This award supports a planning visit to enable Dr. Andrew Henderson of the New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx to meet with Dr. Le Xuan Canh in the Institute of Ecology and Biological Resources (IEBR) in Hanoi. The visit will help develop a collaborative plan for the systematics and ecology of rattans and provide for a joint survey on rattan flora in Vietnam. The Indo-Burma region of tropical Asia contains some of the most diverse and threatened terrestrial habitats in the world. This visit is part of a long-term taxonomic study and conservation assessment of the rattans (Palmae) in this region. The research will produce the first authoritative, specimen-based treatment of rattans in several key countries in the regions. The research is of particular taxonomic value because of its regional approach, i.e. a similar methodology and a shared specimen database is used in each country assessment. This approach avoids the common problem of unidentified specimens from one country being described a new local endemics when they may be a well-known species in a neighboring country. The coupling of collecting activity with line-transect sampling of targeted genera is a significant advance in the efficient characterization of botanical diversity. The results of the proposed research will also assists in the training of local scientists and field crews in the methodologies of collecting and processing rattan specimens and conducting quantitative inventories will have significant implications for rattan conservation and the monitoring of wild stocks. It is also anticipated that future research will provide unique training and educational opportunities for U.S. graduate students by enabling them to obtain a global experience. It is anticipated that these early collaborations between the scientists and students from each country will lead to long-term collaborations that will benefit both institutions.
