Curatorial Support for the Field Museum Herbarium

虽然植物学系是四个系中最小的 菲尔德博物馆的科学部门，它管理着第五个 西半球最大的植物标本馆 植物 收藏品包括240万件标本，不包括 未加工和未安装的材料，这一数字增加 以目前的增长速度，每年约有20，000人。 期间 在过去五年中，新加入的国家平均超过31，000个， 平均每年有21，500人安装并插入 每年的植物标本。 自成立以来，植物学系一直专注于 北美、中美和南美的植物区系。 早期强度 在新热带地区的收藏品中， 危地马拉的植物群和秘鲁的植物群等项目， 在那里进行。 今天，收藏和研究兴趣 专注于热带美洲，无论是在积极的研究计划， 新加入的收购。 本集团现时持有之权益 热带生物多样性中的生物群落 菲尔德博物馆是一个重要的信息资源。 收藏， 地理、生态和分类学数据提供了重要线索 解决全球性问题，如森林砍伐， 疾病控制和饥饿。 的可能应用 植物标本馆内保存的信息，以及 通过什么途径可以挖掘，现在才被审查。 越来越多的和不同的用途被发现的植物收藏， 植物标本馆，以及与每个标本相关的信息 会随着时间而增值。 该项目提供了部分支持策展和安装 在未来三年内，植物学系的活动。

Although the Department of Botany is the smallest of four scientific departments at Field Museum, it administers the fifth largest herbarium in the Western Hemisphere. The botanical collections include 2.4 million specimens, not including unprocessed and unmounted material, and this number increases by approximately 20,000 per year at present mounting rates. During the past five years, incoming accessions averaged over 31,000 per year, with an average of 21,500 mounted and inserted into the herbarium per annum. Since its founding, the Department of Botany has focused on the floras of North, Central and South America. The early strength of the collections in the Neotropical area permit encyclopedic projects such as the Flora of Guatemala and Flora of Peru to be conducted there. Today, the collections and research interests focus on tropical America, both in active research programs and acquisitions of new accessions. The current interest held by the biological community in tropical biodiversity makes the herbarium at Field Museum a crucial information resource. Collection, locality, ecological and taxonomic data provide critical clues toward the solution of global problems such as deforestation, disease control, and hunger. The possible applications of information held within the herbarium, and the varied means through which it might be tapped, are only now being examined. More and varied uses are being found for the plant collections in the herbarium, and the information associated with each specimen will increase in value with time. This project provides partial support for curatorial and mounting activities in the Department of Botany for the next three years.