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Historically and strategically, the Andes to Amazon Botany Program is rooted in studies of the diversity, ecology, biogeography, and conservation of plants and their habitats.

Botanists on the project study plants at two levels of diversity, as described below.

1. Monographic level

At the monographic level, researchers such as Scott Mori, John Janovec, and Amanda Neill are focused on studies of the diversity, ecology, and biogeography of specific families of flowering plants.

Scott Mori is an expert on the Lecythidaceae, or Brazil nut family of flowering plants. He studies all available specimens from herbaria around the world to document all the species and genera of the family.

John Janovec studies the Myristicaceae, or nutmeg family of flowering plants, with focus on the diversity, ecology, and biogeography of neotropical species and genera. Read more.

Amanda Neill studies members of the Cucurbitaceae, or cucumber and melon family of flowering plants, with focus on the diversity, ecology, and biogeography of selected neotropical genera and species.

2. Floristic level

At another level, we study all the plants of a selected local or regional area, in our case the Andes-Amazon region of southeastern Peru, with focus on strategic field sites along an elevational gradient from the Andes to the Amazon. Especially important are studies of plant and habitat diversity, because all organisms, including humans, depend on plants for survival. An accurate accounting of the flora is indispensable in preparing wise management programs and decision support.

Tropical floras, such as the Guide to the Plants of Central French Guiana (Scott A. Mori, 1997, 2002), have led to ecological studies and conservation decision-support and they have promoted tourism and scientific research programs that have generated substantial support for local communities.

Making information available about the rich plant diversity of tropical forest sites facilitates the work of ecologists, conservation biologists, molecular biologists, economic botanists, zoologists, students, educators, agronomists, and others. Anyone wishing to know accepted names, synonyms, morphology, biogeography, ecology, evolutionary history, vernacular names, and economic uses may obtain this information from monographs and floras or from databases of information extracted from monographs and floras.

Read more about the importance of botanical studies in biodiversity science, education, and, conservation programs.