Digitizing Pacific Coast Seaweeds: Documenting the Past to Interpret the Future

加利福尼亚州、俄勒冈州和华盛顿州太平洋沿岸丰富多样的海藻反映了该地区丰富的沿海环境。在这个项目中，加州大学伯克利分校(UC)的大学标本馆将对太平洋海岸的102,000个藻类标本进行图像、数据库、地理参考和整理。目标物种将是已知生长在加利福尼亚州、俄勒冈州或华盛顿州的所有海洋大型藻类(海藻)，无论它们出现在世界上的任何地方。一旦完成，标本记录将补充我们现有的在线资源，形成权威的、最新数据的海藻信息交流。海藻是近岸环境的工程师，为潮间带和潮下带群落提供初级生产和栖息地，为无数海洋生物及其发育中的幼体(包括许多重要的商业物种)创造底物和结构。即将完成的数据集将有助于满足国家对气候变化对海洋环境的影响进行预测、解释和采取行动的迫切需要。这些信息将对海洋科学家以及那些关心海洋渔业、保护、教学和学习太平洋海岸的人有用。

The magnificent diversity and abundance of seaweeds along the Pacific Coast of California, Oregon, and Washington reflect this region's rich coastal environments. In this project, the University Herbarium, University of California, Berkeley (UC) will image, database, geo-reference, and curate 102,000 specimens of Pacific Coast algae. Targeted species will be all marine macroalgae (seaweeds) that are known to grow in California, Oregon, or Washington, wherever in the world they occur. Once completed, the specimen records will complement our existing on-line resources, forming a seaweed information interchange of authoritative, up-to-date data. Combined, this resource will contain the latest information on identification, taxonomy, distribution, ecology, relationships, and diversity of Pacific Coast marine flora.Seaweeds are the engineers of near shore environments, providing primary production and habitat for intertidal and sub-tidal communities, creating substrate and structure for myriad marine organisms and their developing larvae (including many commercially important species). The dataset to be completed will help to meet the urgent national need to predict, interpret, and act upon the effects of climate change on the marine environment. The information will be useful for marine scientists, as well as for those concerned with marine fisheries, conservation, teaching, and learning about the Pacific Coast.