The Asian Umbelliferae Biodiversity Database (ASIUM) with Particular Reference to South-West Asian Taxa

Authors: M. G. PIMENOV, M. V. LEONOV

Abstract: An original database, ASIUM, on Asian Umbelliferae has been compiled at the Moscow State University to include all accepted names and synonyms, principal citations in regional Floras, monographs and critical articles, protologue data and distribution in countries, their regions and provinces. A special option permits the arrangement of synomyms, which can be divided into several homotypic groups. It is also possible to extract information for analysis and comparison, for instance, of species sets from different regions to estimate their similarity. ASIUM is a mobile monograph of the Umbelliferae for a continent, with their maximal biodiversity at the generic and specific levels: 286 genera and 2089 species of the family (s.l.) are registered in the database. The largest Umbelliferae genera in Asia are Ferula L., Bupleurum L., Pimpinella L., Heracleum L., Seseli L., Angelica L., Bunium L., Prangos Lindl., Ferulago W.D.J.Koch, Hymenidium Lindl., Hydrocotyle L., Chaerophyllum L., Eryngium L., Pternopetalum Franch., Elaeosticta Fenzl, Acronema Falc. ex Edgew. and Semenovia Regel & Herder. Maximal species diversity is observed in China, Asiatic Turkey, Iran, Asiatic Russia, Kazakhstan, India, Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Georgia and Syria. Nearly all these countries boast the largest number of endemics. In Turkey there are 4 endemic genera and 140 endemic species, including 6 problematic ones. South-west Asia as a whole is an area of considerable diversity and endemism of the Umbelliferae.

Keywords: Asian Umbelliferae, ASIUM, biodiversity, database, distribution, endemism

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