Documenting Floristic Diversity in a Threatened Biodiversity Hot Spot: San Diego County, California (Phase 1)

圣地亚哥县是国际公认的生物多样性“热点”。它的气候、地理和地质特征支持着美国本土任何一个县最大的植物多样性，making制造it morebudding更多样化than some entire整个states州.这种多样性受到快速城市化和相关栖息地丧失的威胁。最近的野火烧毁了该县近25%的地区，这突出了收集和保存植物标本的紧迫性和重要性，以便在植物标本丢失之前记录这种显着的植物多样性。区域发展的速度使得土地管理者对当地植物群的科学数据非常有限，沿着，管理和知情决策的责任也越来越大。在这里做出的关键决定影响着国家生物多样性的未来，必须尽可能利用最全面、科学合理的信息做出这些决定。圣地亚哥县植物地图集（植物地图集）将通过为圣地亚哥自然历史博物馆（SDNHM）收集凭证植物标本来科学地记录该县的植物多样性，以满足这些需求; SDNHM是监督该项目的独立非营利组织。植物标本（干燥和压制的植物，安装在带有数据标签的档案纸上，并在植物标本馆存档）是各种科学学科的原材料。相关数据（包括地理坐标以及详细的分类和生态信息）储存在一个可上网查询的电子数据库中。这是该县植物学信息的全面、集中的来源，包括历史和新的数据，这些数据是基于实际的植物学而不是无法再核实的观察。标本和标本收集由“准植物学家”制作和提交;来自该城市的志愿者接受了SDNHM工作人员开发和教授的新项目的培训（但所有标本的鉴定都由专业植物学家验证）。这创造了足够的劳动力，在一个有组织的，全县范围的网格系统内收集标本超过5年，补充全县鸟类和哺乳动物地图集项目。这些收藏品将由SDNHM维护，用于教育、知情的土地管理和决策，并支持生物多样性、植物地理历史、植物地理学、分类学、解剖学、形态学、生殖生物学和遗传学方面的科学研究。除了作为其他地区的示范项目外，新的准植物学家项目的培训和宣传还提高了社区对当地自然历史（以及当地植物群的国家（如果不是全球的话）意义）的认识和尊重，并加强了他们作为区域植物科学的利益相关者、管理者和参与者的作用。这一合作项目得到了州和地方政府、非政府组织、私营部门、学术界以及专业和非专业人士的支持和参与。与花园俱乐部、保护团体和其他机构（如学校和大学）的教育联系正在发展。圣地亚哥县拥有丰富的植物多样性遗产，我们有义务为自己和子孙后代更好地了解和保护它。 植物地图集项目将增加我们对该县植物多样性和分布的了解，与专业和公众受众分享这些知识，并为保护、教育、科学和健全的土地管理做出贡献。

San Diego County is an internationally-recognized "hotspot" of biodiversity.It's climatic, geographic, and geologic features support the greatestfloristic diversity of any county in the contiguous U.S., making it morediverse than some entire states. This diversity is threatened by rapidurbanization and associated habitat loss. Recent wildfires burned almost 25%of the county, underscoring the urgency and significance of collecting andpreserving plant specimens to document this remarkable floristic diversitybefore it is lost. The pace of regional development has left land managerswith limited scientific data on local flora, along with mountingresponsibilities for stewardship and informed decision-making. Crucialdecisions made here affect the future of national biodiversity and they mustbe made with the most comprehensive, scientifically sound, informationpossible. The San Diego County Plant Atlas (Plant Atlas) will address theseneeds by scientifically documenting the county's floristic diversity throughthe collection of voucher plant specimens for the San Diego Natural HistoryMuseum (SDNHM); the independent non-profit organization overseeing theproject. Voucher specimens (dried and pressed plants, mounted on archivalpaper with a data label, and filed in the herbarium) are the raw materialsfor various scientific disciplines. The associated data (includinggeographic coordinates plus detailed taxonomic and ecological information)are stored in a web-accessible, searchable electronic database. This createsa comprehensive, centralized source of botanical information for the countyand includes both historic and new data that are based upon actual specimensrather than observations that can no longer be verified. Specimen and datacollections are made and submitted by "parabotanists"; volunteers from thecommunity trained by a novel program developed and taught by the SDNHM staff(but identification of all specimens is verified by a professionalbotanist). This creates sufficient workforce to collect specimens over a5-year period within an organized, county-wide grid system that complementsthe county-wide bird and mammal atlas projects. The collections will be maintained by the SDNHM for education, informed landmanagement and decision-making, and to support scientific research onbiodiversity, phytogeographic history, biogeography, taxonomy, anatomy,morphology, reproductive biology, and genetics. Besides acting as a modelprogram for other regions, the training and publicity from the novelparabotanist program increases the community's awareness and respect forlocal natural history (and the national, if not global significance of thelocal flora), and strengthens their role as stakeholders, stewards, andparticipants in regional botanical science. This collaborative project hasthe support and participation of state and local government, NGO's, theprivate sector, academia, and both professional and lay individuals.Educational links with garden clubs, conservation groups, and otherinstitutions like schools and universities are being developed. San DiegoCounty contains a rich heritage of botanical diversity and we have anobligation to better understand and preserve it for ourselves and for futuregenerations. The Plant Atlas project will increase our knowledge of thediversity and distribution of plants in the county, share that knowledgewith specialized and public audiences, and contribute to conservation,education, science and sound land management.