An integrated assessment of the vascular plant species of the Americas

Carmen Ulloa Ulloa; Pedro Acevedo-Rodríguez; Stephan Beck; Manuel J. Belgrano; Rodrigo Bernal; Paul E. Berry; Lois Brako; Marcela Celis; Gerrit Davidse; Rafaela C. Forzza; S. Robbert Gradstein; Omaira Hokche; Blanca León; Susana León-Yánez; Robert E. Magill; David A. Neill; Michael Nee; Peter H. Raven; Heather Stimmel; Mark T. Strong; José L. Villaseñor; James L. Zarucchi; Fernando O. Zuloaga; Peter M. Jørgensen

doi:10.1126/science.aao0398

An integrated assessment of the vascular plant species of the Americas

Carmen Ulloa Ulloa^*, Pedro Acevedo-Rodríguez, Stephan Beck, Manuel J. Belgrano, Rodrigo Bernal, Paul E. Berry, Lois Brako, Marcela Celis, Gerrit Davidse, Rafaela C. Forzza, S. Robbert Gradstein, Omaira Hokche, Blanca León, Susana León-Yánez, Robert E. Magill, David A. Neill, Michael Nee, Peter H. Raven, Heather Stimmel, Mark T. StrongJosé L. Villaseñor, James L. Zarucchi, Fernando O. Zuloaga, Peter M. Jørgensen

^*Corresponding author for this work

Faculty of Exact and Natural Sciences

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

419 Scopus citations

Abstract

The cataloging of the vascular plants of the Americas has a centuries-long history, but it is only in recent decades that an overview of the entire flora has become possible. We present an integrated assessment of all known native species of vascular plants in the Americas. Twelve regional and national checklists, prepared over the past 25 years and including two large ongoing flora projects, were merged into a single list. Our publicly searchable checklist includes 124,993 species, 6227 genera, and 355 families, which correspond to 33% of the 383,671 vascular plant species known worldwide. In the past 25 years, the rate at which new species descriptions are added has averaged 744 annually for the Americas, and we can expect the total to reach about 150,000.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	1614-1617
Number of pages	4
Journal	Science
Volume	358
Issue number	6370
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aao0398
State	Published - 22 Dec 2017

Funding

by P.M.J. and C.U.U. and populated by H.S. All data analyses were conducted by and figures and tables prepared by C.U.U. and P.M.J. The checklist data were formatted by P.M.J. The original manuscript was drafted by C.U.U., and all coauthors contributed to subsequent versions. R.C.F. received a Research Productivity Fellowship from the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development of Brazil (CNPq). The Checklist of the Vascular Plants of the Americas is available as a text document in the supplemental materials, and all of the information is publicly available on a website on the Missouri Botanical Garden database Tropicos at http://tropicos.org/Project/VPA.

Funders	Funder number
Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico

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Ulloa Ulloa, C., Acevedo-Rodríguez, P., Beck, S., Belgrano, M. J., Bernal, R., Berry, P. E., Brako, L., Celis, M., Davidse, G., Forzza, R. C., Robbert Gradstein, S., Hokche, O., León, B., León-Yánez, S., Magill, R. E., Neill, D. A., Nee, M., Raven, P. H., Stimmel, H., ... Jørgensen, P. M. (2017). An integrated assessment of the vascular plant species of the Americas. Science, 358(6370), 1614-1617. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aao0398

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abstract = "The cataloging of the vascular plants of the Americas has a centuries-long history, but it is only in recent decades that an overview of the entire flora has become possible. We present an integrated assessment of all known native species of vascular plants in the Americas. Twelve regional and national checklists, prepared over the past 25 years and including two large ongoing flora projects, were merged into a single list. Our publicly searchable checklist includes 124,993 species, 6227 genera, and 355 families, which correspond to 33% of the 383,671 vascular plant species known worldwide. In the past 25 years, the rate at which new species descriptions are added has averaged 744 annually for the Americas, and we can expect the total to reach about 150,000.",

author = "{Ulloa Ulloa}, Carmen and Pedro Acevedo-Rodr{\'i}guez and Stephan Beck and Belgrano, {Manuel J.} and Rodrigo Bernal and Berry, {Paul E.} and Lois Brako and Marcela Celis and Gerrit Davidse and Forzza, {Rafaela C.} and {Robbert Gradstein}, S. and Omaira Hokche and Blanca Le{\'o}n and Susana Le{\'o}n-Y{\'a}nez and Magill, {Robert E.} and Neill, {David A.} and Michael Nee and Raven, {Peter H.} and Heather Stimmel and Strong, {Mark T.} and Villase{\~n}or, {Jos{\'e} L.} and Zarucchi, {James L.} and Zuloaga, {Fernando O.} and J{\o}rgensen, {Peter M.}",

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doi = "10.1126/science.aao0398",

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Ulloa Ulloa, C, Acevedo-Rodríguez, P, Beck, S, Belgrano, MJ, Bernal, R, Berry, PE, Brako, L, Celis, M, Davidse, G, Forzza, RC, Robbert Gradstein, S, Hokche, O, León, B, León-Yánez, S, Magill, RE, Neill, DA, Nee, M, Raven, PH, Stimmel, H, Strong, MT, Villaseñor, JL, Zarucchi, JL, Zuloaga, FO & Jørgensen, PM 2017, 'An integrated assessment of the vascular plant species of the Americas', Science, vol. 358, no. 6370, pp. 1614-1617. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aao0398

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AU - Ulloa Ulloa, Carmen

AU - Acevedo-Rodríguez, Pedro

AU - Beck, Stephan

AU - Belgrano, Manuel J.

AU - Bernal, Rodrigo

AU - Berry, Paul E.

AU - Brako, Lois

AU - Celis, Marcela

AU - Davidse, Gerrit

AU - Forzza, Rafaela C.

AU - Robbert Gradstein, S.

AU - Hokche, Omaira

AU - León, Blanca

AU - León-Yánez, Susana

AU - Magill, Robert E.

AU - Neill, David A.

AU - Nee, Michael

AU - Raven, Peter H.

AU - Stimmel, Heather

AU - Strong, Mark T.

AU - Villaseñor, José L.

AU - Zarucchi, James L.

AU - Zuloaga, Fernando O.

AU - Jørgensen, Peter M.

PY - 2017/12/22

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An integrated assessment of the vascular plant species of the Americas

Abstract

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