Virtual Federal Herbarium
Prototype
Ed Gilbert, Southwest Environmental Information Network
Ann Hitchcock, National Park Service
What is a virtual federal herbarium?
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Specimen data and
images
Public web interface
Searchable
Focus on federal
specimens
Integrated with nonfederal data
Why a virtual federal herbarium
prototype?
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Expand access to federal data for science
researchers, land managers, educators, students,
amateur botanists, youth groups, etc.
Integrate federal and non-federal data (SEINet)
Refine search design to improve federal data
results
Encourage federal participation in regional
virtual herbarium initiatives
Who is involved in the prototype?
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NPS and SEINet
NPS, BLM and USFS data sources
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Other federal bureaus/agencies to be added
Non-federal herbaria
Endorsed by Biodiversity and Ecosystem
Informatics Working Group (BioEco), Committee
on Environment and Natural Resources, National
Science and Technology Council
What is SEINet?
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Virtual flora/herbarium
Specimen-based
Research and education
Biodiversity portal
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Specimen search engine
Species checklists
Interactive identification key
Image library
What is the geographic scope?
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Southwest USA
1.1 Million specimens
21 Herbaria
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11 Arizona
5 New Mexico
3 Adjacent states
1 Sonora, Mexico
1 NY Botanical Garden
What kinds of searches are possible?
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Specimen search
engine
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Specimen listing
Specimen images
Interactive maps
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Google Map
Google Earth
Species checklist
Identification key
Why is a specimen-based model
important?
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Backbone of floristic
research
Vouchers
Proof of occurrence
Expert reviewed
Verifiable
70,000,000+ US
specimens
What are the benefits of the virtual
environment?
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Scientifically complete
Flexible presentation
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Public outreach
Cost effective
Collaborative
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Software developers
Herbarium curators
Land managers
Virtual Environment has Great Potential
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Arizona Flora
Annuals of the Grand
Canyon National Park
Grasses of the San Pedro
Riparian Nat’l. Cons. Area
Asteraceae within 30 miles
of 34.2°, -112.4°
My Backyard Flora
What is Symbiota?
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Content Management System (CMS) for biodiversity
and floristic data
Other data nodes using Symbiota software
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SEINet – Plants of Southwestern North America
Consortium of North American Lichen Herbaria
Madrean Archipelago Biodiversity Assessment
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Flora & Fauna within Arizona, New Mexico, Sonora Mexico
CoTRAM – Cooperative Taxonomic Resource for American
Myrtaceae
Neotropical Virtual Flora
Multiple presentations of a single,
integrated dataset
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Independent Symbiota data node
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Sub-node
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Collections of specimens, checklists, keys, etc.
Local Flora
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Other node’s database with separate website
Floristic Project
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Self contained database and website
Researchers, land managers, graduate students
IFRAME insert into agency website
What is the timeline for the prototype?
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Fall 2009
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Winter 2010
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Develop search interface for federal collections
Demo at Earth Day event on National Mall
Fall 2010
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Compile and define datasets
Share concept with other regional virtual herbarium nodes
Spring 2010
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Project start
Expand data set beyond NPS, BLM, USFS
Winter 2011
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Complete Symbiota software & documentation
Build toward US Virtual Herbarium
Contacts
Ed Gilbert
SEINet Administrator, Symbiota Developer
Global Institute of Sustainability (GIOS)
Arizona State University
egbot@asu.edu
520-481-7638
Ann Hitchcock
Senior Advisor for Scientific Collections
National Park Service
ann_hitchcock@nps.gov
202-354-2271
Acknowledgments
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Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum
Arizona State University Herbarium
Bureau of Land Management
Global Institute of Sustainability (ASU)
National Park Service
National Science Foundation
National Science and Technology Council
Sky Island Alliance
U.S. Forest Service
Regional herbaria
Local and regional data managers