RUI: CSBR: Natural History Collections: Modernization and Consolidation of the Natural History Collections at MSU into the Xeric Ecosystem Research Center (XERC)

Midwestern State University, Wichita Falls TX

Investigators

Abstract

Maintaining an accessible record of biodiversity is of great importance, especially given current ecological threats such as a rapidly changing climate, invasive species, habitat destruction, and urbanization. This record is particularly important for ecosystems whose species are underrepresented in biological research collections, and therefore less understood. Among such ecosystems within the continental United States are the Central Plains and the Southwestern Deserts. The collections at Midwestern State University (MSU) in Wichita Falls, Texas holds a robust sample of specimens from the Rolling Plains ecosystem and the Chihuahuan Desert of the Trans-Pecos ecoregion. These collections are currently maintained as three taxonomically separated entities. By consolidating the vertebrate, terrestrial invertebrate, and plant collections at MSU into the Xeric Ecosystem Research Center (XERC), modernizing the infrastructure, and digitizing specimen data, the collection will become much more useful and accessible to scientists and members of the public. XERC will also, through outreach programs and special museum exhibits, increase the understanding and appreciation of xeric ecosystem biodiversity among young learners and highlight the historical significance of plants and animals to the Native Americans who once occupied these ecosystems. The Xeric Ecosystem Research Center will consolodate all specimens currently in natural history collections at Midwestern State University. Many of these specimen records were historically maintained as paper documents that will now be digitized by student assistants and citizen scientists, validated by curators, and made available to the public through iDigBio (http://www.idigbio.org). Herbarium specimens will be photographed and digitized to create a virtual herbarium that will also be publicly accessible. Specimen cabinets will be repaired and upgraded to industry standards, the capacity to maintain molecular data will be enhanced with upgraded environmental storage, and an integrated pest management plan will be instituted. Midwestern State will actively promote XERC to the broader scientific community and encourage broad use of the specimens and data contained therein. To enhance the educational and cultural value of XERC, an ADA accessible website and associated educational materials aimed at young learners (K-5) will be produced and made widely available. XERC will partner with the Wichita Falls Museum of Art (WFMA) to produce two public exhibits that highlights biodiversity of the Trans-Pecos ecoregion of Texas and the cultural significance of plants and animals of the Central Plains to early Native Americans. Through these efforts, the Xeric Ecosystem Research Center will serve as a hub for research, a record of biodiversity, and a repository for important biological materials from xeric ecosystems. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.