Collaborative Research: Linked Databases and an Interactive Key for the Vascular Flora of the Southern Rocky Mountain Region

University Of Wyoming, Laramie WY

Investigators

Abstract

A collaborative grant has been awarded to Colorado State University under the direction of Dr. Mark Simmons; University of Colorado at Boulder under the direction of Drs. Thomas Ranker and Robert Guralnick; University of Northern Colorado under the direction of Dr. Neil Snow; and University of Wyoming under the direction of Dr. Ronald Hartman to produce an online distributed database of collections of vascular plants from the Southern Rocky Mountain Region (SRMR) and create an online, interactive identification key for vascular plants from the SRMR. The region covered by this project includes the entire State of Colorado, nine counties from southern Wyoming, and eight counties from northcentral New Mexico. The SRMR as defined here is a reasonably coherent ecoregion based on many shared geological and biological features, such as a number of mountain chains of Laramide orogeny, and many vascular plant species are restricted to this region. The SRMR is characterized by a rich diversity of ecosystems, ranging from semi-arid grasslands to the east, through montane pine, subalpine spruce-fir forests, and alpine tundra in the center, to canyons and mesas in the west. Unique wetland and riparian ecosystems exist on the plains, and nutrient-poor streams and lakes are frequent in the mountains. This broad range of ecosystems fosters a diverse flora, and is reflective of strong topographic forcings and steep climatic gradients. In addition to herbarium specimens at the Colorado State University Herbarium, the Rocky Mountain Herbarium, the University of Colorado Herbarium, and the University of Northern Colorado Herbarium, the distributed database will incorporate specimens from the SRMR that have been databased at other regional and national herbaria. The interactive key will be produced using Lucid Professional version 2.1, which is intended primarily for use online. Each of the approximately 4,000 species treated in the key will have associated windows describing its associated names, distribution, voucher specimens, and images. For the specimen database, a Federation of Databases that communicate with each other will be created. The Federation of Databases will be implemented by following the specifications suggested by the Digital Generic Information Retrieval group. Georeferencing is crucial for the production of static or dynamic species maps or atlases and for the import of data into Geographic Information Systems. All specimens will be georeferenced as part of this project. Each step in the process of creating linked databases and the interactive key will be documented. Clear documentation will also be provided for becoming part of the initial database federation to future investigators. The specimen database established by this project will document and locate the vascular plant diversity that currently exists in this region, and help track the rate and magnitude of change in biodiversity patterns caused by urban development over the next several decades. It will be useful for discerning areas of high biodiversity, determining the point of introduction and the spread of invasive species, locating voucher specimens, and as a coverage in geographic-information-systems applications. The educational implications of the proposal will extend the usefulness of this project.