IAPT TAXON summaries 47

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Greuter, W. & Raab-Straube, E. von: Registration progress report, 1. – Taxon 47: 497-502. 1998. – ISSN 0042-0262.

The trial phase of non-mandatory registration of new names and combinations of plants and fungi, living or fossil, sponsored by the International Association for Plant Taxonomy (IAPT), started punctually on 1 January 1998. It has been and is still being announced in several journals and news bulletins (the first such announcement was the one in this Column, in Taxon 46: 811-814, Nov 1997), as well as on IAPT’s Web site (http://www.bgbm.fu-berlin.de/iapt/registration). Whereas occasional critical comments have been made by some who were alarmed by the perceived complexity of the proposed system (a concern that we take very seriously and will try hard to dispel), we were in a general way overwhelmed by the positive response and helpful attitude of those we have addressed so far. It is our pleasure to acknowledge our gratitude to all concerned.

Registration may be seen as a three-tiered complex involving (1) the Actors, (2) the Registration System, and (3) the Customers. The Actors produce names for use by and for the benefit of the Customers, and the System is there to facilitate and expedite this transfer process.

Actors

Actors are basically the authors of new names. They are being asked to feed their products into the Registration System. A standard registration form has been designed, that one may download directly from the Web at the above address, or request from the nearest Registration Office or the IAPT Secretariat. A Spanish version of the form exists in addition to the original English version and can be obtained from Madrid (MA) or from the IAPT Secretariat; other translations may follow as the need is felt.

In many instances, publishers accept to act on behalf of their authors by directly and immediately submitting all forthcoming issues of their journals for registration. Publishers and the IAPT will then sign a covenant of accreditation. Among other things it defines an agreed format of how new names to be registered are being flagged typographically (e.g. by being listed in a special index, or mentioned in the abstracts or among the key-words) so that they will be reliably picked up by those registering and the authors need not worry that any might be missed.

So far, the publishers or editors of almost 300 journals have been approached by the IAPT. Others (e.g. those in the domain of mycology and palaeobotany) will be contacted in the near future. The response to our request has been positive beyond expectation, which makes us predict that the first option, submission of new names by means of a form filled in by the individual authors, will turn out to be the exception not the rule. A majority of publishers in our domain, even commercial ones, are being quite generous in responding to our request, caring as they do for their authors’ comfort.

The following is an enumeration of the 119 journals accredited with the IAPT as of 10 April 1998. The list is still rapidly expanding; a regularly updated version is available on the Web (http://www.bgbm.fu-berlin.de/iapt/registration/journals.htm). [The registration domains (V, M, O) are explained below.]

Abhandlungen herausgegeben vom Naturwissenschaftlichen Verein zu Bremen (V, M, O)
Acta botanica boreali-occidentalia sinica (V, M, O)
Acta botanica fennica (V, M, O)
Acta botanica malacitana (V, M, O)
Acta botanica mexicana (V, M, O)
Acta musei nationalis Pragae, ser. B, historia naturalis (V, M, O)
Acta palaeobotanica (+ suppl.) (M, O)
Acta phytotaxonomica et geobotanica (V, M, O)
Acta phytotaxonomica sinica (V, O)
Adansonia (V)
Algological studies (suppl. of Archiv für Hydrobiologie) (V, M, O)
Anales del Jardín Botánico de Madrid (V, M, O)
Annalen des Naturhistorischen Museums, Wien, ser. B (V, M, O)
Annales botanici fennici (V, M, O)
Australian systematic botany (V, M, O)
Austrobaileya (V, M, O)
Belgian journal of botany (V, M, O)
Berichte aus den Arbeitskreisen Heimische Orchideen (V)
Bibliotheca botanica (V, M, O)
Blumea (V, O)
Bocconea (V, M, O)
Boissiera (V, M, O)
Boletim de botânica da Universidade de São Paulo (V, O)
Boletín de la Sociedad Argentina de Botánica (V, M, O)
Bollettino del Gruppo micologico G. Bresadola (nuova serie) (M)
Bonplandia (V, M, O)
Botanica helvetica (V)
Botanical bulletin of Academia Sinica (V, M, O)
Botanical journal of the Linnean Society (V, M, O)
Botanika chronika (V, M, O)
Botanische Jahrbücher (V, M, O)
Bothalia (V, M, O)
British cactus & succulent journal (V)
Bromélia (V)
Bryobrothera (O)
Bryologist (O)
Bulletin du Jardin Botanique National de Belgique (V, M, O)
Bulletin of Moscow Society of Naturalists, biological series (V, O)
Bulletin of the Geobotanical Institute, ETH Zürich (V, M, O)
Bulletin of the Natural History Museum (botany series) (V, O)
Bulletin of the Osaka Museum of Natural History (V, M, O)
Bulletin, Société pour l’Echange des Plantes vasculaires de l’Europe et du Bassin méditerranéen (+ suppl.) (V)
Cactus & co. (V)
Candollea (V, M, O)
Carnivorous plant newsletter (V)
Decheniana (V, M, O)
Diatom research (O)
Edinburgh journal of botany (V, M, O)
Feddes Repertorium (V, M, O)
Flora mediterranea (V, M, O)
Flora of southern Africa (V, O)
Flowering plants of Africa (V)
Folia geobotanica (V)
Fontqueria (V, O)
Fragmenta floristica et geobotanica (V, M, O)
Fragmenta floristica et geobotanica, ser. polonica (V. M, O)
Gayana, botanica (V, M)
Glasnik Prirodnjackog Muzeja, Beograd (V, M, O)
Graphis scripta (M)
Gymnocalycium (V)
Gymnos (V)
Icones Orchidacearum (botanical series) (V)
International cactus adventures (V)
International journal of plant sciences (V, M, O)
Internoto (V)
Israel journal of plant sciences (V, M, O)
Journal europäischer Orchideen (V)
Journal of bryology (O)
Journal of economic and taxonomic botany (V, M, O)
Journal of phycology (M, O)
Journal of the Adelaide Botanic Gardens (V, M, O)
Journal of the Bromeliad Society (V)
Journal of the Natural History Museum and Institute, Chiba (V, M, O)
Kew Bulletin (V, M)
Kirkia, the Zimbabwe journal of botany (V, M, O)
Korean journal of plant taxonomy (V)
Lejeunia (V, M, O)
Lidia (V, M, O)
Lindbergia (O)
Linzer biologische Beiträge (V, M, O)
Minimus (V)
Muelleria (V, M, O)
Natural history research (V, M, O)
Naturalistes belges (V)
New Zealand journal of botany (V, M, O)
Nuytsia (V)
Opera botanica belgica (V, M, O)
Orchid review (V)
Orquídea (Méx.) (V)
Osnabrücker naturwissenschaftliche Mitteilungen (V, M, O)
Ot, sistematik botanik dergisi (V)
Phycologia (O)
Phytologia balcanica (V, M, O)
Plant biosystems (V, M, O)
Preslia (V, M, O)
Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia (V, M, O)
Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales (V, M, O)
Protist (O)
Revista brasileira de botânica (V, M, O)
Revista de biología tropical (V, M, O)
Revista del Jardín Botánico Nacional (V, M, O)
Rheedea (V, O)
Rhodora (V)
Saussurea (V, M, O)
Science reports of the Tohoku University, 4th series, biology (V)
Sendtnera (V, M, O)
Stapfia (V, M, O)
Strelitzia (V, O)
Succulenta (V)
Succulentes (V)
Symbolae botanicae upsalienses (V, M, O)
Systematic botany (V, M, O)
Taeckholmia (V, O)
Taiwania (V, M, O)
Taxon (V, M, O)
Telopea (V, M)
Watsonia (V, O)
Webbia (V, M, O)
Willdenowia (V, M, O)

Registration System

At present registration operates within three large domains: (V) non-fossil vascular plants, (M) fungi and fossil fungi, and (O) other plants (i.e., algae, bryophytes, and non-fungal fossil plants). Journals can become accredited for any or all of these domains (see above). For the two first domains, existing indexing services have indicated their willingness to co-operate in the registration process, whereas for the remaining third the IAPT Secretariat takes responsibility for the time being. Protocols of co-operation are presently being devised among the potential registration centres. Further details will be provided in a forthcoming issue of this Column.

The registration system will build upon a world-wide net of registration offices housed at major botanical institutions. For a start, one institution has been approached in each country with a significant taxonomic output in the botanical field. Almost two thirds have already responded positively, and their addresses are listed below (they can also be found on the Web, where the list is regularly updated).

Dr Walter Till, Institut für Botanik und Botanischer Garten der Universität Wien, Rennweg 14, A-1030 Wien, Austria.
Jardin Botanique National de Belgique, Domaine de Bouchout, B-1860 Meise, Belgium.
Dr Valeri Georgiev, Institute of Botany, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Acad. G. Bonchev Str., blok 23, 1113 Sofia, Bulgaria.
Canadian Museum of Nature, P.O. Box 3443, Station D, Ottawa, Ontario K1P 6P4, Canada.
Universidad de Concepción, Departamento de Botánica, Casilla 2407, Concepción, Chile.
Jardín Botánico Nacional, Carretera del Rocío km 3 ½, C. P. 19230, Calabazar, Boyeros, Ciudad Habana, Cuba.
IAPT Registration Office, Botany Department, National Museum in Prague, CS-252 43 Prôhonice, Czech Republic.
IAPT Registration Office, Botanical Library, Sølvgade 83, DK-1307 Copenhagen K, Denmark.
Botanical Museum, Finnish Museum of Natural History, P. O. Box 7, FIN-00014 University of Helsinki, Finland.
Laboratoire de Phanérogamie, Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, 16, rue Buffon, F-75005 Paris, France.
Botanical Institute, Department of Biology, University of Patras, GR-265 00 Patras, Greece.
Department of Botany, Hungarian Natural History Museum, Postafiók 222, H-1476 Budapest VIII, Hungary.
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond, Surrey TW9 3AB, U.K.
Harvard University Herbaria, 22 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge, MA 012138, U.S.A.
Central National Herbarium, Botanical Survey of India, P.O. Botanic Garden, Howrah 711 103, India.
Dr A. Jalili, Director, Research Institute of Forests and Rangelands, Ref. to: Office for Registration of Plant Names, P.O. Box 13185-116, Tehran, Iran.
Departamento de Botánica, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Apartado Postal 70-367, 04510 Mexico City, D.F., Mexico.
Rijksherbarium, P.O. Box 9514, NL-2300 RA Leiden, Netherlands.
Botanical Garden and Museum, University of Oslo, Trondheimsveien 23B, N-0562 Oslo, Norway.
University of Bucharest, Faculty of Geology and Geophysics, Department of Geology and Palaeontology, Bd. N. Balcescu 1, RO-70111 Bucharest, Romania.
National Botanical Institute, Private Bag X 101, Pretoria 0001, South Africa.
Oficina de Registro de Nombres de Plantas, Dr S. Castroviejo, Real Jardín Botánico, CSIC, Plaza de Murillo 2, E-28014 Madrid, Spain.
Botany Departments, Swedish Museum of Natural History, P.O. Box 50007, S-10405 Stockholm, Sweden.
IAPT Registration Office Geneva, Conservatoire et Jardin botaniques, P. O. Box 60, CH-1292 Chambésy GE, Switzerland.
Istanbul Üniversitesi Eczacilik Fakültesi, Farmasötik Botanik Anabilim Dali, 34452 Üniversite, Istanbul, Turkey.
IAPT Registration Office, Prirodnjaccki muzej [Natural History Museum], Njegošseva 51, YU-11000 Beograd, Yugoslavia.

The Registration Offices are to provide a link between the authors of new names and publishers of botanical journals on one hand, and the IAPT Secretariat and other registration centres on the other. It is hoped that these Offices can play an active role in promoting the awareness of the forthcoming registration requirement among botanists of their country, from whom they will receive individual registration submissions. They will receive locally published journals as well. They will have a mandate to date all such items upon receipt, and forward them as appropriate. In the future, when the date of registration will be important for establishing the priority of names, this decentralised system will have the important function of placing botanists and publishers around the world on equal footing.

During the first months of the trial phase the registration staff at the IAPT Secretariat (which in addition to the junior author comprises Mrs Rosemarie Ziegler) has been registering, not only those nomenclatural novelties that were included in accredited journals or were submitted directly by individual authors, but also, in addition, the new non-fungal names found by scanning all relevant publications received at the library in Berlin-Dahlem. The main purpose was to build experience and test feasibility, not to aim at a completeness of coverage that cannot realistically be achieved at this stage. Still, by mid-April the number of names registered since January was in excess of 1250. Many of them were presumably or definitely published before 1 January 1998, even though the publication in which they appear was received in Berlin after that date.

In parallel with registration per se a database design has been developed under the drive of Walter Berendsohn, and implemented by a professional program designer. This has now progressed to a degree where it enables presentation of the registered data to the world at large (of which more below). Data exchange standards with the other centres participating in registration will be devised next as a matter of urgency.

Customers

Users of names play a pivotal role in the registration concept. They are the people whom the new system is designed to serve in the first place. It is therefore important that they make their concrete wishes and requirements known in a timely manner so that they can be catered for in the early stages of implementation of the system.

Users are now able to test a first version of the primary output. By the time when this report is published, the names that have so far been registered at Berlin will have been placed on the Web (http://www.bgbm.fu-berlin.de/iapt/registration/names) in a searchable format. We hope that those for the fungi, to be provided by the International Mycological Institute at Egham, U.K., can be added before long. Our first question to the botanical community, then, relates to the adequacy of the data as presented, and of the searching options as well. Please help improving data presentation by pointing out erroneous data, program bugs, and any other unsatisfactory aspects.

It is our aim to publish registration data as hard copy in due course, already during the trial phase if at all possible. This project, however, requires careful planning and negotiations, since it must not impair the publication of current and well established works such as the Index of fungi and Index kewensis. Publication in searchable format, e.g. on CD-ROM, is also among the options that can be envisaged as it might cover the needs of those devoid of quick and easy Internet access. There again, comments are encouraged.

Finally, we would like to explore whether and to what an extent there might be a market for additional, individual services which the system could be designed to provide. Such services might include personal notification, on a subscription basis, of all new names registered within a given genus or family. Also, it may be possible to produce copies of protologues (for individual use only, as allowed by copyright regulations) by e-mail, fax, or normal mail, either upon individual request or again on a subscription basis. Even now, protologues are being optically scanned and stored for archival purposes at Berlin.

Outlook

The really useful devices are those which, once they exist, appear to have always been there, as one cannot any longer imagine how to cope without them. Will registration, once functional and mandatory, be of this category for us botanists, just as TV sets and refrigerators are in everyday life? The future will tell, but we would not be surprised if this should be the case. This hope, strengthened by all the help we receive from so many quarters, is a great encouragement for our work.

A further encouragement of note, to ourselves and all those who help us in our efforts, is the explicit endorsement of a nomenclatural registration system by the Darwin Conference on "Removing the Taxonomic Impediment". This was held in February 1998 under the joint convenership of the Australian Biological Resource Study and the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, and at the request of the Secretariat for the Convention on Biological Diversity. In the Darwin declaration, just published, we find the following among the recommended steps toward implementation of the actions to be promoted: "Institutions/individuals should ... support and encourage a system for the registering of newly proposed names of organisms and help establish reviewed inventories of those names which are currently used." Please spread the message.