Advances in Wiregrass Georgia: Infrastructural Improvements to Sustain Another Half-Century of Herbarium-Based Research and Teaching

就维管植物物种数量而言，格鲁吉亚州在各州中排名第七。 这种生物多样性的大部分居住在火灾依赖的长叶松，wiregrass社区和相关的渗透坡和猪笼草沼泽，沙丘，屏障岛，卡罗莱纳湾，tupelo沼泽，梅西奇斜坡与阿巴拉契亚的亲和力，和黑土地草原的沿海平原。 格鲁吉亚是美国第四大增长最快的州，也是东南部增长最快的州，其本土植物和生态系统受到土地开发和外来入侵植物的威胁。 瓦尔多斯塔州立大学植物标本馆收藏了7万多件博物馆级标本，主要研究格鲁吉亚沿海平原的植物多样性。 它是该地区植物科学研究的主要资源。 在线提供数码照片和生物收藏数据，大大增加了获取标本的机会，也增加了以多种方式利用这些生物多样性资源的可能性，包括评估物种和生态系统的生态和养护状况，以及与气候变化、生境退化和引进外来物种有关的植物物种种群变化趋势。 通过该项目实现的虚拟访问将促进对瓦尔多斯塔州立大学植物标本馆中宝贵的生物多样性数据的了解、使用和认可。该项目将通过安装高密度存储系统来加强瓦尔多斯塔州立大学植物标本馆的基础设施，该系统将使其标本容纳量增加约30%。 新的压实机系统将为这种不可替代的生物多样性资源提供安全可靠的储存，并将在未来15年内保持其增长。 该项目将提供资金，用于安装和保存5，000个标本，并为近15，000个标本记录提供精确的地理坐标，使生物多样性研究人员和其他人能够在线获得至关重要的标本及其相关的数码照片和数据。 该项目还将保护和振兴广泛的和目前处于休眠状态的范德比尔特大学教学收藏，将它们带到瓦尔多斯塔州立大学，在那里它们将被用来培训未来几代学生和生物多样性研究人员。 通过本科生直接参与生物收藏品的策划和数字化以及生物多样性研究促进的专业学习将为科学领域的潜在职业带来新的视角。 学生将在科学会议上展示他们的工作，通过这个项目提供的机会将使代表性不足的群体能够参与。 针对易受影响年龄段的年轻人、他们的教师和其他人的外联方案将通过植物标本馆图尔斯参观、非正式介绍和教师暑期讲习班，向大量不同的观众介绍生物收藏和生物多样性问题。 该项目产生的所有数据将在网上公布（http：//herb.valdosta.edu/），并与iDigBio（https：//www.idigbio.org/）共享，确保研究人员和教育工作者能够获得。 更多信息请访问http://ww2.valdosta.edu/~rcarter/HERB/Herbindex.htm。

In the number of vascular plant species, Georgia ranks seventh among the states. Much of this biodiversity resides in the fire-dependent longleaf pine-wiregrass communities and associated seepage slopes and pitcher-plant bogs, sand hills, barrier islands, Carolina bays, tupelo swamps, mesic slopes with Appalachian affinities, and blackland prairies of the Coastal Plain. Georgia is the fourth most rapidly growing state in the U.S. and the fastest in the Southeast, and its native plants and ecosystems are threatened by land development and invasive exotic plants. A collection of more than 70,000 museum-quality specimens, the Valdosta State University Herbarium has major strength and focus on plant diversity of the Georgia Coastal Plain. It is the primary resource for scientific research about plants of this region. The online availability of digital photographs and the data from biological collections greatly increases access to specimens and the potential for using these biodiversity resources in diverse ways, including the assessment of the ecological and conservation status of species and ecosystems, and changing trends in populations of plant species, related to climate change, habitat degradation, and the introduction of exotic species. The virtual access enabled by this project will promote knowledge, use, and recognition of the valuable biodiversity data in the Valdosta State University Herbarium.This project will enhance infrastructure of the Valdosta State University Herbarium through the installation of a high-density storage system that will increase its specimen holding capacity by about 30%. The new compactor system will provide secure and safe storage of this irreplaceable biodiversity resource and will sustain its growth for the next 15 years. This project will provide funds to mount and digitize 5,000 specimens and provide precise geographical coordinates for nearly 15,000 specimen records, making vitally important specimens and their associated digital photographs and data available to the community of biodiversity researchers and others online. This project will also secure and revitalize the extensive and currently dormant Vanderbilt University Teaching Collections by bringing them to Valdosta State University where they will be used to train future generations of students and biodiversity researchers. The specialized learning promoted through the direct involvement of undergraduate students in curating and digitizing biological collections and in biodiversity research will bring new perspectives on potential careers in science. Students will present their work at scientific meetings, and opportunities provided through this project will enable the participation of under-represented groups. Outreach programs targeting young people at an impressionable age, their teachers, and others will bring issues of biological collections and biodiversity before a large and diverse audience through herbarium tours, informal presentations, and a summer workshop for teachers. All data resulting from this project will be posted online (http://herb.valdosta.edu/) and shared with iDigBio (https://www.idigbio.org/), ensuring accessibility to researchers and educators. Additional information is available at http://ww2.valdosta.edu/~rcarter/HERB/Herbindex.htm.