Abstract Herbarium Collections Management
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
ABSTRACT HERBARIUM COLLECTIONS MANAGEMENT INTERNSHIP by Amanda Lauren Leslie Harmon The Willard Sherman Turrell Herbarium at Miami University (MU) is the largest collection of preserved botanical material in the state of Ohio. This report describes the projects I conducted at the MU Herbarium during my herbarium collections management internship. The internship and subsequent report were conducted to fulfill requirements for graduation from the Master of Environmental Science (MEn) program at MU’s Institute for the Environment and Sustainability (IES). I completed three main projects during the course of my internship. The first project involved updating the MU Herbarium Assistant’s Manual, which was last updated in 1980. The second project was the digitization of the fungal collection of the University of Cincinnati. The final project was the organization and intercalation of Peruvian specimens collected between 2004- 2005 by MU Botany PhD graduate Xanic Rondon. Herbarium curator and advisor Michael Vincent selected these projects for my internship to provide specific learning opportunities that have prepared me for professional natural history collections management. HERBARIUM COLLECTIONS MANAGEMENT INTERNSHIP An Internship Report Submitted to the Faculty of Miami University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Environmental Science by Amanda Lauren Leslie Harmon Miami University Oxford, Ohio 2018 Advisor: Dr. Michael Vincent Reader: Dr. Richard Moore Reader: Suzanne Zazycki ©2018 Amanda Lauren Leslie Harmon This Internship Report titled HERBARIUM COLLECTIONS MANAGEMENT INTERNSHIP by Amanda Lauren Leslie Harmon has been approved for publication by The College of Arts and Science and The Institute for the Environment and Sustainability ____________________________________________________ MICHAEL A. VINCENT ______________________________________________________ RICHARD C. MOORE _______________________________________________________ SUZANNE ZAZYCKI Table of Contents List of Figures………………………………………………….....………………………iv Acknowledgements…………………………………………….....……………...…….….v Section 1: Introduction................………………………………......……………........1 1.1. Background on Herbaria………………………………………………………….......1 1.2. Federal and International Laws and Regulations……………………………………..2 1.3. Herbarium Collections and Biodiversity Conservation……………………………....4 1.4. Overview of Internship……………………………………………………………….5 Section 2: MU Herbarium.….....................…………………………………………...7 2.1. Introduction……………………………………………………………………….…..7 2.2. History and Organization of the MU Herbarium…..................................……............7 2.3. Collection Overview…………………………………………………………….…....8 Section 3: Internship Projects……………………………………………………….10 3.1. Digitization of University of Cincinnati Fungal Collection………………………...10 3.1.1. Project Background………………………………………………………..10 3.1.2. Methods……………………………………………………………………13 3.1.3. Results……………………………………………………………………..21 3.1.4. Conclusions………………………………………………………………..21 3.2. Intercalation of Xanic Rondon’s Peruvian Specimens……………………………...23 3.2.1. Project Background………………………………………………………..23 3.2.2. My Role in the Project…………………………………………………….23 3.3. Updating the MU Herbarium Operations Manual…………………………………..26 Section 4: Internship Summary and Connection with IES Experience…………......28 References…………………………………………………………………….………….32 Appendix 1 – MU Herbarium Operations Manual..……………………………………..36 iii List of Figures Figure 3.1. Individually-Boxed Specimen…………………………………………...11 Figure 3.2. Exsiccati Specimen in Mounted Packet……………………………….....11 Figure 3.3. Large Specimen………....……………………………………………….12 Figure 3.4. Large Label Close-Up………………………………………………....…12 Figure 3.5. Barcoded Specimen.……………………………………...……………...13 Figure 3.6. Collector Information Box..…………………………..………………….14 Figure 3.7. Latest Identification Box...……………………………………………….16 Figure 3.8. Locality Box……………...………………………………………………16 Figure 3.9. Miscellaneous Information.………………………………………...……16 Figure 3.10. Curation Management……………………………………………………17 Figure 3.11. Added Occurrence Number...……………………………………………17 Figure 3.12. Editing Page……………………………………………………………...18 Figure 3.13. Completed Occurrence Record………………………………………..…19 Figure 3.14. Example of Incomplete and Incorrect Autofill…………………………..20 Figure 3.15. IndexFungorum Search…………………………………………………..20 Figure 3.16. Bresadola’s Specimen……………………………………………………22 Figure 3.17. Jacaranda copaia………………………………………………...……....24 Figure 3.18. Rondon’s Data Key………………………………………………………24 Figure 3.19. Spreadsheet Example…………………………………………………….25 Figure 4.1. Tasmanian Coral Fungi…………………………………………………..29 Figure 4.2. Inside Information………………………………………………………..30 Figure 4.3. Clavaria zollingeri…………………………………………………….....30 iv Acknowledgements I owe my deepest gratitude to my internship supervisor Dr. Michael Vincent, curator of the Willard Sherman Turrell Herbarium at Miami University. Dr. Vincent was extremely helpful, flexible, and understanding throughout the course of my internship. He provided crucial insights into my work at the herbarium and helped build this internship into a wonderful learning experience. He inspired a passion for herbarium collections that I look forward to pursuing after completion of my degree. I would also like to thank my advisor and associate director of the Institute for the Environment and Sustainability, Suzanne Zazycki, M.En., JD. I am deeply grateful for her guidance and support throughout my time as a graduate student. Despite the obstacles I faced, I was able to succeed with her encouragement. I will never forget her graciousness. I would also like to acknowledge Dr. Richard Moore of the Biology Department at Miami University as the third reader of this report. I am thankful for his valuable input toward the formation and successful completion of this internship. Finally, I must express my most profound gratitude to my family and to my partner for their unwavering support and continuous encouragement. This accomplishment would not have been possible without them, and I will be forever grateful. Thank you. v Section 1. INTRODUCTION In this section, I provide an introduction to herbaria and their role in conservation biology. I present a brief background that illustrates the connection between natural history collections, such as herbaria and botanical gardens, and the conservation of biodiversity. I summarize the major federal and international laws pertaining to herbarium operations. Lastly, I outline the major projects that I conducted during the course of this internship, and I establish how they will be presented through this report. 1.1. Background on Herbaria A herbarium is a curated collection of preserved vascular plant, algae, bryophyte, and fungal material. Herbarium specimens are individually preserved material curated with associated data such as the location where the material was collected, when the material was collected, and who collected it. The specimens’ data provide evidence that a particular species exhibiting particular characteristics was found in a specific location at a specific date in history (DeWolf 1968). The data held within herbarium collections are useful in the fields of botanical systematics and taxonomy in that they contribute to the scientific community’s understanding of the evolutionary relationships among groups of organisms (Smith and Figueiredo 2009). These data also contribute to the studies of biodiversity, biogeography, and phylogeny – the development and diversification of species over time (Cracraft 2002). This information is vital in ecological and climate change studies and can aid in understanding potential anthropogenic influences on species occurrence (Greve et al. 2016; Mounce et al. 2017). The usefulness of any given specimen is dependent on the extent of the data accompanying the specimen, as well as the number of related specimens within the herbarium’s collection. When properly organized and integrated, specimens in a herbarium collection can provide an array of raw data on a particular taxon including growth habit, habitat, character variation, and possible uses (e.g. medicinal or agricultural uses) (Bridson and Forman 1998). Herbaria may also provide ecological information if many specimens of the same species are collected over the course of the year, or if many species are collected in a particular geographical 1 area over time (thus providing crucial phenological data such as the timing of flowering or leaf- out) (Willis et al. 2017). Herbaria are often associated with academic or research institutions, and thereby offer students and researchers invaluable opportunities to work with preserved material and its associated data (Drew 2011). Many herbaria are also affiliated with botanical gardens and conservatories; these provide the living correlates to many of the preserved taxa housed in the associated herbarium. The living specimens allow for study of features often lost during the preservation of herbarium specimens, such as three-dimensional structure, flower color and pattern, fragrance, and other aspects of phytochemistry (i.e. extraction of compounds such as papain, a cysteine protease found in plants such as Carica papaya of the family Caricaceae). Well known and world-renowned examples of such herbaria exist at the Missouri Botanical Gardens (MO) and the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (K) (Thiers [continuously updated]). The curation of preserved plant specimens has been a significant tool in the development of botanical taxonomy,