World Weeds DatabaseDiscussion Group on the Database of the Weeds of the WorldDatabase of Weeds and Invasive Plant Species - Final Report: HM Frost
http://ifs.plants.ox.ac.uk/wwd/wwd.htm -- ------------------------------------------------------------------- Lawrence F. London, Jr. - Venaura Farm - Dragonfly Market Gardens mailto:london@sunSITE.unc.edu - mailto:llondon@bellsouth.net - Support your local organic market farmer, buy products bearing the SUSTAINABLY GROWN (ecological & biointensive) label - http://sunSITE.unc.edu/InterGarden http://sunSITE.unc.edu/InterGarden/permaculture.html http://sunSITE.unc.edu/InterGarden/orgfarm -------------------------------------------------------------------Title: Weeds of the World Project
This project is supported by: The Natural Resources Institute, Long Ashton Research Station, The Forestry Research Programme (OFI) and the UK Overseas Development Administration.
This Web area has been created as a result of a six month project to examine the feasibility/desirability of establishing a database of the worlds invasive and weedy species. The interest in this area within this department stemmed from concern over the introduction of potentially invasive species of trees through our extension network but this interest also overlapped with an international group concerned with monitoring the effects of climate change. It was felt that invasive and weedy species might make very good candidates for evaluating changes in vegetation structure associated with climate change. Subsequently a number of other agencies have expressed interest (notably agronomists and the conservation lobby). Workers in the UK, USA, New Zealand, S Africa and Australia have been canvassed for their views through a series of meetings and there is obvious concern for the issue of invasives in all of these countries. There has been little attempt to assess the threat of species outside of the given territory, given internal financial-administrative constraints, which has obvious technical limitations. One model examined to date has been the database used in Holm et al (Geographical Atlas of the Worlds Worst Weeds). Technically it is not difficult to put this into electronically searcheable format and it could be a useful spine of information on taxonomy and distribution which could be supplemented and refined subsequently.
Mr Hugh Frost and Dr. Phil Bacon
Dept Plant Sciences
University of Oxford
South Parks Road
World Weeds Database
Discussion Group on the Database of the Weeds of the World
Database of Weeds and Invasive Plant Species - Final Report: HM Frost