Aquatic, Wetland and Invasive Plant Database
University of Florida	Aquatic, Wetland and Invasive Plant Information Retrieval System

APIRS Database Grows

After 23 years of assiduous work, the APIRS database now includes more than 63,000 citations, and continues to be the largest free database of its kind in the world. Beginning as a mainframe, punch-card database of a few hundred references about water hyacinths, the APIRS database now contains citation and keyword records for scientific articles and reports about uncounted species of aquatic, wetland and invasive plants. The database has been used many thousands of times by researchers, government agencies, companies, teachers, students and private groups and individuals.

Users can ask us to query the database for them and send them the results, or users can access the database themselves, online. In June 2004, the database was queried more than 9,000 times by online users.

The database originally was meant to be a source of information for "aquatic weed" workers in developing countries, and was funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development for that purpose. It quickly became a source of information for workers in Florida as well, gaining the support of the then Bureau of Aquatic Plant Management of the Florida Department of Natural Resources (now the Bureau of Invasive Plant Management of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection). USAID ceased sponsorship of the database in the early 1980s.


The DEP Bureau continues to be a primary sponsor of the APIRS program. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Aquatic Plant Control and Research Program supports national and international APIRS services. The program is also supported by the St. Johns River Water Management District, with occasional special-project support coming from other agencies and companies such as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Elf-Atochem Company.


APIRS was developed by Mr. Victor Ramey, who continues to manage the overall program. Now, however, Ms. Karen Brown is the manager of the database itself, while Ramey works to develop other informational and educational products about aquatic, wetland and invasive plants. Ms. Mary Langeland is the cataloger of all materials placed in the database.


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