Our research relies upon the indeterminate process of identifying the hundreds of woody plant species for which we measure distributions, growth and mortality, and functional traits. We invest a substantial amount of our time to improve this system in several key ways.

Permanent Plots and Databases

Morphological criteria for plant species determinations are invariably based on reproductive characters. Yet the chance of finding a given tree with fruits or flowers during an inventory in most tropical forests is less than 1 in 20. Although accurate hypotheses of floristic composition would be based on fertile samples, this is simply not feasible. We agree with those who argue that biodiversity inventories in remote areas should invest resources into collecting fertile specimens during field trips. But we also see great value for permanent plots with frequent inventories to collect fertile vouchers for rare taxa that may not be captured in the more punctual rapid general collections. Our team systematically resamples plots to attempt to capture rare taxa in fruit or flower to improve the estimates of floristic composition and related ecological analyses.

Herbaria and Specialist Collaborations

We rely on taxonomic specialists in true collaboration, and we thank the many specialists who have assisted us with refining our hypotheses of botanical determinations, especially with sterile specimens. With dwindling resources available for traditional taxonomic work, we will continue to help fund herbarium and field trips for those with whom we collaborate.

DNA Barcodes as a Complementary Tool

We are working with collaborators to integrate molecular approaches of DNA barcodes with traditional census work. We do not believe that such a tool will ever be able to replace traditional samples and the tedious but rewarding work in the herbarium. Nevertheless, we have learned that DNA barcodes can render this work more efficient by suggesting potential groups of comparisons for sterile specimens and by identifying groups that may require taxonomic revision. read more here

Parataxonomist Training

Tropical plant identification is a learning process, and we aim to facilitate exchanges with all interested in this work. We have trained dozens of graduate students at the University of Florida in tropical botany as part of the graduate program for Tropical Conservation and Development; and through the AgroParisTech Forêts Tropicales Humides module. These courses have resulted in a vegetative key to major neotropical tree families for which we welcome your feedback.

We have also worked across the tri-national border of Bolivia, Brazil and Peru in the southwestern Amazon to conduct parataxonomist training workshops. As part of this work, we have developed a rapid field guide for tree identification that is currently in use in the certified timber forest inventories of the Brazilian state of Acre . Exchanges with these partners have led to an analysis of the importance of standardized forest inventory names. read more here. We have witnessed how our work with capacity-building has contributed at least as much to regional conservation efforts as the best data we have been able to obtain from our inventories and experimental research programs.