I was interviewed last week by Jack McClintock, a correspondent for the Sarasota Herald Tribune. Jack is a freelance journalist, specializing in science writing. His articles have been published in various places including Discover Magazine.
You can read his article on the up-coming Vidaver Expedition at the Herald-Tribune's website:
Selby Botanist to Brave Jungle to Find Flowers
28 April 2009
22 April 2009
Background Info on the Solomon Islands
22 April 2009 (10 days until departure)
The Solomon Islands, located at 9° 41.25'S 160° 13.00' E, are a group of oceanic islands that were formed about 25 million years ago. There are over 900 islands that make up the archepelagio, Guadalcanal being the largest. The Solomons are known as outer-arc islands - the islands were formed from the collision between two (or more) tectonic plates resulting in the upheaval of land. The region
is known as the Andesite Line. Unlike continents and continental islands (chunks of land broken off from continents such as New Caledonia and Papua New Guinea), the Solomons are thought to be true oceanic islands that have always been separated by water from other neighboring landmasses.
The fact that the Solomon have been separated throughout their history is of great importance in understanding how and why species evolve on islands. Plants, such as the gesneriads I study, had to have made it to the Solomons by some means of dispersal. The question is how did new species form because of or following this dispersal and how did this lead to the great diversity we see in the Solomons and other oceanic islands of the Pacific? One main goal of the Vidaver Expedition is to collect plant specimens to further study this phenomenon.
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The Solomon Islands, located at 9° 41.25'S 160° 13.00' E, are a group of oceanic islands that were formed about 25 million years ago. There are over 900 islands that make up the archepelagio, Guadalcanal being the largest. The Solomons are known as outer-arc islands - the islands were formed from the collision between two (or more) tectonic plates resulting in the upheaval of land. The region
is known as the Andesite Line. Unlike continents and continental islands (chunks of land broken off from continents such as New Caledonia and Papua New Guinea), the Solomons are thought to be true oceanic islands that have always been separated by water from other neighboring landmasses.The fact that the Solomon have been separated throughout their history is of great importance in understanding how and why species evolve on islands. Plants, such as the gesneriads I study, had to have made it to the Solomons by some means of dispersal. The question is how did new species form because of or following this dispersal and how did this lead to the great diversity we see in the Solomons and other oceanic islands of the Pacific? One main goal of the Vidaver Expedition is to collect plant specimens to further study this phenomenon.
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20 April 2009
Announcing the Dr. Anne Vidaver Expedition to the Solomon Islands, 2 May – 26 June, 2009
(Sarasota, FL – April 20, 2009): As part of on-going work at the Gesneriad Research Center, Dr. John R. Clark of Marie Selby Botanical Gardens, will conduct an expedition to the Solomon Islands in the South Pacific from May 2 – June 26, 2009. The expedition is generously funded by Dr. Anne Vidaver, an ardent supporter of research on the gesneriad plant family.
The Solomon Islands, located northeast of Australia and east of Papua New Guinea, is a biologically-rich part of the world representing some of the last large tracts of lowland and mountain island forest in the world. According to the World Wildlife Fund, the biodiversity of the Solomons is greatly threatened by deforestation for logging and subsistence agriculture.
Dr. Clark, along with collaborators from the Ministry of Environment, Solomon Islands, and the University of the South Pacific in Fiji, will be conducting plant diversity studies in this poorly-known and increasingly threatened part of the world. Specimens and data collected during this expedition will be used for inventory, classification and conservation efforts. To learn more about the Vidaver Expedition and to follow Dr. Clark’s progress go to http://gesneriadresearchcenter.blogspot.com.
Marie Selby Botanical Gardens is a respected center for research and education as well as a famous orchid showplace. The Gardens is located at 900 South Palm Avenue in Sarasota, Florida. It is open to the public daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. with the exception of Christmas day. For further information call (941) 366-5731 or visit www.selby.org.
# # #
24 March 2009
Announcing: World Gesneriad Research Conference 2010
The Gesneriad Research Center at the Marie Selby Botanical Gardens is pleased to announce
World Gesneriad Research Conference 2010
WGRC 2010 will be a three-day scientific meeting to be held in Sarasota, Florida in September or October 2010 focused on research in Gesneriaceae. Experts and students are invited to make presentations about research on Gesneriaceae and to discuss, promote and plan for continued research-based advancements in this important plant family. Plant enthusiasts and horticulturalists will also be encouraged to attend the presentations and to
participate in discussion groups. Associated activities such as field trips will be a major part of WGRC 2010; these activities will be open to all conference attendees.
We are soliciting ideas and proposals for activities at WGRC 2010. Possible topics of interest include systematics, biogeography and ancestral range history, taxonomy and monography, pollination biology and ecology, conservation, horticulture, etc.
STEERING COMMITTEE
John L. Clark, University of Alabama
John R. Clark, Gesneriad Research Center
Eric H. Roalson, Washington State University
Laurence E. Skog, Smithsonian Institution
Bruce K. Holst, Marie Selby Botanical Gardens
Jeanne Katzenstein, The Gesneriad Society, Inc.
Melissa McDowell, Suncoast Chapter, The Gesneriad Society, Inc.
Peter Shalit, The Gesneriad Society, Inc.
TO PARTICIPATE
To participate and/or to receive additional information please send an email to the Committee Chair, John R. Clark, at gesneriadresearch@gmail.com by 15 April 2009 with the following information:
Name, Institution, mailing and email address, current position.
Research Interests.
Symposia concept(s).
How you wish to participate (poster, oral presentation, symposium chair, other).
Which month you prefer the conference to be held (September or October 2010).
Potential conflicts that should be considered (e.g., other meetings).
NOTE: Please forward this mailing to other researchers and students that may be interested in participating. You may receive this message more than once.
Sincerely,
WGRC 2010 Steering Committee
World Gesneriad Research Conference 2010
WGRC 2010 will be a three-day scientific meeting to be held in Sarasota, Florida in September or October 2010 focused on research in Gesneriaceae. Experts and students are invited to make presentations about research on Gesneriaceae and to discuss, promote and plan for continued research-based advancements in this important plant family. Plant enthusiasts and horticulturalists will also be encouraged to attend the presentations and to
participate in discussion groups. Associated activities such as field trips will be a major part of WGRC 2010; these activities will be open to all conference attendees.
We are soliciting ideas and proposals for activities at WGRC 2010. Possible topics of interest include systematics, biogeography and ancestral range history, taxonomy and monography, pollination biology and ecology, conservation, horticulture, etc.
STEERING COMMITTEE
John L. Clark, University of Alabama
John R. Clark, Gesneriad Research Center
Eric H. Roalson, Washington State University
Laurence E. Skog, Smithsonian Institution
Bruce K. Holst, Marie Selby Botanical Gardens
Jeanne Katzenstein, The Gesneriad Society, Inc.
Melissa McDowell, Suncoast Chapter, The Gesneriad Society, Inc.
Peter Shalit, The Gesneriad Society, Inc.
TO PARTICIPATE
To participate and/or to receive additional information please send an email to the Committee Chair, John R. Clark, at gesneriadresearch@gmail.com by 15 April 2009 with the following information:
Name, Institution, mailing and email address, current position.
Research Interests.
Symposia concept(s).
How you wish to participate (poster, oral presentation, symposium chair, other).
Which month you prefer the conference to be held (September or October 2010).
Potential conflicts that should be considered (e.g., other meetings).
NOTE: Please forward this mailing to other researchers and students that may be interested in participating. You may receive this message more than once.
Sincerely,
WGRC 2010 Steering Committee
22 January 2009
Selbyana - a source for gesneriad publications
Selbyana is the peer-reviewed scientific journal of the Marie Selby Botanical Gardens. The journal has been published annually since 1975. Through its history, Selbyana has included a wealth of papers on gesneriads including valuable contributions by Hans Wiehler and Larry Skog.
The latest issue of Selbyana (Volume 29(2), 2008) contains four papers on gesneriads featuring 5 new species descriptions. Among these are two articles that John L. and I have co-written on new species of Drymonia. There is also a great new publication by John Boggan, Larry Skog and Eric Roalson on the genera Amalophyllon, Niphaea, and Phinaea. Last but certainly not least is an editorial by Wesley Higgins (Director of Systematics at Selby Gardens and Editor, Selbyana) on "The Two John Clarks" - a must read, I must say!
Reprints are available for many published issues of Selbyana, including the current one. These vary in price depending on the issue, but average around 20-30 dollars each. Orders can be placed from the Selby Botanical Gardens Press page on Selby's website:
Selby Botanical Gardens Press
Please note that the website is not currently up to date on pricing and availability. Please contact either me or Wes Higgins (whiggins@selby.org) for current information.
Several recent issues that may be of interest to gesneriad folks are 24(1), dedicated to Hans Wiehler (including "In Memoriam: Hans Wiehler 1931-2003, by J.R. Clark), 24(2) that includes "An Annotated Checklist of Gesneriaceae Type Specimens in the Marie Selby Botanical Gardens Herbarium (SEL)" by J.R. Clark, Holst and Skog, and issue 25(2) which is the "Special Issue: Gesneriaceae" featuring contributions by Skog, J.L. Clark, Chautems et al., and Roalson et al. This issue also contains the important biography on Hans Wiehler by Lee Desmon.
Finally, I would like to encourage anyone interested in the scientific side of taxonomy and tropical botany to consider subscribing to Selbyana. Annual subscriptions are $52 per year. Selbyana has been a vehicle for publishing gesneriad research, as well as important papers on bromeliads, orchids and other tropical plant groups, for over 30 years. Subscriptions help us to continue this valuable tradition. In return, Selbyana makes a great addition to any personal library focused on botany and plants. Consider having your local chapter subscribe and keeping the issues as part of your organization's library or archives.
~ John R. Clark
30 December 2008
Important Drymonia specimen produces fruit at Selby Gardens
Drymonia pendula (Poeppig) Wiehler can be found throughout the Andean tropics and is one of the more striking species in the genus (shown here on display in Selby's Display House). The plant is characterized by long slender peduncles that terminate in conspicuous inflorescences flanked with red, showy bracts. The tubular corollas protrude from a mass of red calyces and are yellowish with blushed lobes. The species is undoubtedly pollinated by birds.
We have one specimen of this fascinating plant growing at Selby Gardens. Collected in 1998 by Bruce Holst in Peru (MSBG 1998-0223A), our specimen has been flowering for some time. Recently, several fruit have been produced. As if the flowers weren't spectacular enough, the fruit are rather showy themselves. As is evident in the photograph, the calyx remains attached (the red, leaf-like structures). The fruit itself consists of a yellow pericarp that reflexes at maturity while the inner, fleshy endocarp splits longitudinally to reveal hundreds of small seeds.
16 December 2008
Recent happenings at the GRC
Time is most definitely zipping by. It has been well over a month since my last post and I more than owe this blog's followers an update.
First off, The GRC promotional brochure is almost complete and almost ready to be printed. We have finalized the text and images and we are now waiting on the penultimate proofs. The literature promises to be an informative and eye-catching promotion of the GRC and we are looking forward to having it for mailings, events, fundraisers and other opportunities.
On a similar note, we have been receiving a great deal of publicity in the last month, including a small article in a Sarasota regional paper, The Pelican Press. The piece featured the newly formed GRC, my position as director, and the plans for the new molecular program at Selby.
I also had the pleasure of being interviewed by our local NPR radio station. A short sound bite was aired on December 4th that introduced listeners to gesneriads, the GRC, and molecular systematics. You can listen to the segment at WGCU-NPR's website:
Gesneriad Research Center on WGCU-NPR
Just today (22 December 2008), Selby Gardens issued a press release on the new Drymonia that John L. and I are co-describing in the next issue of Selbyana. The press release can be seen on my website:
Selby Gardens Researchers describe New Species.
Images and details of this species can also be seen on my website:
Drymonia decora
Research is moving forward as well. As part of the Gesneriads of the Interface Zone project, we have requested and begun receiving herbarium specimens from around the world representing the Cyrtandra samoensis complex of species. Cyrtandra samoensis is the only species of Pacific cyrtandras that is widely dispersed. As you may recall from my previous posts and articles, most Pacific cyrtandras are geographically restricted to single archipelagos or even single islands. Researching how C. samoensis compares with other closely related species in the complex is needed to understand why this species has been able to disperse broadly while other closely related species have not. In turn, this information may help us to understand more broadly how and under what conditions certain species of cyrtandras become more greatly dispersed. Ultimately, this information will be used to test our hypotheses of how, when and why the genus Cyrtandra has managed to cover a third of the planet's circumference.
One final project that I have mentioned little, if at all, is a potential collaboration and field project in Costa Rica that we have established for Selby Research. I, along with Stig Dalstrom, Selby Gardens Orchid Identification Center Curator (pictured here with a Drymonia macrantha), recently returned from a week-long networking trip to Boracayan, Costa Rica - the wildlife refuge where we discovered Drymonia decora in 2003. The plan is to set up a collaboration with Boracayan and a Costa Rican research affiliate to conduct an all-vascular plant inventory of the refuge. We have already documented over 10 species of gesneriads from Boracayan. Our planned inventory project will most likely uncover more gesneriad species as we explore this botanically rich region of Central America. Look for more updates on this exciting endeavor in the coming year.
Okay...enough for now. Happy New Year!
~ John R.
First off, The GRC promotional brochure is almost complete and almost ready to be printed. We have finalized the text and images and we are now waiting on the penultimate proofs. The literature promises to be an informative and eye-catching promotion of the GRC and we are looking forward to having it for mailings, events, fundraisers and other opportunities.
On a similar note, we have been receiving a great deal of publicity in the last month, including a small article in a Sarasota regional paper, The Pelican Press. The piece featured the newly formed GRC, my position as director, and the plans for the new molecular program at Selby.
I also had the pleasure of being interviewed by our local NPR radio station. A short sound bite was aired on December 4th that introduced listeners to gesneriads, the GRC, and molecular systematics. You can listen to the segment at WGCU-NPR's website:
Gesneriad Research Center on WGCU-NPR
Just today (22 December 2008), Selby Gardens issued a press release on the new Drymonia that John L. and I are co-describing in the next issue of Selbyana. The press release can be seen on my website:
Selby Gardens Researchers describe New Species.
Images and details of this species can also be seen on my website:
Drymonia decora
Research is moving forward as well. As part of the Gesneriads of the Interface Zone project, we have requested and begun receiving herbarium specimens from around the world representing the Cyrtandra samoensis complex of species. Cyrtandra samoensis is the only species of Pacific cyrtandras that is widely dispersed. As you may recall from my previous posts and articles, most Pacific cyrtandras are geographically restricted to single archipelagos or even single islands. Researching how C. samoensis compares with other closely related species in the complex is needed to understand why this species has been able to disperse broadly while other closely related species have not. In turn, this information may help us to understand more broadly how and under what conditions certain species of cyrtandras become more greatly dispersed. Ultimately, this information will be used to test our hypotheses of how, when and why the genus Cyrtandra has managed to cover a third of the planet's circumference.
One final project that I have mentioned little, if at all, is a potential collaboration and field project in Costa Rica that we have established for Selby Research. I, along with Stig Dalstrom, Selby Gardens Orchid Identification Center Curator (pictured here with a Drymonia macrantha), recently returned from a week-long networking trip to Boracayan, Costa Rica - the wildlife refuge where we discovered Drymonia decora in 2003. The plan is to set up a collaboration with Boracayan and a Costa Rican research affiliate to conduct an all-vascular plant inventory of the refuge. We have already documented over 10 species of gesneriads from Boracayan. Our planned inventory project will most likely uncover more gesneriad species as we explore this botanically rich region of Central America. Look for more updates on this exciting endeavor in the coming year.Okay...enough for now. Happy New Year!
~ John R.
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