| Abstract Detail
Flora of North America: Synergy with other Botanical Projects Baldwin, Bruce G. [1]. The Jepson Flora Project and the Consortium of California Herbaria: Collaborative approaches to advancing California floristics. PROVIDING comprehensive, current, and rigorously supported data on the extraordinarily diverse and complex California flora requires worldwide scientific collaboration and extensive institutional cooperation. The Jepson Flora Project (JFP) was initiated in recognition of those needs, which have gained increasing urgency as direct and indirect human impacts on California's biodiversity and ecosystems have accelerated. The JFP relies on a large body of scientific talent (>200 contributing authors) and on herbaria that manage collections of Californian tracheophytes. Connecting JFP authors with herbarium specimens from diverse sources has been a significant logistical challenge, especially in light of the importance of small, regional herbaria in a state where much of the flora is narrowly endemic to particular geographic areas. Rise of the Consortium of California Herbaria -- a fully communal alliance of statewide herbaria -- during the last year has been of tremendous benefit to JFP authors by providing a common database of Californian vascular-plant specimens from most major public and private collections within the state. Data entry and geo-referencing efforts, facilitated by the Consortium, and continuing expansion of data presentation and query capabilities for the Consortium web interface have provided JFP authors with a greatly enhanced means of accessing and integrating current, collection-based information. Such access has stimulated targeted, manageable loan requests and resultant annotation of key specimens that have helped to improve accuracy of both herbarium records and floristic treatments. By working together more effectively than ever, California herbaria have shown that non-hierarchical partnerships among institutions can make a huge difference in furthering floristic initiatives, such as the JFP.[c.e.:srb] Log in to add this item to your schedule
Related Links: The Jepson Flora Project Jepson Online Interchange Consortium of California Herbaria
1 - University of California, Berkeley, Department of Integrative Biology, University and Jepson Herbaria, 1001 Valley Life Sciences Bldg. #2465, Berkeley, California, 94720, USA
Keywords: California floristics georeferencing Herbaria Jepson Flora Project Consortium of California Herbaria databases.
Presentation Type: Symposium or Colloquium Presentation Session: 70-5 Location: 352/Holt Date: Wednesday, August 2nd, 2006 Time: 11:00 AM Abstract ID:414 |