WILSON, BARBARA L.*, RICHARD BRAINERD, MANUELA HUSO, KELI KUYKENDALL, DANNA LYTJEN, BRUCE NEWHOUSE, NICK OTTING, AND PETER ZIKA. Department of Botany and Plant Pathology, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR 97331. - The Carex Working Group, an example of cooperative taxonomy.
The dwindling support from academia and government funding agencies
for primary plant taxonomy is a concern for both academic taxonomists
and practical field botanists. Given this funding climate, an
alternative approach was used by the Carex Working Group in
Oregon. This group of students and professional botanists reviewed
the classification of Carex in Oregon, discovering species new
to the state, rediscovering a population missing for over a century,
describing a new species, and publishing maps of the 128 Oregon
Carex taxa. The work was supported by academic botanists and
the herbarium at Oregon State University. Although most of the work
was done by dedicated volunteers, funding from private and government
agencies supported databasing and field work expenses.
Key words: Carex Working Group, Carex, Cyperaceae, Taxonomy