Virtual Federal Herbarium Prototype

What is a virtual federal herbarium? A “library” of specimen data and images of plants and fungi A searchable public web interface Focused on federal specimens Integrated with non- federal data

Why a virtual federal herbarium prototype? To expand access to federal herbarium data for  Science and land management (e.g. Climate Change)  Education  Fun (hobbies, Scouting, gardening, backyard botany) To allow a search of data from many herbaria at one time  Federal  Non-federal

Who is developing the prototype? SEINet (Southwest Environmental Information Network)—a virtual herbarium National Park Service Other data contributors  Bureau of Land Management  U.S. Forest Service  Non-federal herbaria in the Southwest

What is the geographic scope? Southwest USA 1.1 million specimens 21 herbaria  11 Arizona  5 New Mexico  3 Adjacent states  1 Sonora, Mexico  1 NY Botanical Garden

What can I find in the virtual herbarium? Specimen lists Specimen images Interactive maps Species checklists Identification keys Image library Quizzes

Let’s do a search! To search San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area in southern Arizona Check the box for that unit Click the “Submit Query” button

Choose your search criteria! Let’s search the family of grasses called Poaceae Enter “Poaceae” under Taxonomic Criteria Click “Search” We could also search by other criteria

Here are the search results! A list of grass (Poaceae) specimens at San Pedro Riparian NCA We can scroll down the list to choose a specimen to view

You can also search by common name Let’s search for “grass family” instead of Poaceae. Enter “grass family” under Taxonomic Criteria Click “Search” We could also have searched for “grasses”

Here are the search results! A list of “grass family” specimens at San Pedro Riparian NCA This list is identical to the search results for “Poaceae”—the scientific name for grass family

Choose a specimen to view… Let’s choose to look at specimen number For “more information” about this specimen click on the red text

For general information about this species… Click on the scientific name in red If we clicked on the red box, we’d learn more about Arizona State University Herbarium, which has the specimen

More about this species… Did you remember its scientific name? Now you can read its common name: “sixweeks grama” Look at the map showing its distribution

Let’s choose another place to search! Do you know about Valles Caldera National Preserve in New Mexico? Let’s see the specimens from there! Check the box for Valles Caldera Submit the Query

Let’s choose a plant family to search… How about Asteraceae—this family includes asters, daisies, and sunflowers! Type “Asteraceae” in the box under Taxonomic Criteria Click “Search” We could also search by other criteria

Here are the search results! A list of aster family (Asteraceae) specimens at Valles Caldera National Preserve Scroll down to choose a specimen to view, or Look at maps, or Request Checklists for species in this family A list of grass (Poaceae) specimens at San Pedro Riparian NCA We can scroll down the list to choose a specimen to view

Let’s look at maps showing where these specimens were collected!

Here’s a Google Map…

Here’s a Google Earth Map!

Now let’s look at a Checklist… Here is a checklist of species of aster found at Valles Caldera National Preserve 85 species You could use this list to identify plants that you find at Valles Caldera Click on the “key” symbol for an ID key

If you need help identifying a plant… Use an identification key This is the identification key for the aster checklist of Valles Caldera Check boxes on left for plant characteristics Use an Identification key

Identification keys help to limit your choices… The identification key lists species with the characteristics that you selected (see the checked boxes). Now it’s easier to identify that plant that you found at Valles Caldera! You have 5 choices

Remember to use the species information to help identify your plant Images Detailed description Maps

Now you have visited a virtual herbarium! You can access virtual herbaria from your  Office  School  Library  I-Phone Visit this virtual herbarium at

Botanists use herbaria to help compile lists of plants for certain areas Arizona Flora Annuals of Grand Canyon National Park Grasses of the San Pedro Riparian NCA Asteraceae within 30 miles of 34.2°, °

You can even compile the Flora of your backyard! A Flora is a list of plants in a certain area A list of plants in your backyard is a Flora! To get started, visit a virtual herbarium that has plants from your area.

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Acknowledgments 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