CSBR: Natural History: Saving and Preserving the Cornell University Plant Anatomy Collection (CUPAC) And The Cornell University Paleobotanical Slide Collection (CUPC-S)

Cornell University, Ithaca NY

Investigators

Abstract

CSBR: Natural History: Saving and Preserving two Valuable Slide Collections at Cornell University. The Cornell University Plant Anatomy Collection (CUPAC) and the Cornell University Paleobotanical Slide Collection (CUPC-S) comprise more than 114,000 glass microscope slides that are the basis for descriptions and illustrations in an exceptional array of publications. The result of research in the middle and latter half of the Twentieth Century, these collections are irreplaceable, and illustrate anatomical features of wild, horticultural and crop plants as well as extinct fossil plants, from algae to pine trees to orchids. In addition to documenting the original work of eminent plant scientists, the collection is a source of further investigation, rechecking of published information, and new studies. Each slide required an extensive and labor-intensive process, from procurement of plant material (often from remote tropical regions), detailed preparation, embedding and sectioning, staining for optical clarity, and permanently mounting on glass slides. Because of their great scientific value and connection to the history of plant anatomy and paleobotany, the collections are priceless and unique. By stabilizing and preserving the slides, this project will save a valuable and irreplaceable resource for the scientific community. The project will also image and database the slides and make these data available through the web to the general public and scientific community. This public resource will allow college and high school teachers of biology, plant sciences, and forestry to access high-quality anatomical slides for demonstration without needing to purchase or prepare materials themselves. All images and data will also be made available to an even broader community through sharing of data with national and international portals. The goal of the project is to inventory, stabilize and protect the CUPAC and CUPC-S collections and associated notebooks, and to image and digitize ca. 75,000 slides. This will include all type materials and publication vouchers, and additional selected slides for breadth of taxonomic and anatomical coverage. Many of the CUPAC slides are vouchered with herbarium specimens and all of the CUPC-S materials are vouchered with fossil specimens housed at Cornell. The collections include an exceptional representation of herbarium-vouchered palm (Arecaceae) material from Bailey, Moore and Uhl, important publication vouchers for Bierhorst and Eames, contributed slides from Carlquist, Esau and Maheshwari, and pivotal early plant fossil preparations by Banks. The project will include barcoding, linkage to data from associated notebooks, linkage to Cornell herbarium and fossil databases, and digital imaging with high-resolution light microscopy using a 32-megapixel system. All slides will be rehoused in new cabinets and damaged mounts will be repaired where possible. The online database will allow advanced search by organ/tissue/feature, taxonomic identity, scientist/researcher, locality and publication. In addition, online measurement tools will provide a means of utilizing the system for remote analysis by scientists, and direct use in plant anatomy and paleontology instruction at all levels, including college and K-12. The resulting database and images will be made public on the cupac.bh.cornell.edu (CUPAC) website.