Digitization TCN: Collaborative Research: Using Herbarium Data To Document Plant Niches In The High Peaks And High Plains Of The Southern Rockies: Past, Present, and Future

南落基山脉（SoRo）崎岖而广阔的地形为北美西部人类生存提供了最重要的资源：水。从科罗拉多州、怀俄明州、新墨西哥州和周边各州的高峰上游，西部许多主要河流的源头发源于密西西比河以西的最高流出和淡水径流：普拉特河、阿肯色河、里约热内卢格兰德河、科罗拉多河和格林河以及斯内克河和密苏里河的部分地区。这些水资源的清洁和可靠在很大程度上归功于构成所有SoRo生态系统基础的植物生命。索罗高原高峰和邻近高平原的植物物种有着不同的地理起源、进化历史和生态亲缘关系。它们生长在各种各样的栖息地，是世界上适应范围最狭窄的植物之一。这种独特而脆弱的植物群在自然历史收藏（即植物标本馆）中有广泛的记录，但由于缺乏数字化格式的数据，标本本身和伴随它们的科学数据仍然很不“可见”。SoRo植物标本馆联盟汇集了38个合作机构（大学、植物园、国家公园、美洲原住民国家），将来自研究区域的170多万植物标本数字化。该项目的首要目标是通过开放、免费的数据门户，使这些数据能够提供给广大用户（科学家、教育工作者、政府官员、土地管理者、公众）。南落基山脉（SoRo）支持着从高山到山艾草平原再到短草草原等多种多样、高度适应生态环境的物种植物群。SoRo的植物生物群与邻近的平原和草原有着重要的进化和地质历史，这些生态系统是北美最濒危的景观之一。人类对这些系统的需求正在升级，火灾、开发和环境变化等风险因素预计会增加。因此，建立数字资源来记录SoRo中的植物生态位是一种紧迫感。拟议的工作将通过将来自SoRo的170多万植物藏品数字化，解决北美自然历史藏品中可获取信息的主要差距。具体来说，38个合作机构（大学、植物园、国家公园、美洲原住民）将合作产生这些新资源，并通过包括iDigBio （www.idigbio.org）在内的数据门户网站提供这些资源。此外，Symbiota开源平台将开发新的工具，允许用户快速搜索和编译经过审查的植物标本馆数据记录，然后可以用于外部软件应用程序（如利基建模包）的分析，或者更新源数据存储库，以便后续的内部管理。

The rugged and expansive terrain of the Southern Rocky Mountains (SoRo) yields the most crucial resource for human existence in western North America: Water. From upper reaches of the high peaks of Colorado, Wyoming, New Mexico, and surrounding states, the headwaters of numerous major rivers of the West originate and give rise to the highest outflow and freshwater runoff west of the Mississippi River: The Platte, Arkansas, Rio Grande, Colorado, and Green Rivers and portions of the Snake and Missouri Rivers. The cleanliness and reliability of these water resources are in large part attributable to the plant life that forms the basis for all SoRo ecosystems. Plant species from the high peaks and adjacent high plains of the SoRo derive from different geographic origins, evolutionary histories, and ecological affinities. They grow in varied habitats and represent one of the most narrowly adapted floras in the world. This unique and fragile flora is widely documented in natural history collections (i.e., herbaria), but specimens themselves and the scientific data that accompany them remain poorly 'visible' owing to a lack of data in digitized format. The SoRo Herbarium Consortium brings together 38 collaborating institutions (universities, botanical gardens, national parks, Native American Nations) to digitize more than 1.7 million botanical specimens from the study area. The overarching goal of this project is to make these data available to a broad community of users (scientists, educators, government officials, land managers, the general public) via openly accessible, free data portals. The Southern Rocky Mountains (SoRo) support a diverse and highly adapted flora of species with varied ecologies, ranging from alpine to sagebrush plains to shortgrass prairies. The plant biota of the SoRo shares important evolutionary and geological histories with the adjacent plains and prairies, and together these ecosystems are among the most endangered landscapes in North America. Human demands on these systems are escalating, and risk factors such as fire, development, and environmental change are predicted to grow. Thus, building digital resources to document plant niches in the SoRo is met with a sense of urgency. The proposed work will address a major gap in accessible information among North American natural history collections by digitizing more than 1.7 million botanical collections from the SoRo. Specifically, 38 collaborative institutions (universities, botanical gardens, national parks, Native American Nations) will collaborate to generate these new resources and make them available via data portals, including iDigBio (www.idigbio.org). Additionally, new tools will be developed within the open source Symbiota platform that will allow users to quickly search and compile vetted, herbarium data records that can then be used for analysis in external software applications such as niche modeling packages, or to update source data repositories for subsequent in-house curation.