BBS Tropical Bryology Group - Progress in 1998-1999
O'Shea BJ. 2000. BBS Tropical Bryology Group: Progress in 1998-1999. Bulletin of the British Bryological Society74: 59-62.
Unfortunately no report was prepared for last year’s Bulletins, so two years are covered here. Last year’s silence was not the result of having nothing to report - rather the reverse: there is now an increasingly large amount of work to do, and indeed being done.
Uganda
The third-year expedition of our Darwin-funded activities in Uganda in summer 1998 was transferred at the last minute to Mt Elgon (see pp. 53-59 of Bulletin 74): the Ugandan army was fighting rebel troops in the Rwenzoris, our original destination. Although Mt Elgon is already quite well known, the four participants (Ron Porley, Jeff Duckett, Howard Matcham and Catherine LaFarge) made many new records for Uganda. The results so far have already been incorporated in the first three papers in the series ‘Bryophytes of Uganda’ (published last year in Tropical Bryology 16), which reported more than a hundred bryophytes new to Uganda.
Jeff Bates has suggested that the results be published via a book, Mosses and Liverworts of Uganda. New York Botanical Garden have expressed an interest in publishing the book. We are hoping that all collections will be identified at least to family by the end of 2000, to be followed by a two-year period of work by a number of authors to produce the book. It will cover approximately 800 taxa, and authors for all groups have now been appointed. The project will also include the identification of other Ugandan collections (including more than 1200 made by Francis Rose in 1961). Our experience in Malawi has shown that intensive collection can provide a new perspective on the taxonomy of many tropical genera, where there are often many species based on very few collections. Large collections from a comparatively small area can give an indication of variation that has so far been missing, and the resulting taxonomic work may be quite heavy.
Malawi
Publications continue to trickle out via Journal of Bryology, but much of the outstanding work either depends on taxonomic work in large and difficult groups, or depends on experts who are already overloaded with other work. However, another paper has been accepted for publication (our 12th) and others are actively being worked on.
Future Expeditions
No arrangements have been made for future trips at present, but three possibilities are being pursued: Kenya, Cameroon and a return trip to Malawi.
TBG Newsletter
Newsletters were published in August 1998 and August 1999 and distributed to 58 members. Publication is now largely via e-mail and the newsletters are all held on the BBS web site. (Membership of the TBG is free and open to all BBS members.)
E.W. Jones’ Flora of West African Hepatics
After good progress in producing drawings and revising the text, work ground to a halt when money to complete the illustrations could not be found, including from the BBS. As a result, little work has been done during the past year. Some publication possibilities are still being pursued, but the material may merely be put on the BBS web site in its present state, probably with the addition of some previously published drawings. This is a disappointing end to the work of a world pioneer in African hepaticology, and active BBS member for many years.
Internet
The BBS web page is now up-to-date with all TBG publications and progress reports, and also has a little more information about both the Malawi and Uganda collections. It is planned to make the African moss checklist available on the web as a searchable database. I maintain a constantly updated database covering the distribution of African bryophytes to support the production of a periodically published checklist (the last was produced in November 1999 - see below). These data will now be used to create and update a database at the Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh (where the BBS web site is housed), allowing the data to be queried. Although the interface has yet to be designed, it is hoped that it will be possible, for instance, to enter a species name to view its distribution, or a country name to see a checklist. If successful, we would hope to extend this to cover hepatics.
Lesotho
Although not part of the official TBG activities, several TBG members have been participating in Jeff Duckett’s work on the bryoflora of Lesotho and the neighbouring Drakensbergs, and a major paper on the work so far was published in Journal of Bryology last year.
Guide to Bryophytes of Sub-Saharan Africa
More than 20 authors, all but one members of the BBS, are participating in a project to produce an illustrated guide to the families and genera of African bryophytes. At the last count, there were 125 families and 498 genera, and around 20% of the accounts are now written. The first draft of all the text should be completed by the summer, and after a period to integrate the individual family accounts and check that the keys work, it is hoped to run three workshops in Africa to check that the guide works in the field, though this will depend on securing funding. The final book will be published by Missouri Botanical Garden in late 2001. We see this as a framework within which future taxonomic work in Africa can be pursued. The project is being managed by Tropical Bryology Research, a company created specifically for the project by myself and Martin Wigginton, and which has its own web site (www.oshea.demon.co.uk/tbr.htm). It has also produced its first publication (see below).
New African Moss Checklist
The original African moss checklist was produced in 1995. Although an update was produced in 1997, this was published only on the BBS web site, which prevented it being referred to as a publication in papers. Like the previous versions, the 1999 version is available as a free downloadable file from the Tropical Bryology Research home page (see previous item), but it has also been published as a paper version: Tropical Bryology Research Reports 1. This new serial was seen as a useful way of publishing documents that other journals may not be prepared to publish (the checklist is 135 pages!), but to which authors wish to create free access.
International Botanical Congress, 1999
The International Botanical Congress in 1999 (in St Louis, Missouri) featured seven symposia concerned wholly or in part with bryophytes, and fourteen TBG members were present. Most of the bryological proceedings are to be published in various journals (e.g. The Bryologist), or, in the case of the Moss Diversity symposium, as a book.
Alan Eddy
Alan Eddy, who died last year, was perhaps the BBS’s premier tropical specialist, and had devoted most of his time during the last 15 years to his Handbook of Malesian Mosses, of which three volumes have been published. This is the only full flora of SE Asia (Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines and New Guinea). Volume 4 was not far from completion when he died, but the 5th volume, covering Hookeriales and Hypnales was scarcely beyond the planning stage. Fortunately, Angie Newton at the Natural History Museum hopes to be able to recover most of the text and illustrations and start during this year to complete the missing parts of volume 4. The final volume will become two volumes, and will probably be edited by Ben Tan, of Singapore, the expert particularly familiar with these groups.
Brian J. O’Shea, 141 Fawnbrake Avenue, London SE24 0BG (e-mail: brian@oshea.demon.co.uk).
