ARTS: A cyber-enabled global monograph of Viburnum (Adoxaceae, Dipsacales)

Yale University, New Haven CT

Investigators

Abstract

The genus Viburnum contains some 170 woody plant species in temperate and subtropical forests around the Northern Hemisphere and in Latin America and Southeast Asia. Over 70 Viburnum species are used in horticulture, and many are ecologically important. Building on years of prior research, and based directly upon herbarium specimens and new collections, the goal of this project is to resolve all remaining species-level taxonomic problems and to produce a comprehensive description of the entire group, with geographic range maps and richly-illustrated interactive identification keys that can be deployed on the web and in the field. All data will be internet-accessible and integrated into global biodiversity databases. This project will produce a global treatment of a widespread, taxonomically confusing, and horticulturally important plant lineage. In doing so, it will generate data and informatics tools of general value to the scientific community. This work will greatly increase the value of Viburnum as a model for addressing fundamental issues in evolutionary biology, ecology, and global change. The project will be transformative in modeling the use of knowledge of evolutionary relationships in producing a species-level taxonomic monograph. It will provide hands-on training in modern, collaborative, cyber-enabled systematic biology to students at all levels.