About IDRI

Conifers Around the World

Dendrological Documentation Project

Dendrological Atlas Sample Plates

Sample Vegetation Profile

About the Scientists

Glossary

Links

Contact IDRI

What's New?

Search this Site

.

.

It is not difficult to establish how rapidly interest is growing in natural science and conservation, worldwide. More and more, people are realizing how perishable our living environment is, even sacrificing time and money for a more complete understanding and growing responsibility for securing its existence for upcoming generations. With gains on specific issues such as earth science and conservation, access to a wider range of information will be a help in geographical and political approaches, promoting better understanding of the problems that different regions are facing. These different regions are all one: our Earth.

The International Dendrological Research Institute is a publicly supported, nonprofit [501(c)(3)] organization dedicated to documenting the woody flora, the backbone of the forest, worldwide The variability of the species and the composition of their communities as they appear in their habitats hold important information toward a better understanding of our living environment and related conservation issues. IDRI's purpose is both to support the documentation of the selected flora (Dendrological Documentation Project, DDP), and to make this documentation available for public use, both as botanical documentation (natural history collection) and by creating a widely usable tool for dendrological education and a better understanding of our goals and challenges.

Araucaria araucana habitat
Parque Nacional ConguillÌo near Temuco,
Zone IX, RegiÛn de la AraucanÌa, Chile.
View of Lago ConguillÌo and Volc·n Llaima (3125m)
from the Sierra Nevada
altitude 1700 m.
DDP Team archive

IDRI Mission Statement

• To work toward the global promotion and advancement of dendrological research both scientific and applied;
• to disseminate the knowledge gained from this research and educate the public as to the needs for and benefits of conservation, stewardship, appreciation and the improved use of trees and shrubs;
• to support and facilitate the international exchange of scientific information and documentation as well as scholars, scientists, teachers, and students.

The DDP uses three approaches to achieve these goals:

1. consistent data collecting, field recording, and documentation;
2. increasing knowledge by providing comparative information on the woody flora by using the strength of both science and art (DAP);
3. direct communication with local people in the field to stimulate locally based conservation efforts (Immediate Action for Conservation).

Abies kawakamii habitat
Shueh Shan, Taichung Co. Taiwan
(Shei-pa National Park)
altitude 3200 m.
DDP Team archive

The Dendrological Documentation Project

Recording and documenting species and habitats has been the DDP team's ongoing activity for over three decades, resulting in the accumulation of several thousand drawings, 120,000 photographs and negatives and 65,000 color transparencies (as of April 2000), 80,000 different collections (accession) of plant samples represented by 450,000 specimens (2000), all of which serves as background material for the descriptions, scientific statements and for exchange of information. The project, primary beneficiary of IDRI since 1991, was started by multi-lingual researchers (DDP Team) from the Museum of Natural History in Budapest, with three years background as Mercer Fellows and Visiting Scientists in the United States at Harvard University 's Arnold Arboretum. Their focus is to study and record morphological flexibility and variability of species in different habitats, stimulate systematic and synecological-environmental studies and to record the woody species (about 6,000 species with 7,000 varieties and forms), wherever it is possible in their old growth habitats within the Temperate Zones and including their marginal tropical habitats (particularly subtropical China and the high mountains of tropical Mexico).

The DDP team's research covers the majority of the land area of the Earth. The most florisitically diverse parts of the Earth are also the regions with the highest human population. Therefore, these are the regions with the most urgent need for consistent recording and conservation efforts.

IDRI research expeditions have resulted in the discovery of several new species and have led directly to local conservation activity. The worldwide scope of IDRI's research has yielded a wealth of images of old growth forests, unique habitats and diverse plant communities.

Why the DDP?

Dendrology (dendron = tree, logia = study of, in Greek) is the science of woody plants: trees, shrubs, and woody vines (the dendroflora). The dendroflora is the backbone of most vegetation types on Earth and the most endangered. The availability of data on the composition and constituents of this backbone is crucial.

A comprehensive, interconnected database (herbarium supported images) would be a subject of worldwide interest.

Securing access to and distribution of documentation toward a better understanding of the complicated inter relatedness in nature and encouraging conservational goals has an immediate priority.

An accessible database should serve as a motivation for further exploration of species and habitats, simultaneously providing data for science, conservation, and feedback for further expanding the database.

Lijiang
Photograph from DDP Archives

The Dendrological Atlas and Project (DAP)

The Dendrological Atlas Project currently under development is planned to be a richly illustrated manual based on the DAP team's original field documentation and available information. The DAP is intended to serve a new generation having greater concern and sensitivity toward nature. Experiencing the beauty of nature page by page, both in detail and on a broader scale, and observing the scope of such complicated interrelationships should be a major step in growing responsibility toward our remaining natural environment. The accumulated information and database processing grew into the ongoing compilation of the Dendrological Atlas Volumes 1-4 (Conifers and other Gymnosperms of the Temperate zones and adjacent regions) with 8,500 photographs, 3,000 drawings and scientific descriptions, graphic and photographic introductions of the discussed species and their habitats. the backbone of the conifer volumes will be the 400 double pages showing all major Gymnospermae species on full plate drawings and photographs.

The text will report the species in five chapters:

1. Brief introduction
2. Morphology
3. Discovery and Habitat
   
   Including 150-200 exemplary vegetation profiles showing confers or other Gymnosperms in their natural environment with the list of constituents, providing a brief, still informative, section of the atlas with links to the upcoming broad leaved volumes.
4. Variability and Relationships
   In this section, the cone and seed variability in several thousand drawings will serve as a major tool for correct identification and better understanding species flexibility as to both genotype and phenotype. Many of the minor taxa will be discussed in this chapter.

Pinus Densata
Photograph from IDRI Archives

Conservation Activity: Immediate Action for Conservation (IAC)

IAC is the IDRI/DAP team's direct conservation activity, connected to field experience and immediate communication with local people. Its purpose is to stimulate local efforts and initiate fund raising for small-scale conservation of rare species and threatened habitats, focusing on the temperate zone and its marginal subtropical/tropical regions, mainly in communities of limited means. IAC has recently been active in 15 different regions, including several in which species new to science were discovered by the team. Saving the CITES-1 Abies guatamalensis habitat in collaboration with the local Zapotec community in Oaxaca, Mexico and working on a Chinese Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga sinensis) reserve in Zhong Yuan Liang, Yunnan province are two examples of ongoing efforts.

In accordance with our mission, the IDRI/DDP team has involved and supported Abkhazian, Chinese, Guatamalan, Hungarian, Mexican, and Chilean visiting scientists while working with 127 Earthwatch volunteers from different parts of the world.

History - Results

In 1971, a small group of nature scientists and botanical artists at the Natural History Museum on Budapest, Hungary started to work on the consistent documentation of the dendroflora of the temperate zones. The DDP began with the goal of documenting woody plants, trees and shrubs, and their best habitats by creating a dendrological image (photo and drawing) collection backed with descriptions and corresponding scientific material (herbarium) as an interrelate, classical compilation. For public access to these collections, three approaches were anticipated:

1. an open collection at the Natural History Museum
2. publication of this material in periodicals
3. the Dendrological Atlas

The research and accumulation of material begun at NHM continued at the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University (1991-98) as well as at both the Massachusetts-based nonprofit organization, IDRI, and the Hungarian Natural History Museum, resulting in the creation of a worldwide field documentation.

New Species

Debreczy Zs. - I. R·cz (1995) New species and varieties of conifers from Mexico. Phytologia 78(4) p. 217-243. Description of 4 new species and 6 new varieties found in Mexico.

New species:

1. Abies hidalgensis (Hidalgo state)
   A species with green cones, included bracts and needles with up to 6 resin canals.
2. A. neodurangensis
   A few miles from the habitat of A. durangensis, with distinct foliage and cones appearing earlier than those of A. durangensis.
3. Abies zapotekensis (Oaxaca)
   Isolated specimens with 4-5 resin canals, fine foliage and green cones with included bracts.
4. Pinus yecorensis
   A distinct, long and shiny needled pine from Sonora with an appearance of P. michoacana but very different cones.

New varieties:

1. Abies guatamalensis var. longibracteata
2. Abies lowiana var. viridiula
3. Pinus oaxacana var. diversiformis
4. P. lawsonii var. gracilis
5. Pinus yecorensis var. sinaloensis
6. Pseudotsuga menziesii var. oaxacana

Scientists' Biographies

The staff of the International Dendrological Research Institute includes Dr. Zsolt Debreczy, Research Director, IDRI; Dr. Istv·n R·cz,IDRI Research Associate (Hungarian Natural History Museum); Dr. GyˆngyvÈr BirÛ, Research Librarian, IDRI. The IDRI team has also included up to 12 full and part time people as well as hundreds of volunteers.

Dr. Zsolt Debreczy

Zsolt Debreczy, 64, is Research Director of the International Dendrological Research Institute, Inc. in Boston, Massachusetts, USA, a position he has held since 1990. He holds a Ph.D. in biology and began his career as curator of the higher plant collection at the Botanical Department of the Natural History Museum in Budapest, Hungary. Beginning in 1988, he spent three years as a Mercer Fellow and Visiting Scientist at the Arnold Arboretum at Harvard University. In 1991 he became Research Director of the Massachusetts-based (USA) International Dendrological Research Institute, Inc. (IDRI), and in 1994 was a founding member of the International Dendrological Foundation. He organized and led the many explorations worldwide that provided the material for the Dendrological Documentation Project including the upcoming book Conifers Around the World.

Dr. Istv·n R·cz

Istv·n R·cz, 53, holds a Ph.D. in forest botany and is curator of the conifer collection at the Botanical Department of the Hungarian Natural History Museum. He is an associate of the International Dendrological Research Institute Inc., Massachusetts, USA and member of the board of the International Dendrological Foundation. He has worked with Zsolt Debreczy since 1975. With Debreczy, he was a Mercer Fellow and Visiting Scientist at the Arnold Arboretum at Harvard University from 1988 to 1991. He participated in most of the field-work that made Conifers Around the World possible in addition to contributing the high-quality, artistic photographs and managing the back-ground documentation.  Dr. R·cz's photographs are also widely used in botanical and horticultural publications.

Dr. Gyˆngyi BirÛ

Dr. Gyˆngyi BirÛ was assistant leader of the microbiological laboratory of Hungarovin (Hungarian Viniculture Company), Budapest (1974-1978) before she joined the research library of the Museum of Natural History in 1979. Working primarily with the DDP team, she has been participating in all phases of the preparation of the atlas, and took part in most of the collecting and documentation tasks of the project. Her focus in botanical activity was editorial work, mainly in context with the 250 publications, including 15 books, which the DDP team produced either as original work or as translation with regional application. Her studies in (bryo-) micro-ecology resulted in her dissertation in 1983. She was an associate researcher with Dr. Debreczy as Mercer Fellow and Visiting Scientist (1988-1991) at the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University. She is currently research librarian of IDRI.

Contact Information

For further information about IDRI research activities, the atlas project, or the archives you can contact us by e-mail at D-ZS-GY@juno.com or by writing to us at:

International Dendrological Research Institute
PO Box 812910
Wellesley, MA 02482
USA

Webmaster: webmaster@interdendr.org