Genetic Engineering News (press release) (press release)
Aug 20 2009, 5:20 PM EST
Missouri Botanical Garden hosts historic meeting to discuss endangered
plants in the Caucasus region
EUREKALERT
Contact: Julie Bierach
[email protected]
314-577-5141
Miss ouri Botanical Garden
Years of political unrest in the Caucasus limited coordinated
conservation efforts
(ST. LOUIS): For the first time, American scientists and researchers
from the former Soviet Union will gather in the United States to
discuss a mutual concern: how to protect Caucasian plant life. Oct. 2
through 8, botanists from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Russia and
Turkey will meet at the International Caucasian Symposium at the
Missouri Botanical Garden to discuss the creation of a Caucasian Plant
Red List, a list of the most endangered plants in the Caucasus
Mountains. The Symposium will eventually result in The Plant Red Book,
the first publication by the six countries covering the Caucasus.
The Caucasus Mountains are situated between the Black Sea (Europe) and
the Caspian Sea (Asia), and span six countries: Armenia, Azerbaijan,
Georgia, Iran, Russia and Turkey. The vegetation in the Caucasus is
remarkably diverse, ranging from alpine meadows and montane conifer
forest to arid shrublands and semi-deserts. Of the 6,300 species of
vascular plants, about 2,500 are endemic to the region.
Despite the botanical richness of the region, political unrest has
prevented botanists and conservationists outside the former Soviet
Union from working with the region’s rare and endangered plants. Most
information on the flora has been published only in Russian, of little
help to scientists in countries outside the former Soviet
Union. Further, with political tensions high, no country in the region
was able to initiate a collaborative work covering the complete flora
of the region. Without a list of endangered plant species, there is no
scientific basis for conservation.
"This Symposium is significant because it will give American
specialists an opportunity to sit down, face-to-face, with Caucasian
specialists and learn about the unique flora and vegetation of the
region," said Dr. Tatyana Shulkina, Missouri Botanical Garden
associate curator, former Soviet Union (the Caucasus) projects and a
native of Russia. "This will hopefully lead to the establishment of
personal relationships and collaboration on future works of this
biodiversity hot spot."
Since 2003, the Missouri Botanical Garden has played a role in
bringing scientists from the region together to discuss Caucasian
plant life. With financial support diminishing, the Garden held a
botanical conference in Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia. It was the
first time since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 that
botanists from Russia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia gathered to
discuss ways to protect Caucasian plant life. Scientists have met
twice since then.
During the meeting, a committee was formed to complete a Caucasian
Plant Red List a list of the most endangered plants with the Garden’s
Curator of the Herbarium, Dr. James Solomon as the editor. The
Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF) and the International Union
for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) funded the project.
One of the additional goals of this International Caucasian Symposium
is to provide Caucasian plant specialists with the opportunity to
learn about herbarium collection management and the many ways that
collection data may be shared. The Missouri Botanical Garden’s
herbarium, which contains more than six million specimens, is widely
considered one of the best in the world. The techniques and procedures
used at the Garden will be used as a model of how to utilize modern
technology in the herbaria of their home country.
The International Caucasian Symposium will be open to the public on
Oct. 7 from 9 a.m. to noon at the Monsanto Center at the Missouri
Botanical Garden, located at 4500 Shaw Blvd at the intersection of
Shaw and Vandeventer. Botanical specialists from Armenia, Azerbaijan,
Georgia, Russia and Turkey will give an overview of the Caucasian
flora and vegetation.
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The Missouri Botanical Garden is the oldest continually operating
botanical garden in the nation, celebrating its 150th anniversary in
2009. Missouri Botanical Garden: Green for 150 Years.
NOTE: Digital color images available by request. Download media
materials at
The Missouri Botanical Garden’s mission is "to discover and share
knowledge about plants and their environment, in order to preserve and
enrich life." Today, 150 years after opening, the Missouri Botanical
Garden is a National Historic Landmark and a center for science,
conservation, education and horticultural display. Missouri Botanical
Garden: Green for 150 Years.