Ongoing Activities of the Pennsylvania Flora Project

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=48 BGCOLOR="#FFFFCC" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <I>Ongoing Activities of the Pennsylvania Flora Project</I></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=160 BGCOLOR="#006600" TEXT="#F7F7FF"> <div> <A HREF="id10.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Research and activities of the Pennsylva"><U><B>Research and Activities of the PA Flora Project</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Pennsylvania Flora Project"><U><B>PA Flora Project Home</B></U></A></div> </td> <td valign="top" height=432 BGCOLOR="#FFFFCC" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="659" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="VOID" RULES="NONE" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" BGCOLOR=#FFFFCC > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP COLSPAN=2 HEIGHT= 366 ><NOBR><div> <IMG SRC="06609680.jpg" border=0 width="265" height="360" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="200" VSPACE="0"></div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP COLSPAN=2 HEIGHT= 16 WIDTH="649"><div> <I>Utricularia inflata</I> in Tobyhanna Lake, Tobyhanna State Park</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP COLSPAN=2 HEIGHT= 362 WIDTH="649"><div> <B>Field Surveys of Endangered, Threatened, and Rare Species</B></div> <div> Annual studies of species currently being tracked by the Pennsylvania Natural Diversity Inventory (PNDI) or under consideration for addition to the list of endangered, threatened, or rare vascular plants are carried out with funding from the Wild Resource Conservation Fund.  These studies include field surveys and herbarium and/or taxonomic research.</div> <bR> <div> <B>Monitoring Changes in the Flora</B></div> <div> A state flora is an ever changing mosaic influenced by human activity and natural forces.  For example, in the past year the Pennsylvania Flora Project has documented the occurrence of:</div> <bR> <div> <I><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c800000000.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Utricularia inflata</I> - known from 4 lakes in NE Pennsylvania, this plant appears to be expanding its natural range northward.</div> <div> <I><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c800000000.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Spiranthes tuberosa</I> - thought to be extirpated, now known to be extant at one site in Delaware County.</div> <div> <I><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c800000000.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Isotria medeoloides</I> - a small population of this federally threatened species was recently discovered in Chester County by Jack Holt and Janet Ebert.</div> <bR> <div> <B>Database Maintenance</B></div> <div> For the Pennsylvania Flora Database to remain a useful and current tool, it must receive constant maintenance and updating.  Herbarium label data from new collections are added constantly, including new county-level records, new state records, and updates on the occurrence of native and naturalized taxa which had not been collected recently.</div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>