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"SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL HERBARIUM"
A plea for increased appreciation and activism for
Oklahoma's herbaria
Oklahoma Native Plant Record vol. 4: 55-56. 2004.
Wayne
J. Elisens
Department
of Botany and Microbiology
Oklahoma
Biological Survey
University
of Oklahoma
Norman,
OK 73019
Are herbaria becoming threatened and endangered? Are natural science
collections going extinct? These questions are being posed
increasingly by amateur and professional biologists as we witness the
closure, dispersion, and scaling back of natural history collections
and cutbacks affecting curatorial personnel. Noteworthy examples
include the elimination of several collections and removal of the
herbarium curator at the University of Nebraska State Museum, the
transfer of the herbarium collections from the University of Iowa to
the herbarium of Iowa State University, and the narrow escape from
closure for the University of Arkansas herbarium in Fayetteville.
These and other events at various institutions have prompted several
recent editorials in the science literature stating that the nation's
natural history collections are "in crisis" (Dalton 2003, Gropp
2003, Raven 2003). What about Oklahoma's herbaria? Should we be
concerned about their health and well-being? What can we do?
The first thing we can do as natural historians and concerned
citizens is to dispel misinformation. For example, herbaria and
other natural history collections should not be portrayed as the
equivalent of a "stamp collection" (as I heard once from a
botanical colleague), but rather as biological research
collections. This latter phrase is the foundation for the
acronym of the National Science Foundation program (the BRC program)
that funds infrastructural improvement and computerization of natural
history collections. A herbarium is more than just the physical
collection of plants that have been pressed, dried, and stored in
packets or mounted on paper of archival quality. Specimens include
labels with critical information about the plant's identity,
geographic location, ecological habitat, flowering time, and
collecting history. Each specimen embodies the species' morphology
(its phenotype) AND its genome (its genotype). In other words, each
specimen represents valuable DATA and the entire collection should be
viewed as a vast data and DNA bank. Oklahoma's herbaria serve as
important resources for its citizens and as critical research tools
for an international network of scientists, educators, resource
managers, and amateur botanists (see Funk 2003).
Thirteen herbaria with combined holdings exceeding 450,000 specimens
constitute the "Oklahoma herbarium community" (Table 1). Twelve
of these herbaria are listed in Index Herbariorum (Holmgren et
al 1990), which is the official international registry of herbaria
compiled by the International Association for Plant Taxonomy and the
New York Botanical Garden. Each herbarium has noteworthy regional,
ecological, and taxonomic specializations. Despite the size and
significance of the collections, most of Oklahoma's herbaria are
inadequately supported, some have no "hard" budgetary support,
most need facility upgrades, and the majority is maintained by the
efforts of one or two individuals with limited help from students and
a few volunteers. Faculty retirements, budget cuts, and personnel
changes make some herbaria "vulnerable." To return to the
original question, some of Oklahoma's herbaria can be categorized
as "endangered", because they meet the criterion of possible
extinction in the foreseeable future. What is being done to ensure
their survivability?
Oklahomans are fortunate to have a highly interactive network of
plant taxonomists. More than in most states, plant taxonomists from
across Oklahoma have an uncommon sense of collegiality and are
collaborating to study the state's flora, to database label
information from Oklahoma plant specimens, and to interact with the
community of amateur botanists such as those in the ONPS, TNC, etc.
Nine botanists representing seven institutions are working to
complete a modern flora for the state - the Flora of Oklahoma
project. Additionally, botanists at OU and OSU working with their
colleagues in the Oklahoma herbarium community are recording label
data from Oklahoma plant specimens for the Oklahoma Vascular
Plants Database project. Both of these projects draw on
collective knowledge, advance the study of Oklahoma's flora, share
scientific expertise and resources, and promote the significance of
the state's herbarium collections. Despite these positive
developments, there are many areas where the public's help is
needed to avoid extinctions.
Herbaria need advocates in both the professional and public arena.
Just as individual curators must promote research and the importance
of their collections to administrators and colleagues, amateur
botanists both individually and collectively must elevate public
awareness of the importance of herbaria. At the University of
Arkansas, two events apparently impressed administrators and "saved"
the herbarium from closure - the mass response from the
professional botanical community and the widespread support
throughout Arkansas from amateur botanists and natural historians.
Some important lessons from the Arkansas case are the significance of
outreach efforts and the reciprocal nature of herbarium activities.
In Oklahoma, I am constantly impressed with the number of curators
and professional biologists that maintain active public service
involvement as officers and board members of organizations and
through participation in lectures, field trips, workshops, and other
functions. These activities result directly and indirectly from the
presence of functioning herbaria located throughout the state and
from the actions of knowledgeable professional staff.
In view of the "crisis" impacting natural history collections and
herbaria nationwide, I urge amateur botanists to advocate for and to
assist herbaria whenever possible. One mechanism to do this is to
use the PVC model: Participate in sponsored
activities, Volunteer your services, and Communicate
your support to others. Oklahoma's herbaria need your help to
avoid local or regional extinction. A quick perusal of Table 1
indicates that there is a herbarium located conveniently near you.
Support your local herbarium; help preserve our botanical heritage!
LITERATURE CITED
Dalton, R. 2003. Natural history collections in crisis as funding
is slashed. Nature 423: 575.
Funk, V. A. 2003. The importance of herbaria. Plant Science
Bulletin 49(3): 94-95.
Gropp, R. W. 2003. Are university natural science collections going
extinct? Bioscience 53: 550.
Holmgren, P. K., N. H. Holmgren, and L. C. Barnett (eds.). 1990.
Index Herbariorum. Bronx, New York: New York Botanical Garden
Press.
Raven, P. H. 2003. Biodiversity and the future. American Scientist
91: 382.
Table 1. Approximate number of specimens housed in the Oklahoma
herbarium community.
Index of Herbariorum acronym | Institution and location | Number of total specimens |
Number of Oklahoma specimens |
CAMU | Cameron University, Lawton | 6000 | 5000 |
CSU | University of Central Oklahoma, Edmond | 10,000 | 9000 |
DUR | Southeastern Oklahoma State University, Durant | 20,000 | 12,000 |
ECSC | East Central University, Ada | 6000 | 6000 |
NOSU | Northeastern State University, Tahlequah | 6000 | 5500 |
NWOSU | Northwestern Oklahoma State University, Alva | 5000 | 4000 |
OCLA | University of Science & Arts of Oklahoma, Chickasha | 20,000 | 18,000 |
OKL | University of Oklahoma, Norman | 210,000 | 150,000 |
OKLA | Oklahoma State University, Stillwater | 140,000 | 112,000 |
ORU | Oral Roberts University, Tulsa | 6000 | 5500 |
TULS | University of Tulsa | 10,000 | 8000 |
WOH | Southwestern Oklahoma State University, Woodward | 11,000 | 10,000 |
--- | Oklahoma Panhandle State University, Goodwell | 3000 | 2500 |
| TOTALS | 453,000 | 347,500 |
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