Computerization of the Lichen Collection at the Michigan State University Herbarium

密歇根州立大学在普拉特博士和弗莱迪博士的指导下，获得了一笔赠款，用于建立密歇根州立大学植物标本馆的地衣收藏数据库，并在网上提供这些数据。这个藏品由大约12万个标本组成，是美国最大的地衣收藏品之一，尽管它的地理范围使它真正独一无二。大约一半的藏品来自北美，但它也有来自许多南半球岛屿植物群的具有重要科学意义的藏品，包括许多非常鲜为人知的地区，如福克兰群岛、胡安费尔南德斯群岛、火地岛、新西兰岛屿和科尔盖伦岛。还有来自许多加勒比海岛屿和加那利群岛的大量重要收藏品。与标本有关的所有数据，包括采集者、采集日期、地点和栖息地，都将被输入数据库，因此，现在可以通过不同类型的搜索来进行特定地区的核对清单、物种分布和保存清单的构建。因此，这个数据库将对研究人员非常有用，也将有助于收藏的管理。由于建立的地衣数据库很少，而且覆盖的地理区域也不广，这些数据将成为地衣分布的最重要的基于网络的工具。所有与标本相关的书面数据将被输入数据库。该数据库将放置在密歇根州立大学植物生物学网络服务器上，并完全可以在互联网上进行搜索。学生和标本馆的工作人员将输入数据，并将对数据的准确性进行验证，还将为每个标本贴上条形码。标本馆工作人员将负责用最近输入的数据定期更新在线数据库。该项目将提供促进地衣研究所需的基线信息。地衣之所以重要，是因为它们被广泛用作评估污染和气候变化影响的生物指标。它们也是所有陆地生态系统的重要组成部分，从热带到极地，从海平面以下到最高的山脉，从最自然、最原始的环境到城市群的中心。作为该项目的一部分，12名本科生、3名研究生和1名额外的全职临时工作人员将接受标本馆程序方面的培训，并获得地衣方面的经验。互联网上数据的可获得性将成为向收集数据的许多国家，特别是发展中国家遣返数据的一种形式。它还将影响目前的生物多样性危机，特别是影响收藏品中所代表的许多热带和亚热带地区。通过促进对这些生物的研究，该项目将为社会带来巨大的好处。

A grant has been awarded to Michigan State University, under the direction of Drs. Prather and Fryday, to database the Lichen Collection of the MSU herbarium and make the data available online. The collection consists of about 120, 000 specimens and is one of the largest lichen collections in the U.S, although it is the geographical scope of the collection that makes it truly unique. Around half the collections are from North America, but it also has scientifically important collections from many Southern Hemisphere island floras, including many very poorly known areas, such as the Falkland Islands, Juan Fernandez Islands, Tierra del Fuego, New Zealand islands, and Iles Kerguelen. There are also large and important collections from many Caribbean islands and the Canary Islands. All of the data associated with the specimens, including collector, collection date, locality, and habitat will be entered into the database and thus checklists of specific areas, distributions of species, and construction of lists of holdings can now be conducted through different types of searches. Consequently, this database will be extremely useful to researchers and also will facilitate curation of the collection. Since so few lichen databases are established, and none of them cover as broad a geographic region, these data will be the foremost web-based tool for lichen distribution.All written data associated with the specimens will be entered into a database. This database will be placed on the MSU Plant Biology web server and made fully searchable over the Internet. Students and herbarium employees will enter the data, which will be verified for accuracy, and will also label each specimen with a barcode. Herbarium staff will be responsible for updating the online database with recently entered data at regular intervals. This project will provide baseline information that is needed to facilitate research on lichens. Lichens are important because they are widely used as bioindicators for estimating the impact of pollution and climate change. They are also an important component of all terrestrial ecosystems, from the tropics to the polar regions, from below sea-level to the highest mountains, from the most natural, untouched environments to the centers of urban conglomerations. As part of this project, twelve undergraduate students, three graduate students, and one additional full-time, temporary staff member will receive training in herbarium procedures and gain experience with lichens. The availability of the data on the Internet will serve as a form of data repatriation to the many countries, especially developing ones, from which the collections were made. It will also impact the ongoing biodiversity crisis that affects, in particular, many of the tropical and subtropical regions represented among the collections. By facilitating research on these organisms this project will provide a tremendous benefit to society.