An Overview of the New York Metropolitan Flora Project

by Gerry Moore, Angela Steward, Steven Clemants, Steven Glenn, and Jinshuang Ma

Brooklyn Botanic Garden, 1000 Washington Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11225

Published online October 23, 2002

Abstract

This paper provides an overview of Brooklyn Botanic Garden's New York Metropolitan Flora (NYMF) project. Previous efforts to document the flora of the New York metropolitan region are reviewed, including the contributions of many notable botanists (e.g., Arthur Cronquist, Merritt Fernald, Asa Gray, and John Torrey), institutions (e.g., Harvard University and The New York Botanical Garden), and groups (e.g., Torrey Botanical Society and Philadelphia Botanical Club). The methodologies used for the NYMF project are discussed, such as the area covered by the flora project, how data are collected, and how data are stored and analyzed. Some results of the NYMF project are considered, highlighting the two major trends that are found in the flora: the decline of native species and the spread of nonnative plants. The paper also covers how the results of the NYMF project are being made available to the public not only through publications but also by the NYMF Web site maintained by Brooklyn Botanic Garden.