Digitization PEN: Integrating the herbaria of peninsular Florida, a biodiversity hotspot of endemism, rarity, and richness

该合作伙伴现有网络（PEN）将加入东南地区专业知识和收藏网络（SERNEC）专题收藏网络（TCN），这是一个数字化和提供300多万植物标本数据的合作。 这些标本记录了该地区8,000多种原生或归化的维管植物，这是一个生物多样性热点。 该项目将扩大合作范围，将费尔柴尔德热带植物园（FTG）和南佛罗里达大学（USF）的25万个植物标本数据记录添加到SERNEC中，这些记录共同记录了美国东南部的4,000多个植物物种。 由于生物多样性与生产力、生态系统服务和人类健康密不可分，这两个标本馆的加入将填补知识库中的一个关键空白，最大限度地利用可用数据来解决不断增长的人口中的环境变化和资源管理问题。FTG和USF标本馆最重要的植物收藏是来自佛罗里达中部和南部的125，000个标本，比其他任何植物标本馆都多该地区的独特之处包括威尔士湖脊、大沼泽地、大西洋海岸脊和佛罗里达礁群，所有这些都经历了严重的栖息地丧失和退化。在美国东南部的8，000种原生或归化的维管植物中，约有1，200种只在佛罗里达中部和南部发现。这一数字包括约290种受威胁或濒危植物，130种特有植物，570种非本地植物和90种入侵植物。这一地区的植物多样性对于其资源管理至关重要，包括空气、水和土壤质量、农业、采矿、建筑、土地复垦、娱乐和生物多样性保护。通过吸引志愿者、高中生和本科生，FTG和USF将增加对他们大量植物标本集的访问，加强该地区植物的科学和教育知识。 这些数据作为公共资源通过国家自然科学研究中心和iDigBio（www.idigbio.org）共享。

This Partner to Existing Network (PEN) will join the South East Regional Network of Expertise and Collections (SERNEC) Thematic Collection Network (TCN), a collaboration that is digitizing and making data accessible for over 3 million plant specimens. These specimens document over 8,000 species of native or naturalized vascular plants in this region, a biodiversity hotspot. This project will extend the collaboration to add a quarter million herbarium specimen data records to SERNEC from the herbaria of Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden (FTG) and the University of South Florida (USF), which together document over 4,000 plant species in the southeastern USA. As biodiversity is inextricably linked to productivity, ecosystem services, and human health, the addition of these two herbaria will fill a crucial gap in the knowledge base, maximizing the data available to address environmental change and resource management among a growing human population.The most important botanical collections of the FTG and USF herbaria are the 125,000 specimens from central and south Florida, more than found in any other herbarium. Unique features of this region include the Lakes Wales Ridge, Everglades, Atlantic Coastal Ridge, and Florida Keys, all of which have experienced significant habitat loss and degradation. Among the 8,000 native or naturalized vascular plant species in the southeastern USA, about 1,200 are known only from central and south Florida. This number includes about 290 threatened or endangered, 130 endemic, 570 non-native, and 90 invasive plant species. The plant diversity of this region is of primary importance to the management of its resources, including air, water, and soil quality, agriculture, mining, construction, land reclamation, recreation, and biodiversity conservation. By engaging volunteers and high school and undergraduate students, FTG and USF will increase access to their vast collection of herbarium specimens, bolstering scientific and educational knowledge of plants in the region. These data are shared as a public resource through SERNEC and iDigBio (www.idigbio.org).