Scott A. Mori's Websites - Tropical Biology & Conservation

This page introduces the websites of Scott Mori, Botanist at The New York Botanical Garden. Scott specializes on the systematics and ecology of Neotropical Lecythidaceae, and in neotropical floristics. He has initiated an e-Flora of French Guiana in collaboration with French Scientists associated with IRD and the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) and he and his wife, Carol Gracie, have prepared an electronic checklist of the flowering plants of the Caribbean island of Saba in the Netherlands Antilles. This flora also includes checklists of other vascular plant groups as well as the marine algae and lichens contributed by others. Scott also collaborates with Reinaldo Aguilar and Xavier Cornejo in the preparation of an e-flora of the Osa Peninsula of Costa Rica and with Nathan P. Smith on a Glossary for Vascular Plants. Finally, he and his colleagues are synthesizing what they have learned about neotropical Lecythidaceae on the Lecythidaceae Pages. Information about these projects is available on the following websites.

Author

Scott A. Mori is the Nathaniel Lord Britton Curator of Botany, at The New York Botanical Garden. His research on flowering plants focuses on the taxonomy and ecology of trees of the lowland New World tropics. He is especially interested in co-evolution between plants and their pollinators and seed dispersers. In order to investigate these relationships, he pursues taxonomic research on the Brazil nut family (Lecythidaceae) for which he and his colleague Iain Prance, have completed a Flora Neotropical Monograph. Scott Mori is dedicated to the conservation of tropical forests. He has prepared a vascular plant flora of a biological reserve in central French Guiana. The flora was done in collaboration with the Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD), one of the organizations responsible for research in France’s overseas departments. The book is designed to allow non-botanists to determine the names of plants in this, one of the last wilderness areas of the world. He continue his work in French Guiana with studies of plant/animal interactions, in particular bat pollination and dispersal. (Photo by Carol Gracie)

His latest publication is Tropical Plant Collection. From the Field to the Internet.

Lecythidaceae – the Brazil nut family

by Scott A. Mori, Nathan P. Smith, X. Cornejo and Ghillean T. Prance

The long-term goal of this website is to provide, in a single location, all of the information that we and our collaborators have accumulated on the taxonomy and biology of the Brazil nut family. We include species pages, electronic identification keys, a specimen database, literature references (especially protologues) which often include PDFs of the publications, access to images of herbarium specimens (especially types), field images, and a glossary to the specialized terminology of neotropical Lecythdiaceae. We also include PowerPoint presentations on topics such as pollination and dispersal biology as well as give tips on how to photograph and collect specimens of Lecythidaceae in the field. This site focuses on New World Lecythidaceae.

Plants and Lichens of Saba

by S. A. Mori, W. R. Buck, C. A. Gracie, & M. Tulig

In February 2006, Conservation International, in conjunction with the Saba Conservation Foundation, embarked on a project to survey the biodiversity of Saba from beneath the sea to the summit of its highest peak, Mt. Scenery. As part of this effort, the Department of Botany of the Smithsonian Institution surveyed the marine algae. In 2006 and 2007, The New York Botanical Garden participated in surveying the bryophytes, lichens, and vascular plants of the island. Although small in size, Saba’s rugged topography is covered by several vegetation types, ranging from near desert to cloud forest. Our goal has been to provide illustrated checklists (a virtual museum) of all of the plants and lichens that grow on Saba and in the surrounding sea. Both native and introduced plants are included. All plants (algae, bryophytes, ferns, gymnosperms, and flowering plants are included in this project.

Vascular Plants of the Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica

by Reinaldo Aguilar, Xavier Cornejo, Catherine V. Bainbridge, Melissa Tulig, and Scott A. Mori

The New York Botanical Garden, Friends of the Osa, and Los Charcos Center for Regional Plant Diversity have worked together to produce a database-driven, specimen based, illustrated checklist of the flowering plants of the Osa Peninsula in Puntarenas province of Costa Rica. The goals of this project are to: 1) inventory the plants of the Osa by making herbarium specimens to document the presence and distribution of species on the peninsula; 2) attach selected images of herbarium specimens and digital images taken in the field to the records of herbarium specimens serving as vouchers for them; 3) contribute to the conservation of the plants of Costa Rica by identifying those species that need to be given special consideration for protection because they are endemic and/or the habitats in which they occur are threatened; and 4) provide information that will allow researchers and the general public to recognize Osa plants, learn their names, understand their ecology, and participate in their conservation.

Click here to access a map that shows the location and overall boundaries of the project.

The New York Botanical Garden’s Glossary for Vascular Plants

By Scott A. Mori and Nathan P. Smith

The purpose of this botanical glossary is to provide definitions of the terminology used in the descriptions and keys of web sites at The New York Botanical Garden. The reason we prepared this glossary was to take advantage of electronic media to attach as many images as needed to illustrate terms and to be able to provide links to terms related to one another. Records of terms in this database can also be attached to electronic keys to illustrate choices between characters in the keys.

French Guiana e-Flora Project

by Scott A. Mori, Melissa Tulig, Jean-Jacques de Granville, Sophie González, Véronique Guerin, Hervé Chevillotte, & Jerôme Chave

The New York Botanical Garden (NY), The Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD), and the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) are working together to produce a database-driven, specimen-based, illustrated checklist of the flowering plants of the Nouragues Nature Reserve that will be the first step in a French coordinated effort to produce an electronic flora of French Guiana. The goals of this project are to: 1) Continue the inventory of the plants of the reserve by making high quality herbarium specimens that will serve as vouchers for DNA collections, images of flowers, fruits, and seedlings; and as documentation of the presence of a species in the reserve; 2) attach images of herbarium specimens, botanical line illustrations, and digital images to the records of the specimens serving as vouchers for them; 3) select representative images and attach them to the names of species documented to occur in the reserve; 4) prepare an electronic, illustrated key to the families of flowering plants known to occur in the reserve; and 5) prepare an e-flora treatment for the Lecythidaceae to serve as a model for treatments of other families to be included in an eventual e-flora for all of French Guiana. These goals have been met and the project is no longer actively managed. The authors would be willing to turn this site over to someone who would like to continue botanical exploration in this area.

References

Mori, S. A., W. R. Buck, C. A. Gracie & M. Tulig. 2007 onward. Plants and Lichens of Saba (http://sweetgum.nybg.org/saba/). Virtual Herbarium of The New York Botanical Garden.
Mori, S. A., N. P. Smith, X. Cornejo & G. T. Prance. 18 March 2010 onward. The Lecythidaceae Pages (http://sweetgum.nybg.org/lp/index.php). The New York Botanical Garden, Bronx, New York.
Aguilar, R., X. Cornejo, C. Bainbridge, M. Tulig & S. A. Mori. 2008 onward. Vascular Plants of the Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica (http:sweetgum.nybg.org/osa/). The New York Botanical Garden, Bronx, New York.
Mori, S. A. & N. P. Smith. 2012 onward. The New York Botanical Garden’s glossary for vascular plants (http://sweetgum.nybg.org/glossary/). Virtual Herbarium of The New York Botanical Garden, Bronx, New York.
Mori, S. A., M. Tulig, J.-J. de Granville, S. Gonzalez & V. Guerin. 15 Dec 2007 onward. French Guiana e-Flora Project. The New York Botanical Garden and the Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (http://sweetgum.nybg.org/fg/).

Received 20 September 2012; Published on line 2 October 2012.