Digitization PEN: Addressing Colorado Lichens and Bryophytes as Sensitive Indicators of Environmental Quality and Change

该奖项加入了正在进行的专题收藏网络项目“北美地衣和苔藓植物：环境质量和变化的敏感指标”。该项目的主要目标是从科罗拉多大学植物标本馆（COLO）保存的10万份北美苔藓（苔藓）和地衣标本中获取图像标签数据。从这些努力中需要解决的主要科学问题是：(1)地衣和苔藓植物的分布模式随时间的变化如何与人为的环境变化相关联？(2)标本的绘制能否记录这些变化，这些生物能否作为生物指标，使我们关注维持健康环境所需的步骤？自然历史博物馆和植物标本馆是几代人在科学研究中收集的动植物标本的仓库。收藏品是我们理解自然界中生命多样性的基础。来自科罗拉多州的收集将增加关于高海拔地衣和苔藓植物的信息，并将填补原始网络的空白。由于人类气候破坏对未来影响的不确定性，这些努力的价值只会随着时间的推移而增加。未来的科学家和决策者将感激那些加快获取凭证标本的客观记录的人，凭证标本记录了特定物种在特定地点和特定时间的存在。COLO认为，这一提议不仅填补了美国植物标本馆数字化大量北美藏品的国家项目目标的重大空白，而且是推动博物馆和植物标本馆努力培训和支持下一代策展专业人员的机会，为几名本科生提供实习机会。来自公众社区的志愿者将接受培训，博物馆将举办展览，作为公众宣传的一部分。该奖项是国家生物馆藏数字化资源的一部分，通过推进生物馆藏数字化计划，该奖项产生的所有数据将通过国家资源（iDigBio.org）提供。

This award joins the ongoing Thematic Collections Network project on "North American Lichens and Bryophytes: Sensitive Indicators of Environmental Quality and Change". The primary goal of this project is to image label data from the 100,000 North American bryophyte (mosses) and lichen specimens held at the University of Colorado Herbarium (COLO). The main scientific questions to be addressed from these efforts are: (1) How are changes in distribution patterns of lichens and bryophytes over time correlated with man-made environmental changes? (2) Can mapping of specimens document such changes, and can these organisms be used as bioindicators to focus our attention on steps needed to maintain a healthy environment? Natural history museums and herbaria serve as storehouses for plant and animal specimens collected over generations of scientific investigation. Collections are the basis for our understanding of life's diversity in all its abundance and variation across nature. The collections from Colorado will add information about high altitude lichens and bryophytes and will fill a gap for the original network.With uncertainty surrounding future impacts from human climate disruption, the value of efforts such as these will only grow over time. Future scientists and policy makers will be indebted to those who expedite access to the objective records of voucher specimens documenting the presence of particular species at a particular place at a particular time. COLO views this proposal not only as a commitment to fill a significant gap in the national project's goal to digitize the bulk of North American collection in US herbaria, but also as an opportunity to advance efforts within museums and herbaria to train and support the next generation of curatorial professionals, offering opportunities for several undergraduate students as interns. Volunteers from the public community will be trained, and the museum will develop exhibits as a part of public outreach. This award is made as part of the National Resource for Digitization of Biological Collections through the Advancing Digitization of Biological Collections program and all data resulting from this award will be available through the national resource (iDigBio.org).