Modernization of The Morton Arboretum Herbarium (MOR)

莫顿植物园获得了美国国家科学基金会的资助，以使其植物标本室现代化。拨款将用于安装一个新的压实机架系统，从而使科学家和公众用户更容易接近和使用这些藏品。155,000多个维管植物标本目前被安置在116个满柜中。另外7500株植物被储存在箱子里。植物标本室每年大约增加4500个标本。新系统将保证标本的长期可及性和更好的护理，并将使植物标本室的存储容量增加50%以上。由于植物学家、保护科学家、土地管理人员和学生越来越多地使用植物标本室的标本和数据，以及由于植物标本室在分类学、保护和树木栽培方面的研究所产生的标本的持续和广泛的凭证，使植物标本室在提供标本和数据方面面临越来越大的压力。为了更好地利用和获取这些藏品，并负责任地管理它们，现代化的植物标本馆至关重要。植物标本馆的主要植物收藏包括：芝加哥地区全球重要生态系统的植物，中西部的稀有植物，大黄石地区的植物，几个重要的历史收藏品，以及地衣和担子菌的精美收藏。莫顿植物园的植物标本室是北美第三大的植物园。这一重大意义导致了联邦博物馆和图书馆服务研究所（IMLS）向植物园提供了一项主要的国家领导补助金，以开发一个数字植物标本馆（www.vPlants.org），其中包括位于莫顿植物园、菲尔德自然历史博物馆和芝加哥植物园的芝加哥地区植物群。来自美国国家科学基金会的奖励将补充来自IMLS的奖励，从而在美国中部大陆形成一个主要的植物资源。

The Morton Arboretum has received a grant from the National Science Foundation to modernize its Herbarium. The grant will provide for installation of a new compactor shelving system, thereby providing greater accessibility and use of the collections by scientists and public users. The 155,000+ specimens of vascular plants are currently housed in 116 cabinets that are filled to capacity. A backlog of another 7,500 plants is stored in boxes. Approximately 4,500 specimens are added to the Herbarium annually. The new system will guarantee long-term accessibility and improved care of the specimens and will increase the Herbarium's storage capacity by more than 50%. Increased pressure is being placed on the Herbarium to make specimens and herbarium data available owing to 1) greater use by botanists, conservation scientists, land stewards, and students and 2) continued and extensive vouchering of specimens resulting from Arboretum research in taxonomy, conservation, and arboriculture. To provide greater use of and access to these collections and to responsibly curate them, a modernized herbarium is critical.Major plant collections housed in the Herbarium include: plants of the Chicago region's globally significant ecosystems, rare plants of the Midwest, plants of the greater Yellowstone area, several important historical collections, and a fine collection of lichens and basidiomycetes. The Morton Arboretum's Herbarium is the third largest of any arboretum in North America. This significance has resulted in a major National Leadership Grant from the federal Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) to the Arboretum to develop a digital herbarium (www.vPlants.org) that includes Chicago regional flora housed at The Morton Arboretum, the Field Museum of Natural History, and the Chicago Botanic Garden. The award from NSF will complement that from IMLS, resulting in a premier botanical resource in the mid-continent US.