Digitization TCN: Collaborative Research: Using Herbarium Data To Document Plant Niches In The High Peaks And High Plains Of The Southern Rockies - Past, Present, And Future

数字化 TCN：合作研究：利用植物标本馆数据记录落基山脉南部高峰和高原的植物生态位 - 过去、现在和未来

• 批准号: 1701575
• 负责人: Kimberly Watson
• 金额: $ 38.95万
• 依托单位: New York Botanical Garden
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2017
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2017-09-01 至 2021-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1701575&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Digitization; TCN; Collaborative; Research; Using

The rugged and expansive terrain of the Southern Rocky Mountains (SoRo) yields the most crucial resource for human existence in western North America: Water. From upper reaches of the high peaks of Colorado, Wyoming, New Mexico, and surrounding states, the headwaters of numerous major rivers of the West originate and give rise to the highest outflow and freshwater runoff west of the Mississippi River: The Platte, Arkansas, Rio Grande, Colorado, and Green Rivers and portions of the Snake and Missouri Rivers. The cleanliness and reliability of these water resources are in large part attributable to the plant life that forms the basis for all SoRo ecosystems. Plant species from the high peaks and adjacent high plains of the SoRo derive from different geographic origins, evolutionary histories, and ecological affinities. They grow in varied habitats and represent one of the most narrowly adapted floras in the world. This unique and fragile flora is widely documented in natural history collections (i.e., herbaria), but specimens themselves and the scientific data that accompany them remain poorly 'visible' owing to a lack of data in digitized format. The SoRo Herbarium Consortium brings together 38 collaborating institutions (universities, botanical gardens, national parks, Native American Nations) to digitize more than 1.7 million botanical specimens from the study area. The overarching goal of this project is to make these data available to a broad community of users (scientists, educators, government officials, land managers, the general public) via openly accessible, free data portals. The Southern Rocky Mountains (SoRo) support a diverse and highly adapted flora of species with varied ecologies, ranging from alpine to sagebrush plains to shortgrass prairies. The plant biota of the SoRo shares important evolutionary and geological histories with the adjacent plains and prairies, and together these ecosystems are among the most endangered landscapes in North America. Human demands on these systems are escalating, and risk factors such as fire, development, and environmental change are predicted to grow. Thus, building digital resources to document plant niches in the SoRo is met with a sense of urgency. The proposed work will address a major gap in accessible information among North American natural history collections by digitizing more than 1.7 million botanical collections from the SoRo. Specifically, 38 collaborative institutions (universities, botanical gardens, national parks, Native American Nations) will collaborate to generate these new resources and make them available via data portals, including iDigBio (www.idigbio.org). Additionally, new tools will be developed within the open source Symbiota platform that will allow users to quickly search and compile vetted, herbarium data records that can then be used for analysis in external software applications such as niche modeling packages, or to update source data repositories for subsequent in-house curation.

南落基山脉 (SoRo) 崎岖而广阔的地形为北美西部人类生存提供了最重要的资源：水。 西部众多主要河流的源头均来自科罗拉多州、怀俄明州、新墨西哥州及周边各州高峰的上游，并产生了密西西比河以西最高的流出量和淡水径流：阿肯色州的普拉特河、科罗拉多河格兰德河和格林河以及斯内克河和密苏里河的部分地区。这些水资源的清洁度和可靠性在很大程度上归功于构成所有 SoRo 生态系统基础的植物生命。 索罗山脉高峰和邻近高原平原的植物物种源自不同的地理起源、进化历史和生态亲缘关系。它们生长在不同的栖息地，是世界上适应范围最窄的植物群之一。 这种独特而脆弱的植物群在自然历史收藏品（即植物标本馆）中得到了广泛记录，但由于缺乏数字化格式的数据，标本本身以及伴随它们的科学数据仍然很难“可见”。 SoRo 植物标本馆联盟汇集了 38 个合作机构（大学、植物园、国家公园、美洲原住民国家），对研究区域超过 170 万个植物标本进行数字化。 该项目的总体目标是通过可公开访问的免费数据门户，向广大用户群体（科学家、教育工作者、政府官员、土地管理者、公众）提供这些数据。 南落基山脉 (SoRo) 孕育着多样化且高度适应的物种区系，其生态系统多种多样，从高山到艾蒿平原，再到短草草原。索罗的植物生物群与邻近的平原和草原有着重要的进化和地质历史，这些生态系统共同构成了北美最濒危的景观之一。 人类对这些系统的需求不断升级，火灾、开发和环境变化等风险因素预计也会增加。因此，建立数字资源来记录 SoRo 中的植物生态位具有紧迫感。拟议的工作将通过对 SoRo 超过 170 万个植物馆藏进行数字化处理，解决北美自然历史馆藏中可获取信息的重大缺口。具体而言，38 个合作机构（大学、植物园、国家公园、美洲原住民国家）将合作生成这些新资源，并通过包括 iDigBio (www.idigbio.org) 在内的数据门户提供这些资源。此外，将在开源 Symbiota 平台内开发新工具，使用户能够快速搜索和编译经过审查的植物标本馆数据记录，然后将其用于外部软件应用程序（例如利基建模包）中的分析，或更新源数据存储库以便后续的内部策展。