历史沿革与创始背景
美国康涅狄格植物协会（Connecticut Botanical Society，CBS）创立于 1903 年，是康涅狄格州历史最悠久的州级植物学专业团体之一，迄今已有 120 余年历史。协会由本州及周边地区的一批业余与专业植物学爱好者共同发起，宗旨为增进公众对康涅狄格州植物区系的了解、积累永久性的植物学记录，并推动本州自然遗产的保护与公众教育。创立初期，协会即确立了以田野调查、学术会议、标本收藏与名录维护为核心的四大业务线，并在 20 世纪陆续建成康涅狄格植物学会植物标本馆（Connecticut Botanical Society Herbarium）以及《康涅狄格维管植物名录》（Vascular Plants of Connecticut Checklist）两大旗舰项目。协会自创立之初便与耶鲁大学 Peabody 自然历史博物馆植物部（Yale Herbarium at the Peabody Museum）保持深度合作，标本馆主体后被并入耶鲁馆藏系统，成为新英格兰南部地区最重要的干制植物参考库之一。
组织架构、田野调查与会员体系
CBS 是一家完全由志愿者运作的非营利性专业组织，治理上设董事会（Board of Directors）统筹战略与财务，下设田野考察、学术会议、出版、标本馆及小额资助等若干常设委员会。会址与通信地址为 P.O. Box 102, Kensington, CT 06037-0102，newsletter 编辑部则使用 P.O. Box 9004, New Haven, CT 06532，会员通讯专用邮箱为 connecticutbotanicalsociety@gmail.com。田野考察（Fied Trips）由田野委员会主席 Gail Reynolds 统筹协调，季节自春季延伸至秋季，覆盖全州及周边地区的多种生境类型，每条线路均由具备深厚分类学功底的植物学家担任领队，调查结束后形成完整的物种名录并纳入协会的长期植物学记录数据库。会员体系面向所有对地区植物学感兴趣的人士开放，个人会员年费 15 美元、夫妻会员年费 20 美元，权益包括半年刊 Newsletter、Yearbook 年报、协会活动通知、植物标本馆访问权以及长达 100 余年的历史植物学记录检索权。
学术出版、科普教育与代表性活动
协会出版两大学术与科普旗舰刊物——《CBS Newsletter》半年刊与《CBS Yearbook》年鉴，刊载范围涵盖本州及新英格兰南部地区的植物保护、分类鉴定、生态学、本土园艺、志愿者项目公告以及新书评介等专题。学术会议每年分春秋两季召开，2022 年春季会议于 4 月 16 日在 Middlesex County Extension Center（1066 Saybrook Road, Haddam, CT 06438）举行，每次会议均邀请博物学家或相关学科科学家发表主题演讲并配以幻灯图解。科普教育层面，协会运营 Plants/Gallery 植物画廊板块与 Gardening with Natives 本土园艺板块，刊载 16 大类共 100 余种适合本土园艺栽培的蕨类与开花植物资料，每种均附学名、株高、土壤水分、光照与耐寒分区（USDA Zones 3-8）等核心栽培信息，并提醒公众严禁从野外采集植株，必须选用 nursery-propagated 人工繁育种苗。
植物标本馆、保护小额资助与社区参与
康涅狄格植物学会植物标本馆（Connecticut Botanical Society Herbarium）由协会自主创建并长期维护，馆藏量超过 36,000 份干制植物标本，被誉为康涅狄格州植物区系的”干植物图书馆”，系统记录了 120 余年来本州植物分布的历史变迁；该馆藏后与耶鲁大学 Peabody 自然历史博物馆植物部（Yale Herbarium）整合，并入更大的新英格兰南部标本馆体系，对学术界与公众开放检索。在陆生保护与栖息地修复方向，协会自 2010 年代起设立 CBS 小额资助项目（CBS Small Grants Program），2025 年度资助重点为：稀有或特有本土植物及其自然群落的永久性土地保育（须以契约形式永久保护）、高成功率的栖息地改善项目、帝王蝶等濒危传粉昆虫栖息地恢复、环境正义与低收入及城市社区的开放空间保护，以及支持购买受威胁地块所需的紧急资金支持等五大方向。社区参与层面，协会与康涅狄格州能源与环境保护部（CT DEEP）濒危与受威胁植物项目、耶鲁大学 Peabody 博物馆、康涅狄格学院树木园（Connecticut College Arboretum）、Notable Trees 历史树木联合项目、New England Wild Flower Society 旗下 Go Botany 平台，以及 NY-NJ-CT Botany Online 等十余家专业机构建立长期协作关系。
战略合作、志愿者网络与公众参与
协会的战略合作网络覆盖政府部门、学术机构、保护组织与姊妹学会四大类合作伙伴：政府部门包括 CT DEEP（康涅狄格州能源与环境保护部濒危与受威胁植物项目）；学术机构包括耶鲁大学 Peabody 博物馆植物部、康涅狄格学院树木园与植物学档案（aspace.conncoll.edu/repositories/2/resources/35）、康涅狄格学院 Notable Trees 项目（notabletrees.conncoll.edu）以及 UVM（佛蒙特大学）植物扩展资源；保护组织包括 New England Wild Flower Society 旗下 Go Botany 平台、NY-NJ-CT Botany Online、USDA PLANTS Database（美国农业部植物数据库）以及 Flora of North America 北美植物志项目；姊妹学会与合作平台则包括 Texas A&M University Vascular Plant Image Gallery、Rutgers 与 UMass Weed Images 数据库、Fungi Images on the Net 等专业图像资源。公众参与渠道包括田野调查开放非会员参加（无需注册）、半年刊 Newsletter 投稿（欢迎所有 CBS 会员与外部作者）、Yearbook 撰稿与编辑协助、Facebook Plants To Identify 植物鉴定群组、Noteworthy Trees 历史树木提名，以及全州范围内的标本馆志愿者整理与数字化项目。协会所有核心活动与出版均免费向会员开放，出版物订阅与会员费作为唯一持续性收入来源，支持协会在下一个 120 年继续守护康涅狄格州的植物多样性。
Founding History and Origins
The Connecticut Botanical Society (CBS) was founded in 1903, making it one of the oldest state-level botanical societies in Connecticut, with more than 120 years of continuous operation. The Society was established by a group of amateur and professional botanists in Connecticut and the surrounding region. Its founding mission is to increase knowledge of the state’s flora, to accumulate a permanent botanical record, and to promote conservation and public awareness of the state’s rich natural heritage. From its earliest years, the Society built four core programs—field botany, scholarly meetings, herbarium curation, and checklist maintenance—and in the 20th century established two flagship initiatives: the Connecticut Botanical Society Herbarium and the Vascular Plants of Connecticut Checklist. The Society has maintained a long-standing partnership with the Yale Herbarium at the Peabody Museum of Natural History, and the Society’s herbarium holdings have been integrated into the Yale curatorial system, becoming one of the most important dried-plant reference collections in southern New England.
Governance, Field Botany, and Membership
CBS is a volunteer-run nonprofit botanical organization. Its governance is provided by a Board of Directors that oversees strategy and finances, supported by standing committees for field trips, meetings, publications, the herbarium, and small grants. The Society’s mailing address is P.O. Box 102, Kensington, CT 06037-0102; the Newsletter editorial office uses P.O. Box 9004, New Haven, CT 06532; and the membership contact e-mail is connecticutbotanicalsociety@gmail.com. Field trips are coordinated by Field Trip Chair Gail Reynolds and run from spring through fall across Connecticut and the surrounding region. Each trip is led by an experienced botanist, and the resulting species lists are added to the Society’s long-term botanical record database. Membership is open to anyone interested in the region’s plants: individual dues are USD 15 per year, couple dues USD 20 per year, and benefits include the semi-annual Newsletter, the Yearbook, event notices, herbarium access, and a botanical record extending back more than 100 years.
Publications, Education, and Signature Programs
The Society publishes two flagship periodicals—the semi-annual CBS Newsletter and the annual CBS Yearbook—covering plant conservation, identification, ecology, native-plant gardening, volunteer program announcements, and reviews of new botanical and ecological publications in Connecticut and southern New England. Scholarly meetings are held twice a year, in spring and autumn; the 2022 spring meeting was held on April 16 at the Middlesex County Extension Center (1066 Saybrook Road, Haddam, CT 06438). Each meeting features an illustrated lecture by a naturalist or other scientist. The Society also operates the Plants/Gallery and Gardening with Natives sections of its website, documenting more than 100 native ferns and flowering plants suitable for native gardening, with notes on Latin name, height, soil moisture, light, and USDA hardiness zones 3-8, together with the explicit guidance that wild-collected plants must never be used and that all material should be nursery-propagated.
Herbarium, Conservation Grants, and Community Engagement
The Connecticut Botanical Society Herbarium was created and maintained by the Society and holds more than 36,000 dried plant specimens—a “dried plant library” that systematically records 120+ years of change in the Connecticut flora. The collection has been integrated with the Yale Herbarium at the Peabody Museum, forming part of the larger southern New England herbarium network. Through the CBS Small Grants Program, begun in the 2010s and renewed in 2025, the Society funds five priority areas: permanent land conservation of rare or uncommon native plants and natural communities (with deed-in-perpetuity protection), habitat improvement projects with strong long-term success potential, restoration of habitat for imperiled pollinators, environmental-justice open-space protection in low-income and urban communities, and urgent acquisition support for parcels at imminent risk of loss. The Society works closely with the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (CT DEEP) Endangered and Threatened Plants Program, the Yale Peabody Museum, the Connecticut College Arboretum, the Notable Trees joint project, the New England Wild Flower Society’s Go Botany platform, and the NY-NJ-CT Botany Online community.
Strategy, Partnerships, and Public Participation
The Society’s strategic network spans four categories of partners. Government partners include CT DEEP’s Endangered and Threatened Plants Program. Academic partners include the Yale Peabody Museum Herbarium, the Connecticut College Arboretum and its botanical archives (aspace.conncoll.edu/repositories/2/resources/35), the Connecticut College Notable Trees project (notabletrees.conncoll.edu), and the University of Vermont Extension plant resources. Conservation partners include the New England Wild Flower Society’s Go Botany, NY-NJ-CT Botany Online, the USDA PLANTS Database, and the Flora of North America project. Sister societies and resource platforms include the Texas A&M University Vascular Plant Image Gallery, the Rutgers and UMass Weed Images databases, and Fungi Images on the Net. Public participation channels include open field trips (no registration required for non-members), Newsletter and Yearbook submissions, Facebook Plants To Identify group, Notable Trees nominations, and statewide herbarium volunteer curation and digitization. All core activities and publications are open to members free of charge, and the Society is sustained entirely by membership dues and publication subscriptions—resources that will support the next 120 years of botanical stewardship in Connecticut.
发表回复