Updated, 2013-08-25: Corrected links.
Brooklyn Botanic Garden‘s New York Metropolitan Flora Project (NYMF) documents the distribution of woody plant species among 25 counties in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut within a 50-mile radius around New York City. Tools available online include:
- A plant encyclopedia, organized by family, genus, and species. For example: Adoxaceae, Viburnum, V. dentatum
- Lists of plants by county, linked to the detailed species entries in the encyclopedia. For example: Kings County (Brooklyn)
- A searchable bibliography.
While most of the botanical community concentrates on tracking the threats to biodiversity in the tropics, scientists at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden are undertaking the most comprehensive study ever of the plant biodiversity in metropolitan New York. Studying the vegetation changes in highly populated areas is critical to understanding the future of life in our rapidly urbanizing world. …
Understanding the urban landscape is critical in our rapidly urbanizing world. Findings of BBG’s Metropolitan Flora Project serve as vital references for those involved in environmental efforts, from preserving rare plants, to planning parks and greenways, to repairing degraded habitats, to designing home gardens in which native plant communities are preserved or restored.
Links
Brooklyn Botanic Garden: New York Metropolitan Flora Project