Curatorial Support for the Field Museum Herbarium

虽然植物学部是菲尔德博物馆四个科学部门中最小的一个，但它管理着西半球第五大植物标本馆。植物学收藏包括240万个标本，不包括未经加工和未安装的材料，按照目前的安装速度，这个数字每年增加约2万个。在过去五年中，每年平均有超过31,000份植物入库，每年平均有21,500份材料安装和植入植物标本馆。自成立以来，植物系一直专注于北美、中美洲和南美洲的植物区系。新热带地区收藏的早期实力使诸如危地马拉的植物志和秘鲁的植物志等百科全书项目得以在那里进行。今天，收集和研究兴趣集中在热带美洲，无论是在积极的研究计划中，还是在获得新的材料方面。目前生物界对热带生物多样性的兴趣使菲尔德博物馆的标本馆成为一个重要的信息来源。收集、地点、生态和分类数据为解决森林砍伐、疾病控制和饥饿等全球性问题提供了关键线索。标本馆藏的信息的可能应用，以及可能利用这些信息的各种手段，直到现在才被研究。标本馆中的植物收藏正在被发现更多和不同的用途，与每个标本相关的信息将随着时间的推移而增加价值。该项目为植物系今后三年的策展和挂牌活动提供部分支助。

Although the Department of Botany is the smallest of four scientific departments at Field Museum, it administers the fifth largest herbarium in the Western Hemisphere. The botanical collections include 2.4 million specimens, not including unprocessed and unmounted material, and this number increases by approximately 20,000 per year at present mounting rates. During the past five years, incoming accessions averaged over 31,000 per year, with an average of 21,500 mounted and inserted into the herbarium per annum. Since its founding, the Department of Botany has focused on the floras of North, Central and South America. The early strength of the collections in the Neotropical area permit encyclopedic projects such as the Flora of Guatemala and Flora of Peru to be conducted there. Today, the collections and research interests focus on tropical America, both in active research programs and acquisitions of new accessions. The current interest held by the biological community in tropical biodiversity makes the herbarium at Field Museum a crucial information resource. Collection, locality, ecological and taxonomic data provide critical clues toward the solution of global problems such as deforestation, disease control, and hunger. The possible applications of information held within the herbarium, and the varied means through which it might be tapped, are only now being examined. More and varied uses are being found for the plant collections in the herbarium, and the information associated with each specimen will increase in value with time. This project provides partial support for curatorial and mounting activities in the Department of Botany for the next three years.