Details of Award
NERC Reference : NE/M006778/1
Applied plant taxonomy, identification and field survey skills. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew: 15-26 September 2014.
Training Grant Award
- Lead Supervisor:
- Dr TMA Utteridge, Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, The Herbarium
- Grant held at:
- Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, The Herbarium
- Science Area:
- Terrestrial
- Overall Classification:
- Terrestrial
- ENRIs:
- Biodiversity
- Science Topics:
- Systematics & Taxonomy
- Abstract:
- The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew is a world-leading plant-science organisation documenting and conserving the world's plant species and the habitats they occupy. Kew has an active fieldwork programme from seed collecting and habitat surveys in the UK, to plant collecting and vegetation surveys in remote tropical regions. The breadth of knowledge and experience of Kew's staff in plant taxonomy and systematics, plant identification, fieldwork, and GIS analysis, makes the institute well-placed to provide training in these skills. The proposed training initiative combines the expertise of Kew's scientists to provide detailed sessions on the identification of common plant families, field survey and analytical techniques, and the application of these skills together in the field. It will demonstrate the latest appropriate field technologies, and provide a comprehensive introduction to plant taxonomy and nomenclature. The course will build on the success of one ran at Kew in March 2014 (funded by NERC as part of the Postgraduate and Professional Skills Development Awards scheme). Participants were very pleased with the course which more than met their training expectations, but based on participant feedback the course has been slightly modified to enhance the training provided. The course is still built from elements from Kew specialist courses which exploit Kew's global expertise in plant taxonomy, identification and application of these skills in conjunction with expertise in field survey and GIS techniques fostered through regular and ongoing vegetation and ecological survey work, and plant collecting expeditions, across the globe. In the feedback from the 2014 NERC-funded course, a number of participants requested that more time could have been spent on applying field techniques to design vegetation surveys, and the course this year will include a structured three day vegetation survey design and GIS element. Participants will be taught to identify 45 plant families within the context of practical specimen identification and field survey techniques. The focus will be on the temperate flora, but there will also be an introduction to important tropical plant families. Alongside short illustrated lectures that describe key characters, practical sessions will use specimens from Kew's extensive herbarium collections, and field ID sessions will take place in Kew's living collections, as well as 'hands-on' sessions to show plant collection methods. Resources such as Floras and identification keys will be utilised, and online tools demonstrated, revealing the wealth of taxonomic information being made accessible on the internet by projects such as the Global Biodiversity Resource for Monocot Plants (eMonocot), NERC Reference:NE/H021817/1. The field survey element of the course will take place over three days with a field trip to undertake miniprojects. Lectures on the first day will explain mapping and navigation using GPS, survey skills and sampling design. The importance of linking taxonomic, identification and survey skills with conservation initiatives will be elucidated using Kew case studies. The red listing procedure, and data required for conservation assessment, as well as the role of the IUCN will be explained. Real field scenarios will be explored during a field trip at Wakehurst Place (Kew's sister site in West Sussex), where students will undertake a range of mini-projects including conservation and population survey, carbon estimation (tree metrics), and species diversity comparisons of habitats under different regimes; in addition, the latest field technologies for capturing and recording data will be demonstrated (including use of drones for environmental surveying). Plant identification skills will be essential for accurate data collection and participants will be required to apply the skills learnt during the course.
- NERC Reference:
- NE/M006778/1
- Grant Stage:
- Awaiting Completion
- Scheme:
- Doctoral Training
- Grant Status:
- Closed
- Programme:
- Advanced Training
This training grant award has a total value of £45,000
FDAB - Financial Details (Award breakdown by headings)
| Total - Other Costs |
|---|
| £45,000 |
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