Digitization TCN: Collaborative: American Crossroads: Digitizing the Vascular Flora of the South-Central United States

从美国机构收藏的生物标本中进行数据动员的出现，大大提高了博物馆收藏品的价值，并使科学问题能够以新的方式得到解决。动员过程包括标本数字图像捕获、标签数据转录、添加地理坐标以及通过可搜索的在线门户网站传播数据。这个为期四年的项目汇集了46个合作的草本植物，以动员在俄克拉何马州和德克萨斯州收集的近200万个植物标本的数据。这些州的大多数草药，以及来自俄克拉荷马州和德克萨斯州拥有大量资产的其他州的关键草药，都将参与其中。由于这两个州构成了北美生态和植物多样性的主要十字路口，将它们的植物标本数据数字化可以作为了解整个北美大陆生态系统演变的关键因素。该项目将包括受保护物种、入侵物种和环境健康指标的数据，从而加强物种和栖息地的保护和管理，并促进生物多样性科学的广泛应用。它还将让植物爱好者组织(如本地植物学会)的成员作为参与者参与标本数据的输入。该项目将通过为其技术人员举办研讨会和讲座，以及为本科生实习生提供实践培训，帮助培养一支具有全球竞争力的STEM劳动力队伍。美国中南部地区的数字化标本标本数据相对于美国其他地区稀少，这在我们对北美植物生物多样性的了解方面留下了巨大的地理差距，阻碍了解决环境问题的地区性和更大规模的努力。为了解决这个问题，研究人员将1)建立一个主题收集网络(TCN)，将从俄克拉何马州和德克萨斯州收集的近200万个维管植物标本的数据数字化；2)通过一个综合的在线平台传播数字化数据；3)制定和实施创新的战略，以提高标本数字化的效率；以及4)让公民科学家和学生参与基于项目的活动。该项目与赫巴里亚(Torch；www.torcherbaria.org)建立良好的德克萨斯州和俄克拉何马州地区联盟(Torch；www.torcherbaria.org)的强大整合为该项目的行动做好了准备，该联盟将帮助监督和指导该项目。与综合数字化生物收集中心(iDigBio.org)的协调将促进整个团队的会议、更广泛的影响因素以及数据工作流程、动员和访问。自然历史收集非常适合分析全球变化及其对区域生物群的影响。在这种情况下，TORCH TCN的数字化标本标本数据将能够解决该区域关于物种丰富度和系统发育多样性的模式、植被对气候变化的反应以及基于底物与气候数据的物种分布模型的主要假设。该项目的结果将通过专业出版物和社会会议、植物爱好者社区的地方分会、社交媒体和火炬网站上的博客广泛传播。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The advent of data mobilization from biological specimens housed in U.S. institutions has profoundly enhanced the value of museum collections and has allowed scientific questions to be addressed in novel ways. The process of mobilization involves specimen digital image capture, transcription of label data, addition of geographic coordinates, and dissemination of the data through searchable online portals. This four-year project brings together 46 collaborating herbaria to mobilize the data from nearly two million plant specimens collected in the states of Oklahoma and Texas. Most of the herbaria in these states, as well as key herbaria from other states with large Oklahoma and Texas holdings, will participate. Because these two states constitute a major crossroads of North American ecological and plant diversity, digitizing their plant specimen data can serve as a key element for understanding ecosystem evolution across the North American continent. The project will include data for species of conservation concern, invasives, and environmental health indicators, thus enhancing species and habitat conservation and management and contributing to wide-ranging applications in biodiversity science. It will also involve as participants members of plant enthusiast organizations (such as native plant societies) in specimen data entry. The project will contribute to a globally competitive STEM workforce through workshops and lectures for its technicians and practical training for undergraduate interns.Digitized herbarium specimen data for the South-Central U.S. are sparse relative to other parts of the country, leaving a large geographic gap in our knowledge of North American plant biodiversity that impedes both regional and larger-scale efforts in solving environmental issues. To address this problem, the researchers will 1) establish a Thematic Collections Network (TCN) to digitize the data from nearly two million vascular plant herbarium specimens collected in Oklahoma and Texas; 2) disseminate the digitized data through an integrated online platform; 3) develop and implement innovative strategies to increase efficiency in specimen digitization; and 4) engage citizen scientists and students on project-based activities. The project is primed for action by its strong integration with the well-established Texas and Oklahoma Regional Consortium of Herbaria (TORCH; www.torcherbaria.org), which will help oversee and guide the project. Coordination with Integrated Digitized Biocollections (iDigBio.org) hub will facilitate team-wide meetings, broader impact elements, and data workflows, mobilization, and access. Natural history collections are well positioned for the analysis of global change and the resulting impacts on regional biota. In this context, the digitized herbarium specimen data from the TORCH TCN will provide the capacity for addressing major hypotheses in the region concerning patterns of species richness and phylogenetic diversity, vegetation responses to climate change, and species distribution models based on substrate versus climatic data. Results of the project will be widely disseminated through professional publications and society meetings, local chapters of plant-enthusiast communities, social media outlets, and blogs on the TORCH website.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.