Transcript Computerization of the Lichen Collection at the Michigan State University Herbarium Andrew J.

Computerization of the Lichen Collection at the Michigan State University Herbarium
Andrew J. JOHNSON, Alan M. FRYDAY & L. Alan PRATHER
Herbarium, Department of Plant Biology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA. e-mail: [email protected]
The Collection:
The Project:
The lichen collection of the Michigan State University
Herbarium (MSC) totals over 110,000 accessioned
specimens from many regions of the world. Specifically,
there are excellent holdings from:
North America: Eastern seaboard of the US and
Canada, Great Lakes region, Pacific Coast of
Canada, Alpine areas of the Rocky Mountains
Southern South America: Falkland Islands, Juan
Fernandez Islands, Fuegia-Patagonia
New Zealand: South Island, Subpolar Islands
Iles Kerguelen, the Caribbean Islands, and the Canary
Islands.
In May 2003 we began a 3 year project, financed by NSF
(Award No. DBI-0237401), to computerize the label data from
our entire lichen collection and make it available and searchable
on-line. Because of the geographic scope of the collection the
database will be extremely useful to researchers working on all
aspects of the natural environment of the areas covered by the
collection.
This extensive collection was assembled largely through
the efforts of Dr. Henry A. Imshaug, the curator of the
Cryptogamic Herbarium from 1958-1990, and his
students, who included Irwin Brodo, Richard Harris, and
Clifford Wetmore.
Henry Imshaug on Campbell Island in 1970
(Photo by Dale Vitt)
All data associated with the specimens (collector, collection
date, locality, and habitat) are being entered
into the database, along with any additional information added
as annotations, (e.g. chemistry, spore dimensions, apothecial
pigments). All name changes and additional species present on
the specimen are also being recorded.
The availability of the data on the Internet will serve as a form
of data repatriation to the many countries, especially
developing ones, from which the collections were made. It will
also impact the ongoing biodiversity crisis that affects, in
particular, many of the tropical and subtropical regions
represented among the collections.
The Database:
We are using SPECIFY <http://www.specifysoftware.org> to
enter the data and, after overcoming the initial problems
involved with learning a new system and customizing the data
entry form to suit our purposes, data is now being entered at
over 1500 records/week.
Data are being entered mostly by student workers and are
verified by MSU Herbarium staff. So far nine undergraduate
students, two graduate students, and one additional full-time,
temporary staff member have received training in herbarium
procedures and gained experience with lichens as part of this
project.
We have entered the data from all of our accessioned collections
from Australasia, South America, the Caribbean, and Michigan
and, as of summer 2004, are currently working on the North
American collections. We anticipate making this database
available and searchable on line in the near future, but until then
we welcome requests for information. We can query the
database by any field using any of the usual operators. We have
already responded to requests for information on chemical
content of a lichen species across its geographical range, and
lichens collected from specific areas.