Using the EDIT Platform for Cybertaxonomy to prepare and publish a treatment for the Caryophyllales Network: an online synthesis of the Nepenthaceae

Abstract

The Caryophyllales Network strives to assemble an online dynamic synthesis of the order Caryophyl lales, uniting the current knowledge about the phylogeny of the order with up-to-date information on the individual taxa contained. Capturing taxonomic data and the decision processes involved in the definition and circumscription of the taxa requires highly complex specialized software. The Caryophyllales Network uses the EDIT Platform for Cybertaxonomy for that purpose. In the context of the online treatment of the family Nepenthaceae, we describe the steps taken to assemble the database, the interaction with other electronic sources, the links with the World Flora Online initiative, and the prospects for the maintenance and further development of the Nepenthaceae segment of the Caryophyllales database. Nepenthaceae constitute an example of a family with a relatively recent flora treatment (Flora Malesiana, published in 2001), which to a large extent covers its total range of distribution, but with further species subsequently described as new to science in mostly regional treatments, and with an analysis of relationships and species limits on the basis of evolutionary methods just emerging. A snapshot of the current state of the database is provided as an annotated checklist in PDF format in the Supplementary Material online, which includes 176 species and nine naturally occurring named hybrids and treats 435 species and infraspecific names.

World Flora Online: Placing taxonomists at the heart of a definitive and comprehensive global resource on the world's plants

“…Due to some factors, the task turned out to be slightly more complicated than initially assumed (Berendsohn & al., 2018). IPNI includes names of several artificial hybrids, which are perhaps not relevant in the context of WFO, but which are validly published names that can (and did) block usage of those names for new taxa.…”

The Caryophyllales 2018 Conference in Mexico & Advances of the Global Caryophyllales Initiative

“…An up-to-date taxonomic backbone compiled for the Cactaceae (http://caryophyllales.org/cactaceae/) was presented at the conference (Korotkova, 2018). A compilation of the Nepenthaceae (Berendsohn & al., 2018) served as a case study for the accommodation of descriptive and other factual data, and for demonstrating the workflow between the Network and the World Flora Online (WFO, http://worldfloraonline.org/) initiative. Incorporating the taxonomic treatment in the recent phylogenetic treatment of Iresine served as another example of the compilation process.…”

FlorItaly – the portal to the Flora of Italy

“…Plus, providing open access to information has several positive effects, such as facilitating research, avoiding duplication of efforts, stimulating contributions, etc. (Berendsohn et al 2018) The development of online plant data repositories, especially focused on taxonomic information as nomenclatural backbones, is the main aim of several international initiatives. In Europe, the Euro+Med PlantBase (Euro+Med 2006) is a long-lasting effort which aims at achieving an agreed taxonomic core for all families, genera, species, subspecies and, where appropriate, cultivars described from the Euro-Mediterranean region, involving experts from all over Europe.…”

“…Plus, providing open access to information has several positive effects, such as facilitating research, avoiding duplication of efforts, stimulating contributions, etc. ( Berendsohn et al 2018 )…”