Create your own conference schedule! Click here for full instructions

Abstract Detail


Systematics Section

Sasek, Thomas [1], Urbatsch, Lowell [2], Darwin, Steven P. [3], Miller, Rick [4], Lasseigne, Alex [5].

CyberFlora Louisiana: A Virtual Herbarium for the State.

All 1.1 million plant specimens in the 15 Louisiana herbaria are being imaged during a three-year project supported by the National Science Foundation Biological Resource Collections program. This includes one large collection (500,000 sheets), four medium sized collections (~125,000 sheets each), and ten smaller collections (5,000-30,000 sheets each). Collection information will be extracted from the labels with software tools to develop electronic databases. The digitized images and data will be freely available online through a central website called CyberFlora Louisiana. It will offer fast data sorting and filtering, rapid delivery of zoomable images, mapping of specimen locations, and checklists of plants for particular locations. The website will be supplemented with digital images of live plants, plant parts, and identifying features for species found in Louisiana. Imaging, databasing, and geo-referencing all the state’s collections will significantly increase the value and utilization of these important resources, especially for local, state, and federal agencies that need to consult the herbaria regularly. As one of the first statewide projects in the nation, it will serve as a model for other state networks. An online collection of plant information will increase appreciation of the importance of Louisiana’s plants and their conservation. For schools, museums, wildlife refuges, and parks, the availability of live plant images, keys, and useful information will also stimulate more interest in plants.

Broader Impacts:


Log in to add this item to your schedule

1 - University of Louisiana at Monroe, Department of Biology, Monroe, LA, 71209, USA
2 - Louisiana State University, Department of Biological Sciences, 202 Life Sciences Building, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, 70803-1705, USA
3 - Tulane University, Department Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, 6823 St Charles Avenue, New Orleans, Louisiana, 70118, USA
4 - Southeastern Louisiana University, Department of Biological Sciences, Hammond, Louisiana, 70402, USA
5 - Nicholls State University, Department of Biological Sciences, Thibodaux, LA, 70310, USA

Keywords:
herbarium
Digitizing
images.

Presentation Type: Poster:Posters for Sections
Session: P
Location: Hall A/Convention Center
Date: Monday, August 2nd, 2010
Time: 5:30 PM
Number: PSY051
Abstract ID:474


Copyright © 2000-2010, Botanical Society of America. All rights