Collaborative Proposal: Harnessing the Power of Herbaria to Understand the Changing Flora of California: A Biodiversity Hotspot in Peril

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The purpose of this project is to compile and provide information (e.g., species name, location, habitat, and flowering time) from California-collected vascular plant specimens held at 19 herbaria in California and at Harvard University (repository of many older California specimens). The plants targeted are those that dominate California habitats and those most imperiled by threats to biodiversity (including climate change). Specimen information will be available online at the Consortium of California Herbaria (CCH) Web portal (http://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/consortium). The project will also accomplish the seamless provision of data on California plants held by the museums of SEINet (Southwest Environmental Information Network) via the CCH web site as a step toward building regional and national consortia. This project provides tangible benefits to the public, students of all levels, and the research community. Specimen data will be downloadable so that anyone can use the information to pursue interests and questions (e.g., understanding current plant distributions, identifying plants of a particular place, predicting future plant migrations). Undergraduate students will be involved extensively with data entry, providing them with skills and training applicable to future professional pursuits. This project is a major step toward building a United States virtual plant museum that provides information on the distribution of plants nationwide.The images and digitized data from this project will be integrated into the online national resource as outlined in the community strategic plan available at http://digbiocol.files.wordpress.com/2010/05/digistratplanfinaldraft.pdf.