Abstract:
Monographs are fundamental for progress in systematic botany. They are the vehicles for circumscribing and naming
taxa, determining distributions and ecology, assessing relationships for formal classification, and interpreting long-term and
short-term dimensions of the evolutionary process. Despite their importance, fewer monographs are now being prepared by the
newer generation of systematic botanists, who are understandably involved principally with DNA data and analysis, especially
for answering phylogenetic, biogeographic, and population genetic questions. As monographs provide hypotheses regarding
species boundaries and plant relationships, new insights in many plant groups are urgently needed. Increasing pressures on
biodiversity, especially in tropical and developing regions of the world, emphasize this point. The results from a workshop (with
21 participants) reaffirm the central role that monographs play in systematic botany. But, rather than advocating abbreviated
models for monographic products, we recommend a full presentation of relevant information. Electronic publication offers
numerous means of illustration of taxa, habitats, characters, and statistical and phylogenetic analyses, which previously would
have been prohibitively costly. Open Access and semantically enhanced linked electronic publications provide instant access
to content from anywhere in the world, and at the same time link this content to all underlying data and digital resources used
in the work. Resources in support of monography, especially databases and widely and easily accessible digital literature
and specimens, are now more powerful than ever before, but interfacing and interoperability of databases are much needed.
Priorities for new resources to be developed include an index of type collections and an online global chromosome database.
Funding for sabbaticals for monographers to work uninterrupted on major projects is strongly encouraged. We recommend
that doctoral students be assigned smaller genera, or natural portions of larger ones (subgenera, sections, etc.), to gain the necessary expertise for producing a monograph, including training in a broad array of data collection (e.g., morphology, anatomy,
palynology, cytogenetics, DNA techniques, ecology, biogeography), data analysis (e.g., statistics, phylogenetics, models), and
nomenclature. Training programs, supported by institutes, associations, and agencies, provide means for passing on procedures
and perspectives of challenging botanical monography to the next generation of young systematists.
