DIGITAL FLORA La Selva Biological Station Supported by

DIGITAL FLORA La Selva Biological Station Supported by: Website: http: //www. ots. ac. cr/floradigital

An International Team PI's – Donald E. Stone, Duke University – Charlotte M. Taylor, Missouri Botanical Garden – Deedra Mc. Clearn, La Selva Biological Station RESEARCH TEAM – – – – Enrique Castro (La Selva) José González (La Selva) Nelson Zamora (La Selva, INBio) Orlando Vargas (La Selva) Rossilynn Valverde (La Selva) Mike Grayum (MBG) MBG Herbarium & Imaging Group Duke University Herbarium

History l In 1979 only 710 species were recorded. l Duke University (Wilbur & collaborators) started the plant inventory project in the late 70's, this initiative compiled a plant list of 1, 678 species and 20, 000 + specimens to 1988. l In the late 90’s the students and researchers demonstrated the need for an easy tool to identify plants. l In 1999 La Selva staff started the project. l From 2000 -2003 proposals were submitted with no success. l In 2003 MBG was invited to collaborate. l 2004 NSF and CR-USA approved two complementary proposals; marking the official start of the Flora project in collaboration with MBG (project ending June, 2008).

Objectives l Inventory all the plant species (2, 000+) known from La Selva. -- never fully done before, and not a simple task. l Compile information, including phenology, photos and observations of living plants, and ecology -- some of the species are barely known to science. l Create a web site and electronic tools for identification of the La Selva plant species -- for the first time. This includes four main components: l Species Web pages l Interactive electronic keys l Image gallery l Search engine on images and taxonomy l To complete La Selva's reference herbarium

A Digital Flora Advantage: Compared to traditional printed botanical texts, this tool allows: l Frequent updates, to add changes and information. l Access to the data available now, without waiting for every last part to be finalized. l Includes digital tools, such as interactive keys, dynamic lists, search engines, images gallery. l Has extensive and flexible content for one price, because space is not limiting. l Direct download of information to handhelds, laptops, etc. l Links to other web pages with additional information.

La Selva Plant Composition Query 1 Ferns & Allies Gymnosperms Angiosperms Total Families 21 ( 13. 1% ) 3 ( 1. 9% ) 137 ( 85. 0% ) 161 Genera 59 ( 6. 9% ) 3 ( 0. 4% ) 787 ( 92. 7% ) 849 Species 198 ( 9. 6% ) 3 ( 0. 1% ) 1861 ( 90. 3% ) 2062 Family # of spp. Common Name Genera example Orchidaceae 132 Orchids Pleurothallis 17 spp. Fabaceae 122 Legumes Inga 24 spp. Rubiaceae 108 Coffee Psychotria 31 spp. Araceae 106 Arums Philodendrum 32 spp. Poaceae 79 Grasses Panicum 10 spp. Melastomataceae 78 Melastomes Miconia 29 spp. Piperaceae 75 Pepper Piper 55 spp. Asteraceae 56 Sunflower Mikania 8 spp. Euphorbiaceae 50 Cassava Acalypha 7 spp. Malvaceae 44 Hibiscus, Balsa, Linden Quararibea 7 spp. Updated: May. 08

Products Up to Date l 228 new species added (1, 834 in Aug. 2003 vs. 2, 062 species May. 2008) l 120 Family treatments (61 edited), + 15 family summaries of the 161 families: taxonomy, morphology and descriptions are illustrated with images. l 20, 000+ images representing +1, 650 species, equivalent to 80% of total species, 90% of all genera and 100% of all families. l A multiple access electronic key to families of angiosperms and gymnosperms of La Selva, besides more than 30 electronic dichotomous keys to genera. l Around 2, 100 new botanical collections, consisting of 4, 800 specimens. (50% located at La Selva´s herbarium and the remaining were sent to other herbaria) l 23, 500 records with data available in TROPICOS of the plant specimens collected in La Selva at previous years. l Close to 2, 500 digitalized herbarium specimens, representing ~1, 500 spp. , also available in TROPICOS. With this the image gallery illustrates ~ 1, 900 spp.

Let’s practice on the web !!! http: //www. ots. ac. cr/floradigital Florula website visitors in four months: ~ 5, 000 unique visitors from 30 countries (CRI, MEX, COL, USA).