Documenting Floristic Diversity in a Threatened Biodiversity Hot Spot: San Diego County, California (Phase 1)

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San Diego County is an internationally-recognized "hotspot" of biodiversity.It's climatic, geographic, and geologic features support the greatestfloristic diversity of any county in the contiguous U.S., making it morediverse than some entire states. This diversity is threatened by rapidurbanization and associated habitat loss. Recent wildfires burned almost 25%of the county, underscoring the urgency and significance of collecting andpreserving plant specimens to document this remarkable floristic diversitybefore it is lost. The pace of regional development has left land managerswith limited scientific data on local flora, along with mountingresponsibilities for stewardship and informed decision-making. Crucialdecisions made here affect the future of national biodiversity and they mustbe made with the most comprehensive, scientifically sound, informationpossible. The San Diego County Plant Atlas (Plant Atlas) will address theseneeds by scientifically documenting the county's floristic diversity throughthe collection of voucher plant specimens for the San Diego Natural HistoryMuseum (SDNHM); the independent non-profit organization overseeing theproject. Voucher specimens (dried and pressed plants, mounted on archivalpaper with a data label, and filed in the herbarium) are the raw materialsfor various scientific disciplines. The associated data (includinggeographic coordinates plus detailed taxonomic and ecological information)are stored in a web-accessible, searchable electronic database. This createsa comprehensive, centralized source of botanical information for the countyand includes both historic and new data that are based upon actual specimensrather than observations that can no longer be verified. Specimen and datacollections are made and submitted by "parabotanists"; volunteers from thecommunity trained by a novel program developed and taught by the SDNHM staff(but identification of all specimens is verified by a professionalbotanist). This creates sufficient workforce to collect specimens over a5-year period within an organized, county-wide grid system that complementsthe county-wide bird and mammal atlas projects. The collections will be maintained by the SDNHM for education, informed landmanagement and decision-making, and to support scientific research onbiodiversity, phytogeographic history, biogeography, taxonomy, anatomy,morphology, reproductive biology, and genetics. Besides acting as a modelprogram for other regions, the training and publicity from the novelparabotanist program increases the community's awareness and respect forlocal natural history (and the national, if not global significance of thelocal flora), and strengthens their role as stakeholders, stewards, andparticipants in regional botanical science. This collaborative project hasthe support and participation of state and local government, NGO's, theprivate sector, academia, and both professional and lay individuals.Educational links with garden clubs, conservation groups, and otherinstitutions like schools and universities are being developed. San DiegoCounty contains a rich heritage of botanical diversity and we have anobligation to better understand and preserve it for ourselves and for futuregenerations. The Plant Atlas project will increase our knowledge of thediversity and distribution of plants in the county, share that knowledgewith specialized and public audiences, and contribute to conservation,education, science and sound land management.