From Krupnick.Gary@NMNH.SI.EDU Wed May 2 07:22:29 2001 Received: from mxu4.u.washington.edu (mxu4.u.washington.edu [140.142.33.8]) by lists.u.washington.edu (8.11.2+UW01.01/8.11.2+UW01.04) with ESMTP id f42EMS049822 for ; Wed, 2 May 2001 07:22:28 -0700 Received: from simail1 (simail1.si.edu [160.111.103.92]) by mxu4.u.washington.edu (8.11.2+UW01.01/8.11.2+UW01.04) with SMTP id f42EMSs26754 for ; Wed, 2 May 2001 07:22:28 -0700 Received: from Gate-Message_Server by simail1 with Novell_GroupWise; Wed, 02 May 2001 10:23:45 -0400 Message-Id: X-Mailer: Novell GroupWise Internet Agent 5.5.4.1 Date: Wed, 02 May 2001 10:23:21 -0400 From: "Gary Krupnick" To: , Subject: "Centres of Plant Diversity" on the Web Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Disposition: inline Apologies for cross-posting... The Plant Conservation Unit at the Smithsonian Institution is pleased to = announce a new web site: "Centres of Plant Diversity: A Guide and Strategy = for Their Conservation-Volume 3: The Americas." Published in 1997 by the = World Wildlife Fund and The World Conservation Union (IUCN), the book has = been recreated into a user-friendly website, available at http://www.nmnh.s= i.edu/botany/projects/cpd/. The book and website were prepared under the = coordination of the Smithsonian Institution's Department of Systematic = Biology - Botany. The website is part of a three-volume work that contains = accounts of nearly 250 major sites for conservation of plant diversity = worldwide. Volume 3 deals with the Americas, and contains six sites in = North America, 20 in Middle America, 46 in South America, and three in the = Caribbean. The web version of the printed volume contains all the same = material, including tables, figures and additional pictures. The rationale for the project is the international concern about the rapid = global loss and degradation of natural ecosystems and the urgent need to = highlight areas of pristine botanical importance, with the hope that these = will receive adequate levels of resources to ensure their protection. The = 75 sites have been selected partly on the basis of floristic studies, but = especially with reference to the detailed knowledge of over 100 botanists = familiar with this region. Each site is set within a regional context, = outlining wider patterns of plant distributions, threats and conservation = efforts. Regional overviews include very useful tables giving information = on species richness and endemism, floristic diversity and endemism by = region, degree of threat, and an analysis of the conservation status of = the sites.=20 This work is essential reading for all those concerned with planning land = use strategies for conservation and appropriate development. It is hoped = that this global assessment will be followed by further assessments at the = local level, so that the vital tasks of conservation of plant diversity = can be well integrated in detail into national and regional conservation = and development strategies. Gary Krupnick, Ph.D. Director, Plant Conservation Unit Department of Systematic Biology MRC-166 National Museum of Natural History Smithsonian Institution Washington, DC 20560-0166 Tel: 202-357-2027 Fax: 202-786-2563 Email: krupnick.gary@nmnh.si.edu .