RUI: SWITCH: SouthWest Idaho: The Comprehensive Herbaria. An on-line database resource for botanical research and education

该项目将开发SWITCH（爱达荷西南部：综合植物标本馆），通过对该地区维管和非维管植物和真菌的成像和数据库，为爱达荷西南部和邻近的俄勒冈州和内华达州建立一个虚拟植物标本馆。SWITCH将为大约118,500种保存下来的植物、真菌和地衣提供互联网访问，并将通过太平洋西北植物标本联合会门户网站提供最终图像和相应数据。目前，在国家了解和绘制植物多样性地图的努力中，来自该地区的植物标本和数据代表性不足。SWITCH将通过以下方式为研究科学家、学生、联邦和州机构土地管理者以及公民提供重要资源：i)直接为目前正在进行的几个国家生物多样性项目做出贡献；Ii)协助科学家和其他人员追踪珍稀植物和入侵物种；（三）为区域内政策制定提供支持；iv)支持公民科学家可以学习并为正在进行的爱达荷州植物和生态遗产研究做出贡献的计划；iv)进一步激发人们对爱达荷州植物、真菌和地衣的兴趣。此外，一些学生将在两个主要的本科机构，爱达荷大学和博伊西州立大学接受培训。

This project will develop SWITCH (Southwest Idaho: The Comprehensive Herbarium), a virtual herbarium for Southwest Idaho and adjacent Oregon and Nevada, by imaging and databasing vascular and non-vascular plant and fungal collections in the region. SWITCH will provide internet access to an estimated 118,500 preserved plant, fungus, and lichen collections, and the resulting images and corresponding data will be made available through the Consortium of Pacific Northwest Herbaria Portal. Plant specimens and data from this region are presently underrepresented in national efforts to understand and map plant diversity. SWITCH will provide a critical resource for research scientists, students, federal and state agency land managers, and citizens by: i) contributing directly to several national biodiversity projects currently underway; ii) assisting scientists and others in tracking rare plants and invasive species; iii) providing support for policy formulation in the region; iv) supporting a program in which citizen scientists may learn and contribute to ongoing study of botanical and ecological heritage in Idaho; and iv) stimulating further interest in Idaho plants, fungi, and lichens. In addition, several students will be trained at two primarily undergraduate institutions, the College of Idaho and Boise State University.