Herbarium Improvement and Development of a Consolidated Vascular Plant Database for Western South Dakota and Eastern Wyoming

Black Hills State University, Spearfish SD

Investigators

Abstract

A grant has been awarded to Black Hills State University under the direction of Dr. Mark L. Gabel to double herbarium storage capacity and to construct a web-searchable database of nearly all vascular plants from western South Dakota and eastern Wyoming. The area, especially the Black Hills and Bear Lodge Mountains, have a high biological diversity, but because plant specimens are located in numerous herbaria and are not available in an accessible database, relatively little is known about the flora of the region. Plant specimens from 16 herbaria will be included in the database. All label data from each specimen will be recorded, species names will be corrected or updated as necessary, and georeferencing will be completed to allow production of species distribution maps. During the three-year project, construction of the database will be done with help from graduate students at three universities and undergraduate students from two universities. The web access will provide a database for classes and for undergraduate research at Black Hills State University and other institutions. A workshop for secondary education teachers will facilitate development of web-based research for high school students. The database and a workshop for land managers will allow more informed management of public and private lands in the region.