Computerization of the Lichen Collection at the Michigan State University Herbarium

Michigan State University, East Lansing MI

Investigators

Abstract

A grant has been awarded to Michigan State University, under the direction of Drs. Prather and Fryday, to database the Lichen Collection of the MSU herbarium and make the data available online. The collection consists of about 120, 000 specimens and is one of the largest lichen collections in the U.S, although it is the geographical scope of the collection that makes it truly unique. Around half the collections are from North America, but it also has scientifically important collections from many Southern Hemisphere island floras, including many very poorly known areas, such as the Falkland Islands, Juan Fernandez Islands, Tierra del Fuego, New Zealand islands, and Iles Kerguelen. There are also large and important collections from many Caribbean islands and the Canary Islands. All of the data associated with the specimens, including collector, collection date, locality, and habitat will be entered into the database and thus checklists of specific areas, distributions of species, and construction of lists of holdings can now be conducted through different types of searches. Consequently, this database will be extremely useful to researchers and also will facilitate curation of the collection. Since so few lichen databases are established, and none of them cover as broad a geographic region, these data will be the foremost web-based tool for lichen distribution. All written data associated with the specimens will be entered into a database. This database will be placed on the MSU Plant Biology web server and made fully searchable over the Internet. Students and herbarium employees will enter the data, which will be verified for accuracy, and will also label each specimen with a barcode. Herbarium staff will be responsible for updating the online database with recently entered data at regular intervals. This project will provide baseline information that is needed to facilitate research on lichens. Lichens are important because they are widely used as bioindicators for estimating the impact of pollution and climate change. They are also an important component of all terrestrial ecosystems, from the tropics to the polar regions, from below sea-level to the highest mountains, from the most natural, untouched environments to the centers of urban conglomerations. As part of this project, twelve undergraduate students, three graduate students, and one additional full-time, temporary staff member will receive training in herbarium procedures and gain experience with lichens. 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. By facilitating research on these organisms this project will provide a tremendous benefit to society.