Collaborative Research - Toward Documenting Biodiversity Change in Arctic Lichens: Databasing the Principal Collections, Establishing a Baseline, and Developing a Virtual Flora

地衣是对环境变化高度敏感的共生生物，几十年来一直被用作监测空气污染的生物指标。它们在北极和亚北极生态系统中的过去、现在和未来的分布模式可能反映了温度、水和营养循环方面的重大生态系统变化，以及驯鹿等迁徙动物的种群动态。关于北极地衣当前和历史分布的大部分数据目前保存在北美的文献和自然历史收藏中，其中两个最大的保存在阿拉斯加大学博物馆(费尔班克斯)和威斯康星大学州立植物博物馆(麦迪逊)的草本植物中。该项目将识别、更新命名法、条形码、地理参考，并将这两个集合建立数据库。同时，将生成所有北极和亚北极地衣物种的最新核对表，收集照片，并对每个物种的分类特征进行编码，以用于创建动态分类关键字和物种描述。总而言之，这一数据集将使用Symbiota软件包进行整合，以生成北极地衣的在线虚拟植物群。虚拟植物群及其互动钥匙、彩色照片、物种描述、实时分布图和直接访问完整标本元数据的方式，代表着以民主方式与所有感兴趣的人分享生物多样性信息的方式的一场革命。创建一个相对全面的植物群将使地衣学的学科向更大的社区暴露，并有助于进一步促进对北极生物群内生态复杂性的认识。除了将生成的在线数据库和信息技术工具外，还将通过一系列区域和国家讲习班传播为该项目收集的数据。该项目还将作为北极地衣主题科学夏令营、展览、讲座和为包括K-12学生/教师观众在内的广大公众创建的活动的基础。最后，合作努力包括本科生和研究生，他们将接受不同研究团队的培训。

Lichens are symbiotic organisms that are highly sensitive to environmental change, and have been used for decades as bioindicators to monitor air pollution. Their past, current, and future patterns of distribution in Arctic and Subarctic ecosystems are likely to be reflective of significant ecosystem change in temperature, water and nutrient cycling, as well as population dynamics of migratory animals such as caribou. Most of the data concerning current and historical distributions of Arctic lichens presently resides in the literature and within the natural history collections of North America, the two largest of which reside in the herbaria of the University of Alaska Museum (Fairbanks) and the University of Wisconsin State Herbarium (Madison). This project would identify, update nomenclature, barcode, georeference, and database this pair of collections. At the same time, an updated checklist of all Arctic & Subarctic lichen species will be generated, photographs will be collected, and taxonomic characters for each species will be coded for use in creating dynamic taxonomic keys and species descriptions. Together, this dataset will be integrated using the Symbiota software package to generate an online virtual Flora of Arctic Lichens. Virtual floras, with their interactive keys, color photographs, species descriptions, real-time distribution maps, and direct access to complete specimen metadata, represent a revolution in the way that biodiversity information is shared in a democratic manner with all who are interested. The creation of what promises to be a relatively comprehensive Flora will expose the discipline of lichenology to a larger community, and help to further advance an appreciation of ecological complexity within the Arctic biome. In addition to the online databases and information technology tools that will be generated, data gathered for this project will be disseminated through a series of regional and national workshops. The project will also serve as the basis for Arctic lichen-themed science camps, exhibits, lectures, and activities created for the greater public, including the K-12 student/teacher audience. Finally, the collaborative effort includes both undergraduate and graduate students who will receive training from a diverse team of researchers.