Plant Records
Mapping
The Plant Records Department at the Missouri Botanical Garden maps many of the features in the Garden, including the paths, water features, buildings, planting beds, and of course, plants. This is accomplished through the use of Geographic Information Systems, or GIS, technology.
The Plant Records Department uses GIS software products by ESRI (Environmental Systems Research Institute) to manage our geographic data. A high resolution orthophotograph (1-foot resolution) is used as the base of the GIS. ESRI's ArcView software is used to build layers on top of this orthophoto. Features in the Garden such as paths, buildings, and water features are simply "drawn" on top of the orthophoto using ArcView's drawing tools.
In order to map our plants, we use a Tablet PC. Using ArcView, we record the location of the plant by tapping on the orthophoto where the plant is located and entering the accession number into the associated table. When we return to the office, we synchronize the data on the Tablet with our network. We maintain a live connection between our GIS and our Plant Records database in Microsoft Access, so the newly mapped plants are automatically linked to the corresponding records in Microsoft Access.
Donor Benches
Overview of Trees at MBG
Interpretive Signs Around the Garden
Trees in the English Woodland Garden from Wild Sources
Lightning-Protected Trees
MBG Grid with Sublocation Codes
For additional information, contact Rebecca Sucher, Coordinator of Plant Records/Applications, at 314.577.9407 or e-mail at rebecca.sucher@mobot.org.
This information was updated May 2005.