Modernization of The Morton Arboretum Herbarium (MOR)

莫顿植物园获得了国家科学基金会的拨款，用于对其植物标本馆进行现代化改造。这笔赠款将用于安装新的压路机搁置系统，从而使科学家和公众用户更容易获得和使用这些藏品。超过155,000个维管植物标本目前被安置在116个柜子里，这些柜子已经满了。另外7500株积压的植物被储存在盒子里。每年大约有4500个标本被添加到标本馆。新系统将保证标本的长期可访问性和更好的护理，并将使标本馆的存储容量增加50%以上。由于1)植物学家、保护科学家、土地管理员和学生更多地使用标本和标本馆数据，植物标本馆面临着越来越大的压力，以及2)植物园在分类学、保护和树木栽培方面的研究继续广泛地为标本提供担保。为了更好地利用和获取这些收藏品并对其进行负责任的管理，现代化的植物标本馆至关重要。标本馆中主要的植物收藏品包括：芝加哥地区具有全球意义的生态系统的植物，中西部的稀有植物，大黄石地区的植物，几个重要的历史收藏品，以及地衣和担子菌的精品收藏品。莫顿植物园的植物标本馆是北美第三大植物园。这一重大意义导致了联邦博物馆和图书馆服务研究所(IMLS)向植物园提供了一笔重大的国家领导力拨款，以开发一个数字植物馆(www.vPlants.org)，其中包括莫顿植物园、菲尔德自然历史博物馆和芝加哥植物园的芝加哥地区植物。NSF的这一奖项将补充IMLS的奖项，从而使其成为美国中部大陆最重要的植物资源。

The Morton Arboretum has received a grant from the National Science Foundation to modernize its Herbarium. The grant will provide for installation of a new compactor shelving system, thereby providing greater accessibility and use of the collections by scientists and public users. The 155,000+ specimens of vascular plants are currently housed in 116 cabinets that are filled to capacity. A backlog of another 7,500 plants is stored in boxes. Approximately 4,500 specimens are added to the Herbarium annually. The new system will guarantee long-term accessibility and improved care of the specimens and will increase the Herbarium's storage capacity by more than 50%. Increased pressure is being placed on the Herbarium to make specimens and herbarium data available owing to 1) greater use by botanists, conservation scientists, land stewards, and students and 2) continued and extensive vouchering of specimens resulting from Arboretum research in taxonomy, conservation, and arboriculture. To provide greater use of and access to these collections and to responsibly curate them, a modernized herbarium is critical.Major plant collections housed in the Herbarium include: plants of the Chicago region's globally significant ecosystems, rare plants of the Midwest, plants of the greater Yellowstone area, several important historical collections, and a fine collection of lichens and basidiomycetes. The Morton Arboretum's Herbarium is the third largest of any arboretum in North America. This significance has resulted in a major National Leadership Grant from the federal Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) to the Arboretum to develop a digital herbarium (www.vPlants.org) that includes Chicago regional flora housed at The Morton Arboretum, the Field Museum of Natural History, and the Chicago Botanic Garden. The award from NSF will complement that from IMLS, resulting in a premier botanical resource in the mid-continent US.