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Plant Taxonomy and Systematic Collections in the Philippines Category: Articles Date Posted: 2005-12-28 Update on the Status of Plant Taxonomy and Systematic Collections in the Philippines Introduction The history of plant systematic collections in the Philippines dates back to the 16th century when early Spanish missionaries took interest in local economic and medicinal plants (Merrill, 1903, 1906; Mendoza, 1959; Madulid and Gutierrez, 1981; Vera Santos, 1984). These early botanical collections, however, were of little taxonomic significance as these were few and consisted mostly of common plants and weeds. Many of these specimens were not preserved well and eventually got destroyed. A few specimens, however, reached Europe and are still preserved in these selected herbaria to date (Merrill, 1926). The Malaspina Expedition, sent from Spain to explore the natural and economic resources of its colonies around the world, visited the Philippines in 1793. The botanists hired in the expedition, namely: Thaddaeus Haenke and Luis Nee, combed the hinterlands of Luzon and collected about 5,000 specimens (Madulid, 1983). Some of their collections are still extant in various herbaria in Eeurope and the United States (Madulid, 1985, 1988ab). Juan de Cuellar, a Spanish naturalist, was hired by the Real Compania de Filipinas in Manila beginning 1785 to botanically explore the island and find out what economic plants could be exploited in the Archipelago (Ba?as, 1995). Although Cuellar was able to accumulate many documents and illustrations of economic plants from the islands, he did not collect voucher specimens for the herbarium. Several other exploring expeditions and private plant collectors visited the Philippines from the 18th century onwards (Merrill, 1926; van Steenis-Kruseman, 1950-1958) The Agustinian priest, Father Manuel Blanco is credited for conducting botanical surveys of selected sites in the Philippines and for publishing his magnum opus Flora de Filipinas. But, except for a few specimens, most of his plant collections were not preserved and are not found in Philippine herbaria or in other herbaria abroad (Galende, 1993). The Spanish forester, Sebastian Vidal, built a herbarium for the Forestry Bureau, but this was destroyed by fire on September 27, 1897. Sets of Vidal?s plants were fortunately distributed abroad and are still extant in Kew, Madrid, and other European herbaria (Merrill, 1926). When Elmer D. Merrill arrived in Manila in 1902, he established what was to become one of the largest herbaria in Southeast Asia. Collecting by himself or with the help of Filipino staff, he explored the mountains and remote islands in the country. He also exchanged specimens with foreign herbaria and as a result he was able to amass about a million specimens including hundreds of Philippine types. He also built a rich botanical library un rivaled in the region at that time. However, all these precious specimen and library were destroyed during the Second World War. The task of rebuilding the herbarium and library was assumed by Dr. Eduardo Quisumbing, former Director of the National Museum. From 1946 until his retirement in 1962. Quisumbing and his staff collected about 77,000 specimens. From 1963 onwards, the Philippine National Herbarium was further expanded by the collective efforts of its staff (Madulid and Gutierrez, 1981). The Philippine National Herbarium Today The PNH is the national repository of plant systematic collections and the center for systematic research in the country. It is the largest herbarium in the country with about 200,000 numbers including mounted specimens (180,000) and backlog specimens about to be processed. The herbarium keeps various groups of plants from algae, fungi, mosses, ferns and fern allies, and flowering plants. Included in the herbarium are some early collections of Elmer Merrill and some special collections of grasses, palms, orchids, ferns, etc. There are several hundred of type specimens and more than 1,000 photographs of Philippine types taken from herbaria abroad. The botanical library is enriched by the purchase of 3 private libraries namely: Gagnepain, Rehder and Beccari. The staff consists of 3 senior scientists, 5 researchers, 2 technicians, 2 botanical illustrators and 1 clerk. Other Philippine Herbaria There are other active herbaria in the country and these may be grouped into 5 regions: 1. Northern Luzon; 2. Metro Manila; 3. southern Luzon; 4. Visayas, and 5. Mindanao (Madulid, 1985). From the records of collection of these 15 herbaria, it is estimated that there are, at present, about 350,000 plant specimens available for research throughout the country. Six of these herbaria belong to government research institutions, while ten are university herbaria. Only seven of them, so far, are listed in the Index Herbariorum. Constraints and Problems There are several problems that hinder the development of taxonomy and systematics in the Philippines. One of these is the lack of financial support from government itself particularly from the Department of Science and Technology, Department of Education, Culture and Sports, and Department of environment and Natural Resources. The annual budget of the Philippine National Museum, for example is one of the smallest under the Office of the President and the Botany Division has to share its meager research fund with 5 other divisions. There is little money for travel of staff to collect specimens in the field and to purchase needed field and herbarium equipment. Most of other herbaria, especially those run by universities are given just token share of the school budget. Often times, researchers have to depend on research grants, which are hard to get, to be able to collect and curate plant specimens, more so to conduct taxonomic study. Aside from lack of funds, there is also manpower problem. At present there are very few professional taxonomists/academicians. The Philippine National Museum has a complement of full time taxonomists and part time taxonomists/academicians. The Philippine National Museum has a complement of full time research taxonomists numbering to 8. The other professional taxonomists are also members of the academic circle, hence are not full time in their systematic research. It is estimated that there are more or less 25 active plant systematists trying to classify and identify the more than 14,000 species of plants in the country at present. Clearly this is not enough and we urgently need more professionals in plant taxonomy. One of the reasons why students and young biology graduated are not attracted to specialize in taxonomy/systermatics is the misconception that there is little demand for this highly specialized discipline except in the field of education. While this may be true 20 or 30 years ago, the situation has now changed significantly. At present, there are numerous positions in government research institutes, universities, and conservation organizations that specifically requires knowledge in plant taxonomy. Taxonomists are also hired in school herbaria, botanic gardens and arboreta. They are also in demand as consultants or researchers in charge of plant conservation in parks and other protected areas, and as consultants in charge of floristic inventories for environmental impact assessment, bioprospecting, etc. Lack of adequate research collection and herbarium facilities is a perennial problem of the Philippine National Herbarium. For a long time, the Philippine National herbarium has no permanent building of its own and has been squatting in government buildings. Until lately, it has moved 3 times since 1980 from one building to another and the transfer has caused damage to the cabinets an the herbarium specimens. Fortunately, the former President of the Philippines, Fidel V. Ramos, made an order designating the old Congress Building the permanent site of the Philippine National Herbarium. Renovation and expansion of the national Herbarium will take place in the next two years. While the PNH looks forward to a bigger space for its herbarium in the near future, the other herbaria, specially the ones run by schools, are not as fortunate. Many of them are not given adequate space and their collections are so meager that they cannot carry out serious taxonomic work. Lack of scientific equipment and botanical references hinders progress of taxonomic study in the PNH and other herbaria in the Philippine. Important systematic investigation on anatomy, cytology, phytochemistry, genetics, etc. are abandoned because of lack of basic equipment such as high power light microscope, stereomicroscope, microtomes, scanning electron microscope, etc. Furthermore, they badly need important botanical references which are oftentimes expensive and difficult to procure in the country. For lack of financial support from the government, the present botanical library of the National Museum could not even subscribe to ht e scientific journals more so by monographs and other taxonomic references. One important references that is highly desired by the PNH is Index Kewensis in CD-ROM. Lack of coordination and cooperation among practicing systematists in the Philippines is also a problems. Oftentimes botanist work independently and communicate only within the academic circle where they belong. This bring about communication gap among the taxonomists and further stifle collaborative research. One organization that used to be active and bring professional plant and animals taxonomists together through periodic meetings in the Association of Systematic Biologists of the Philippines established in 1982.The ASBP used to be active and its members were kept aware of the latest events and happenings pertaining to plant and animals taxonomy through annuals meetings, lecture by local and foreign taxonomists, training course, etc. There was also a newsletters (ASBP Newsletter) which comes out semi-annually and sent to members and subscribers here in abroad. The organization was active for several years but for reasons still not clear, the organization suddenly stopped its activities. There is a plan to revive the ASBP since this is the only organization of its kind that caters to the interest of plant and animal systematists in the country. Inventory No one can say for sure what is the exact total number of plant species in the Philippines. This is because the country is not yet thoroughly botanized at this time. Based on past records of collection and current exploration activities it will take at least 10 more years of intensive work to thoroughly cover botanically rich and important areas in the country. There are about 14,490 plant species in the Philippines, which includes a the flowering plants(8,000), fern and fern allies (930), mosses (635), lichens (790), fungi (3000) and algae (1,145) (Madulid, 1994),Of these plant groups the algae and the fern are also far the ones fairly worked out systematically at present. There are floristic accounts for the group (e.g. Copeland`s Fern Flora of the Philippines) although this need revision and updating. There are also synopses and checklists of Philippine marine and freshwater algae (Vera Santos, 1984). The fungi, mosses hepatics, although there were past inventories made (Vera Santos, 1984) need revision and emmendations based on recent taxonomic studies and new collections. Conclusion Despite the world attention and interest in biodiversity conservation and sustainable development, it is lamentable that support from systematic research and curation of systematic collections is far from satisfactory in the Philippines. Despite the increase in funds flowing in the country to support the biodiversity project, this is directed to many types of projects other than systematic research. There is also very little support for building up the physical and manpower capacity of institutions holding systematic collections. Currently, there are very few practicing plant systematists in the Philippines. There are even fewer young graduates attracted to the profession. There is no sign that the trend will be reversed in the near future. Clearly there is an urgent need to launch a vigorous campaign to promote plant taxonomy as a scientific discipline, to the botanist engaged in the profession and to help build the institutions holding these precious scientific collections. |
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