1.
Global Biodiversity Information Facility
The Global Biodiversity Information Facility is an international organisation that focuses on making scientific data on biodiversity available via the Internet using web services. The data are provided by institutions from around the world. Data available through the GBIF portal are primarily distribution data on plants, animals and microbes for the world, the mission of the Global Biodiversity information Facility is to facilitate free and open access to biodiversity data worldwide to underpin sustainable development. ABCD Schema Atlas of Living Australia Darwin Core Global biodiversity Pacific Biodiversity Information Forum GBIF website Short description of GBIF
2.
Stipe (botany)
In botany, a stipe is a stalk that supports some other structure. The precise meaning is different depending on which group is being described. In the case of ferns, the stipe is only the petiole from the rootstock to the beginning of the leaf tissue, the continuation of the structure within the lamina is termed a rachis. In flowering plants, the term is used in reference to a stalk that sometimes supports a flowers ovary. In orchids, the stipe or caudicle is the support of the pollinia. It is a band or strap connecting the pollinia with the viscidium. A stipe is a structure found in organisms that are studied by botanists and it may be the stem-like part of the thallus of a mushroom or a seaweed, and is particularly common among brown algae such as kelp. The stipe of a kelp often contains a region of cells that, like the phloem of vascular plants. Rachis Stipe, the supporting the fruiting body of some fungi
3.
Wikispecies
Wikispecies is a wiki-based online project supported by the Wikimedia Foundation. Its aim is to create a free content catalogue of all species. Jimmy Wales stated that editors are not required to fax in their degrees, Wikispecies is available under the GNU Free Documentation License and CC BY-SA3.0. Benedikt Mandl co-ordinated the efforts of people who are interested in getting involved with the project. Databases were evaluated and the administrators contacted, some of them have agreed on providing their data for Wikispecies, the board of directors of the Wikimedia Foundation voted by 4 to 0 in favor of the establishment of a Wikispecies. The project was launched in August 2004 and is hosted at species. wikimedia. org and it was officially merged to a sister project of Wikimedia Foundation on September 14,2004. On October 10,2006, the project exceeded 75,000 articles, on May 20,2007, the project exceeded 100,000 articles with a total of 5,495 registered users. On September 8,2008, the project exceeded 150,000 articles with a total of 9,224 registered users, on October 23,2011, the project reached 300,000 articles.
On June 16,2014, the project reached 400,000 articles, on January 7,2017, the project reached 500,000 articles. Wikispecies has disabled local upload and asks users to use images from Wikimedia Commons, Wikispecies does not allow the use of content that does not conform to a free license
4.
INaturalist
Observations may be added via the website or from a mobile application. The observations provide valuable data to a variety of scientific research projects, botanic gardens, parks. Users of iNaturalist have contributed four million observations since its founding in 2008. INaturalist. org began in 2008 as a UC Berkeley School of Information Masters final project of Nate Agrin, Jessica Kline, Nate Agrin and Ken-ichi Ueda continued work on the site with Sean McGregor, a web developer. In 2011, Ueda began collaboration with Scott Loarie, a fellow at Stanford University. Ueda and Loarie are the current co-directors of iNaturalist. org, on April 24,2014 iNaturalist. org merged with the California Academy of Sciences In 2014, iNaturalist celebrated its one millionth observation. The iNaturalist platform is based on crowdsourcing of data, users of iNaturalist can submit observations of organisms in the form of photographs, sound recordings, or visual sightings. Observations are either casual or research grade, and research grade observations are incorporated into online databases to be utilizable for scientists, iNaturalist is the preferred application for crowd-sourced biodiversity data in Mexico.
As of 28 January 2017, the iNaturalist community consisted of almost 400,000 users contributing over 4,300,000 observations of plants, users have created and contributed to over 9000 different projects, spanning hundreds of themes. Project examples include taxa- and location-specific bioblitzes, roadkill observations, animal tracks, the US National Park Service partnered with iNaturalist to record observations from the 2016 National Parks BioBlitz. That project exceeded 100,000 observations in August 2016, list of citizen science projects Official website iNaturalist on Vimeo Introducing iNaturalist by Suzanne Cadwell
5.
Evergreen
In botany, an evergreen is a plant that has leaves throughout the year, always green. This contrasts with deciduous plants, which lose their foliage during the winter or dry season. There are many different kinds of plants, both trees and shrubs. Deciduous trees shed their leaves, usually as an adaptation to a cold or dry/wet season, evergreen trees do lose leaves, but each tree loses its leaves gradually and not all at once. Most warm temperate climate plants are evergreen, in cool temperate climates, fewer plants are evergreen, with a predominance of conifers, as few evergreen broadleaf plants can tolerate severe cold below about −30 °C. In areas where there is a reason for being deciduous, being evergreen is usually an adaptation to low nutrient levels, deciduous trees lose nutrients whenever they lose their leaves. In warmer areas, species such as pines and cypresses grow on poor soils. In Rhododendron, a genus with many broadleaf evergreens, several species grow in forests but are usually found on highly acidic soil where the nutrients are less available to plants.
In taiga or boreal forests, it is too cold for the matter in the soil to decay rapidly, so the nutrients in the soil are less easily available to plants. These conditions favour the growth of more evergreens and make it difficult for deciduous plants to persist. In addition, the shelter provided by existing evergreen plants can make it easier for younger evergreen plants to survive cold and/or drought
6.
Wikidata
Wikidata is a collaboratively edited knowledge base operated by the Wikimedia Foundation. It is intended to provide a source of data which can be used by Wikimedia projects such as Wikipedia. This is similar to the way Wikimedia Commons provides storage for files and access to those files for all Wikimedia projects. Wikidata is powered by the software Wikibase, Wikidata is a document-oriented database, focused on items. Each item represents a topic and is identified by a number, prefixed with the letter Q—for example. This enables the basic information required to identify the topic the item covers to be translated without favouring any language, information is added to items by creating statements. Statements take the form of pairs, with each statement consisting of a property. The creation of the project was funded by donations from the Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, at this time, only the first phase was available. Historically, a Wikipedia article would include a list of links, being links to articles on the same topic in other editions of Wikipedia.
Initially, Wikidata was a repository of interlanguage links. No Wikipedia language editions were able to access Wikidata, so they needed to continue to maintain their own lists of interlanguage links, on 14 January 2013, the Hungarian Wikipedia became the first to enable the provision of interlanguage links via Wikidata. This functionality was extended to the Hebrew and Italian Wikipedias on 30 January, to the English Wikipedia on 13 February, on 23 September 2013, phase 1 went live on Wikimedia Commons. The first aspects of the second phase were deployed on 4 February 2013, the values were initially limited to two data types, with more data types to follow later. The first new type, was deployed on 6 March, the ability of the various language editions of Wikipedia to access data added to Wikidata as part of phase two was rolled out progressively between 27 March and 25 April 2013. On 16 September 2015, Wikidata began allowing so-called arbitrary access, for example, in the past the article about Berlin you could not access data about Germany, but with arbitrary access it could.
On 27 April 2016 arbitrary access was activated on Wikimedia Commons, phase 3 will involve database querying and the creation of lists based on data stored on Wikidata. As of October 2016 two tools for querying Wikidata were available, AutoList and PetScan, additionally to a public SPARQL endpoint, there is concern that the project is being influenced by lobbying companies, PR professionals and search engine optimizers. As of December 2015, according to Wikimedia statistics, half of the information in Wikidata is unsourced, another 30% is labeled as having come from Wikipedia, but with no indication as to which article
7.
Tree fern
The order Cyatheales, which includes the tree ferns, is a taxonomic division of the fern class, Polypodiopsida. No clear morphological features characterize all of the Cyatheales, but DNA sequence data indicate the order is monophyletic, some species in the Cyatheales have tree-like growth forms, but others have rhizomes. Some species have scales on the stems and leaves, while others have hairs, most plants in the Cyatheales are tree ferns and have trunk-like stems up to 10 metres tall. It is unclear how many times the form has evolved. In general, any fern that grows with a trunk elevating the fronds above ground level can be called a tree fern, the plants formally known as tree ferns comprise a group of large ferns belonging to the families Dicksoniaceae and Cyatheaceae in the order Cyatheales. Like all ferns, tree ferns reproduce by means of spores developed in sporangia on the undersides of the fronds, the fronds of tree ferns are usually very large and multiple-pinnated, but at least one type has entire fronds.
The fronds of tree ferns exhibit circinate vernation, meaning the young emerge in coils that uncurl as they grow. Unlike flowering plants, tree ferns do not form new tissue in their trunk as they grow. Rather, the trunk is supported by a mass of roots that expands as the tree fern grows. Some genera — for example Dicksonia and Cibotium, and some Cyathea — can be transplanted by severing the top portion from the rest of the trunk, if the transplanted top part is kept moist it will regrow a new root system over the next year. The success rate of transplantation increases if the roots are dug up intact, if the crown of the Tasmanian tree fern Dicksonia antarctica is damaged, it will die because all new growth occurs there. But other clump-forming tree fern species, such as D. squarrosa and D. youngiae, Tree ferns often fall over in the wild, yet manage to reroot from this new prostrate position and begin new vertical growth. The number of tree species is likely to be around a thousand. While many ferns are able to achieve a widespread distribution because of their spore reproduction and this makes their species much more susceptible to the effects of local deforestation.
Why species are not more widespread is unknown, especially considering they have sufficient height to have a chance of getting spores into the wind stream. Where feral pigs are a problem, as in some Hawaiian rainforests, they knock over tree ferns to root out the starchy pith. Outside of the Cyatheales a few ferns in other groups could be considered tree ferns, a few species in the genera Blechnum, Leptopteris and Todea could be considered tree ferns in a liberal interpretation of the term. In the molecular phylogenetic classification of Smith et al. in 2006, eight families, Thyrsopteridaceae, Culcitaceae, Cibotiaceae, Cyatheaceae and Metaxyaceae, were recognized
8.
Taxonomy (biology)
Taxonomy is the science of defining groups of biological organisms on the basis of shared characteristics and giving names to those groups. The exact definition of taxonomy varies from source to source, but the core of the remains, the conception, naming. There is some disagreement as to whether biological nomenclature is considered a part of taxonomy, the broadest meaning of taxonomy is used here. The word taxonomy was introduced in 1813 by Candolle, in his Théorie élémentaire de la botanique, the term alpha taxonomy is primarily used today to refer to the discipline of finding and naming taxa, particularly species. In earlier literature, the term had a different meaning, referring to morphological taxonomy, ideals can, it may be said, never be completely realized. They have, however, a value of acting as permanent stimulants. Some of us please ourselves by thinking we are now groping in a beta taxonomy, turrill thus explicitly excludes from alpha taxonomy various areas of study that he includes within taxonomy as a whole, such as ecology, physiology and cytology.
He further excludes phylogenetic reconstruction from alpha taxonomy, Ernst Mayr in 1968 defined beta taxonomy as the classification of ranks higher than species. This activity is what the term denotes, it is referred to as beta taxonomy. How species should be defined in a group of organisms gives rise to practical and theoretical problems that are referred to as the species problem. The scientific work of deciding how to define species has been called microtaxonomy, by extension, macrotaxonomy is the study of groups at higher taxonomic ranks, from subgenus and above only, than species. While some descriptions of taxonomic history attempt to date taxonomy to ancient civilizations, earlier works were primarily descriptive, and focused on plants that were useful in agriculture or medicine. There are a number of stages in scientific thinking. Early taxonomy was based on criteria, the so-called artificial systems. Later came systems based on a complete consideration of the characteristics of taxa, referred to as natural systems, such as those of de Jussieu, de Candolle and Bentham.
The publication of Charles Darwins Origin of Species led to new ways of thinking about classification based on evolutionary relationships and this was the concept of phyletic systems, from 1883 onwards. This approach was typified by those of Eichler and Engler, the advent of molecular genetics and statistical methodology allowed the creation of the modern era of phylogenetic systems based on cladistics, rather than morphology alone. Taxonomy has been called the worlds oldest profession, and naming and classifying our surroundings has likely been taking place as long as mankind has been able to communicate
9.
Dicksoniaceae
The Dicksoniaceae is a family of tropical and warm temperate ferns. Most of the 5-6 genera in the family are terrestrial ferns or have very short compared to tree ferns of the family Cyatheaceae. However, some of the species can reach several metres in height. A number of others are epiphytes and they are found mostly in tropical regions in the Southern Hemisphere, as far south as southern New Zealand. Species in the family are characterized by large pinnate fronds. The family includes species of tree ferns, which grow a single trunk. All members of the family have long, tapering hairs composed of cells arranged end to end, the ferns of family Dicksoniaceae are generally regarded as more primitive than those of the family Cyatheaceae, having originated in the early Jurassic period. Only 3 extant genera are recognised in this family, Calochlaena Dicksonia Lophosoria Cyatheales Classification of Ferns and Allies Large. Pryer, E. Schuettpelz, P. Korall, H. Schneider & P. G. Wolf 2006, archived from the original on 2008-02-26
10.
Cyatheales
The order Cyatheales, which includes the tree ferns, is a taxonomic division of the fern class, Polypodiopsida. No clear morphological features characterize all of the Cyatheales, but DNA sequence data indicate the order is monophyletic, some species in the Cyatheales have tree-like growth forms, but others have rhizomes. Some species have scales on the stems and leaves, while others have hairs, most plants in the Cyatheales are tree ferns and have trunk-like stems up to 10 metres tall. It is unclear how many times the form has evolved. In general, any fern that grows with a trunk elevating the fronds above ground level can be called a tree fern, the plants formally known as tree ferns comprise a group of large ferns belonging to the families Dicksoniaceae and Cyatheaceae in the order Cyatheales. Like all ferns, tree ferns reproduce by means of spores developed in sporangia on the undersides of the fronds, the fronds of tree ferns are usually very large and multiple-pinnated, but at least one type has entire fronds.
The fronds of tree ferns exhibit circinate vernation, meaning the young emerge in coils that uncurl as they grow. Unlike flowering plants, tree ferns do not form new tissue in their trunk as they grow. Rather, the trunk is supported by a mass of roots that expands as the tree fern grows. Some genera — for example Dicksonia and Cibotium, and some Cyathea — can be transplanted by severing the top portion from the rest of the trunk, if the transplanted top part is kept moist it will regrow a new root system over the next year. The success rate of transplantation increases if the roots are dug up intact, if the crown of the Tasmanian tree fern Dicksonia antarctica is damaged, it will die because all new growth occurs there. But other clump-forming tree fern species, such as D. squarrosa and D. youngiae, Tree ferns often fall over in the wild, yet manage to reroot from this new prostrate position and begin new vertical growth. The number of tree species is likely to be around a thousand. While many ferns are able to achieve a widespread distribution because of their spore reproduction and this makes their species much more susceptible to the effects of local deforestation.
Why species are not more widespread is unknown, especially considering they have sufficient height to have a chance of getting spores into the wind stream. Where feral pigs are a problem, as in some Hawaiian rainforests, they knock over tree ferns to root out the starchy pith. Outside of the Cyatheales a few ferns in other groups could be considered tree ferns, a few species in the genera Blechnum, Leptopteris and Todea could be considered tree ferns in a liberal interpretation of the term. In the molecular phylogenetic classification of Smith et al. in 2006, eight families, Thyrsopteridaceae, Culcitaceae, Cibotiaceae, Cyatheaceae and Metaxyaceae, were recognized
11.
Royal Horticultural Society
The Royal Horticultural Society was founded in 1804 in London, England, as the Horticultural Society of London, and gained its present name in a Royal Charter granted in 1861. The Royal Horticultural Society is the UKs leading gardening charity and claims to be the world’s largest gardening charity, the RHS quotes its charitable purpose as The encouragement and improvement of the science and practice of horticulture in all its branches. The current Director General is Sue Biggs, the charity promotes horticulture through flower shows such as the RHS Chelsea Flower Show, Hampton Court Palace Flower Show, RHS Tatton Park Flower Show and RHS Cardiff Flower Show. It supports training for professional and amateur gardeners, the creation of a British horticultural society was suggested by John Wedgwood in 1800. The society would award prizes for gardening achievements, Wedgwood discussed the idea with his friends, but it was four years before the first meeting, of seven men, took place, on 7 March 1804 at Hatchards bookshop in Piccadilly, London.
Banks proposed his friend Thomas Andrew Knight for membership, the proposal was accepted, despite Knights ongoing feud with Forsyth over a plaster for healing tree wounds which Forsyth was developing. Knight was President of the society from 1811–1838, and developed the societys aims, in 2009, more than 363,000 people were members of the society, and the number increased to more than 414,000 in 2013. Membership and fellowship of the society were previously decided by election, Fellowship may be secured through a suggested £5,000 donation each year. Members and Fellows of the Royal Horticultural Society are entitled to use the post-nominal letters MRHS and FRHS, respectively. The Royal Horticultural Societys four major gardens in England are, Wisley Garden, near Wisley in Surrey, Rosemoor Garden in Devon, Hyde Hall in Essex and Harlow Carr in Harrogate, the Societys first garden was in Kensington, from 1818–1822. In 1821 the society leased part of the Duke of Devonshires estate at Chiswick to set up an experimental garden, from 1827 the society held fêtes at the Chiswick garden, and from 1833, shows with competitive classes for flowers and vegetables.
In 1861 the RHS developed a new garden at South Kensington on land leased from the Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851, the Chiswick garden was maintained until 1903–1904, by which time Sir Thomas Hanbury had bought the garden at Wisley and presented it to the RHS. RHS Garden Wisley is thus the societys oldest garden, Rosemoor came next, presented by Lady Anne Berry in 1988. Hyde Hall was given to the RHS in 1993 by its owners Dick, Dick Robinson was the owner of the Harry Smith Collection which was based at Hyde Hall. The most recent addition is Harlow Carr, acquired by the merger of the Northern Horticultural Society with the RHS in 2001 and it had been the Northern Horticultural Societys trial ground and display garden since they bought it in 1949. In 2013, more than 1.63 million people visited the four gardens, in 2015, the RHS announced plans for a fifth garden at Worsley New Hall, Greater Manchester, under the name RHS Garden Bridgewater. The RHS is well known for its flower shows which take place across the UK.
The most famous of these shows being the RHS Chelsea Flower Show and this is followed by the Hampton Court Palace Flower Show and RHS Tatton Park Flower Show in Cheshire
