Abstract Detail

Systematics Section / ASPT

Brouillet, Luc [1].

Flora of North America: Forging ahead.

The Flora of North America Association (FNAA) project is describing the bryophyte and vascular plant flora of the continent north of Mexico in a series of 30 volumes published by Oxford University Press. The current publication rate averages 2 volumes per year. By the end of 2004, 8 volumes will have been published; the three volumes treating the Asteraceae will be published in 2005 (1/3 of series then). The FNAA recently was reorganized to ensure that this publication rate would be sustained and that completion of the series would occur in a timely manner; this new structure will be described. A revised publication schedule is being drawn up with a completion date in 2011. Such a schedule has a considerable impact on editors, authors, and reviewers. One measure established by the FNAA to help facilitate treatment writing is a micro-grant program, the terms of which will be briefly discussed. Challenges for the future include recruiting authors for orphan groups, specialist editors for large groups such as the Leguminosae or the Rosaceae, board members with the expertise required to carry the project into the future, and financing. Our objective is to maintain and improve current standards for the Flora, and guarantee timely manuscript completion and book delivery. In the near future, the FNA web site will become the mechanism by which the project updates treatments, reorganizes families and genera according to the APG 2003 system, and presents a more friendly site and interactive tools for the public's use. In seven years, the electronic FNA will functionally replace the book component of the project as a primary resource. FNAA must ensure a smooth transition to ensure its future through networking with continental and international biodiversity efforts and by providing stable oversight and financing.

Related Links:
Flora of North America web site

1 - Université de Montréal, Institut de recherche en biologie végétale, 4101 rue Sherbrooke est, Montréal, Québec, H1X 2B2, Canada

Keywords:
Flora of North America
North America
Flora
Publication
Vascular plants
Bryophytes
Organization
floristics.

Presentation Type: Paper
Session: 24-1
Location: Cottonwood A (Snowbird Center)
Date: Monday, August 2nd, 2004
Time: 3:45 PM
Abstract ID:343