LONDON, Dec. 29 (UPI) -- U.S. and U.K. researchers say they've completed The Plant List, a database of land plant species intended to document plant diversity and improve conservation.
The Missouri Botanical Garden and the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew say the completion of the working list accomplishes the first goal of the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation, which called for a widely accessible working list of known plant species, a Kew Gardens release said Wednesday.
"The on-time completion of The Plant List is a significant accomplishment for the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and the Missouri Botanical Garden, and our partners worldwide," Stephen Hopper, Director of Kew Gardens, said. "This is crucial to planning, implementing and monitoring plant conservation programs around the world."
The Plant List provides a way of linking the different scientific names used in different areas of the world for a particular species together.
Without accurate names, understanding and communication about global plant life would descend into inefficient chaos, the researchers say.
"Having an accurate and comprehensive list of the world's flora will be a fundamental requirement to underpin future plant conservation efforts," Peter Wyse Jackson, president of the Missouri Botanical Garden, said."
The Plant List includes 1.25 million scientific plant names and can be accessed online at www.theplantlist.org.
