botanical survey data – the analysis of floristic patterns. For instance, we have been involved in many projects that help prioritise forests, plant communities and other sets of species for conservation. Sustainable forest use and plant conservation run hand-in-glove in modern tropical forest management, and although our project outputs often emphasise conservation,  our work overlaps with that of ecological research groups, where sustainable use is more often the focus. For instance, successional changes in tropical forests after fire or logging is a type of botanic survey which members of our team have been involved in.

We are actively involved in the dissemination and popularisation of floristic information and therefore have produced several well illustrated field guides with little or no jargon. These tools build-up the number of people with a basic knowledge of the flora in the countries in which we work and therefore an awareness of the need to conserve it.

For a more complete history of the work in the Oxford herbaria see here. Part of the work in the herbaria has always involved exploration of tropical, especially African botany and vegetation, dating back to the time when the herbarium was part of the Imperial, Commonwealth and Oxford Forestry Institute, for instance leading to Frank White’s vegetation map of  Africa. In modern times, most funding has inevitably become fragmented into short-term ‘project’ units, funding short-term research staff.

Biodiversity and ecological assessment

We have worked in a wide variety of countries, with surveys at all scales from regional  biodiversity assessments to local ecological studies. Currently we are working on Darwin Initiative-funded biodiversity assessment projects in Bolivia, Chile and Trinidad and Tobago.

Staff have also become actively involved in other, more localised surveys – for instance, projects in Ghana’s northern savanna, Sierra Leone and Mt. Mulanje (Malawi).

Databases

BRAHMS continues to facilitate many botanical surveys around the world, recent projects that use it include the Ecosyn Upper Guinea and Gabon check-lists, at Wageningen. It is also used to manage the image and other data for the Virtual Field Herbarium.

Field guides

We are closely involved in the production of many field guides, for different audiences including Leucaena, West African plants, the Caribbean Field Guides, Pinus, Bolivia, Ghana, Grenada. The Virtual Field Herbarium can also be used as type of identification tool.

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