美国 苏铁协会 Cycad Society – 国际苏铁保护学术团体

协会概况与历史

美国苏铁协会（The Cycad Society，简称 TCS）1977 年由路易斯安那州立大学 Walter Harman 博士发起成立，注册地为美国路易斯安那州，是依据美国税法 501(c)(3) 注册的非营利组织。协会以「通过教育和科学研究推动苏铁保育」为长期宗旨，自 1999 年在佛罗里达州迈阿密召开的第五届国际苏铁生物学大会（CYCAD 99）后，理事会重新调整工作方向，把扩充会员福利作为持续目标。

使命与核心工作

国际自然保护联盟（IUCN）苏铁专家组公布的数据中，全球目前已承认的苏铁物种约 377 种，其中超过半数被列为受威胁或濒危。协会的核心工作围绕三类对象展开：一是面向会员和公众开展苏铁相关科普；二是为苏铁保护研究提供小额资助；三是与 IUCN 苏铁专家组、全球苏铁保护联盟（Global Conservation Consortium for Cycads）等国际机构保持协作。

出版物《Cycad Newsletter》

协会自 1977 年起发行季刊《Cycad Newsletter》，由会员费订阅支持，2010 年起改为同行评审模式并更名为《Cycad Newsletter: Journal of the Cycad Society》，由专门的期刊编辑委员会负责审稿。固定栏目包括会长致辞、「Cycad Focus」物种专题（自 2002 年 9 月起每期介绍一种苏铁，涵盖原生境、园艺、物候信息及彩色照片）等，每期还刊登各类研究、园艺与野外考察类文章。

种子库与会员福利

种子库（Cycad Society Seedbank）是协会最受会员欢迎的项目之一，由 Garrie Landry 担任协调员，定期向会员发布稀有种子的购买清单。受《濒危野生动植物种国际贸易公约》（CITES）等规定限制，种子库目前仅向美国境内会员发货。会员还可按 US Print Membership、Global Digital Membership、Global Digital Student Membership 等不同等级（年费 25-45 美元）订阅印刷版或电子版季刊，并参加线上专题分享。

学术资助与教育项目

协会每年通过研究、保护与资助委员会征集项目，截止日期为 3 月底，单项资助金额通常在 500-2,500 美元之间。2007 年起专项研究基金启动以来，已累计向 Laval University 的 Zamia 内生菌研究、Universidad CES 的 Zamia incognita 传粉纪录片、Cycas debaoensis 国际保育项目等十余项课题提供经费支持。教育方面，协会开发了收录 1,200 余条苏铁术语的扩展词表、全部已承认苏铁名称的词源汇编，并向多所大学和植物园捐赠 Loran Whitelock 所著《The Cycads》藏书。

About and History

The Cycad Society (TCS) was founded in 1977 by Dr. Walter Harman at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and remains incorporated in the state of Louisiana. The organization is a registered 501(c)(3) federal non-profit. Its long-running mission statement, “dedicated to the conservation of cycads through education and scientific research,” has appeared on the cover of every issue of the Cycad Newsletter since 1977. After the Board of Directors met at the 5th International Conference on Cycad Biology (CYCAD 99) in Miami, Florida in 1999, the society was reinvigorated with a renewed focus on member services.

Mission and Core Work

According to the IUCN/SSC Cycad Specialist Group, cycads represent one of the most threatened plant groups in the world, with more than half of the approximately 377 currently accepted species classified as threatened or endangered. The society pursues three lines of work: public and member education on cycad biology and horticulture, annual grant funding for conservation and research projects, and collaboration with international bodies including the IUCN Cycad Specialist Group, the Global Conservation Consortium for Cycads, and the World List of Cycads editorial team.

Publication — Cycad Newsletter

The Cycad Newsletter has been published quarterly since the society’s founding and is included with membership. In 2010 the Board of Directors voted to begin accepting original peer-reviewed scientific articles and renamed the publication Cycad Newsletter: Journal of the Cycad Society, establishing a Journal Editorial Board to oversee peer review. Recurring columns include the President’s Message and the long-running “Cycad Focus” feature (started September 2002, Vol. 25 No. 3, with predecessors in the “Portrait of a Species” series dating back to March 1982, Vol. 5 No. 1), each issue highlighting a different species with native habitat notes, horticultural guidance, phenology data, and color photography.

Seedbank and Member Benefits

The Cycad Society Seedbank, coordinated by Garrie Landry, distributes seed lists to members several times per year with small quantities of often rare cycad species at modest prices; sources of seeds are kept confidential. Due to CITES and other regulations, the seedbank ships only to U.S. addresses. Membership tiers include Global Digital Membership at $35/year (or $100 for three years), US Print Membership at $45/year (or $130 for three years), Global Digital Student Membership at $25/year, and Foreign Library Print Membership at $45/year (or $130 for three years); all members also gain access to exclusive online presentations and events.

Grants and Educational Programs

Proposals are accepted by the Research, Conservation and Grants Committee chair through the end of March each year and reviewed at the annual board meeting, with single-year grants typically ranging from $500 to $2,500. Recent awards include $2,395.46 to Dino Tuberquia (Universidad CES, Medellín) for Zamia incognita pollination outreach, $925 to Adriel Michel Sierra (Laval University) for Zamia endophyte research, $2,010 to Catherine Léger-Beaulieu (Laval University) for Zamia temperature and cyanobacteria symbiosis studies, and $5,000 in support of the 10th International Conference on Cycad Biology (CYCAD 2015). Educational output includes a glossary of more than 1,200 cycad terms, an etymological compendium of all currently accepted cycad names compiled in 2009, and donations of Loran Whitelock’s The Cycads to libraries including the University of Texas–Pan American, the Atlanta Botanical Garden, and the Universidad de Panama.

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