A short description of the collections of The New York Botanical Garden Herbarium (NY)

An overview of the phanerogamic and cryptogamic collections accumulated by The New York Botanical Garden Herbarium (NY) since its foundation in 1891 is presented. Appended are a list of herbaria incorporated into NY, a list of collectors who have deposited their original herbaria or significant parts thereof at NY, a list of the taxonomic groups particularly well represented at NY, and a list of papers published since 1963 about the NY collections.     

六盘山华北落叶松林下穿透雨空间变异特征

受林冠截持影响后形成的林下穿透雨的数量和空间分布会影响林地的入渗、产流、蒸发等水文过程和林木生长及枯落物分解等生态过程,因而精细的森林水文功能评价和森林生态系统经营都需要准确描述林下穿透雨的空间变异规律。在宁夏六盘山香水河小流域设立了面积为30 m×30 m的华北落叶松人工林样地,均匀布设了40个截面面积230.58 cm2的雨量收集器,测定了2015年生长季(5—10月)34次降雨事件的穿透雨量。结果表明,研究期间林外总降雨量567.0 mm,林下总穿透雨量483.5 mm,占同期雨量的85.3%。随着次降雨量增加,林内次穿透雨率呈现先快速增加后趋于稳定的变化。穿透雨量在林内存在较大空间变异,其变异程度随次降雨量增加先快速下降后趋于稳定。林下穿透雨空间分布受树木特征(穿透雨收集器上方的林冠叶面积指数和冠层厚度、穿透雨测点离最近树干的距离)的影响,且其影响随次降雨量大小而变,当次降雨量10 mm时,穿透雨量与叶面积指数显著负相关;当次降雨量在10—20 mm时,穿透雨量与距最近树干距离显著正相关,与冠层厚度显著负相关;当次降雨量20 mm时,穿透雨量与3个树木特征均不显著相关。考虑到研究区次降雨量集中在0—10 mm,在95%或90%的置信区间下,若将测定的次穿透雨数值误差控制在10%以内时,在30 m×30 m样地内至少需布设13或9个本研究所用大小的收集器;满足次穿透雨数值误差在5%以内时,至少需布设26或23个这样的收集器。     

The contribution of small collections to species distribution modelling: A case study from Fuireneae (Cyperaceae)

The recent and rapid digitization of biodiversity data from natural history collection (NHC) archives has enriched collections based data repositories; this data continues to inform studies of species' geographic distributions. Here we investigate the relative impact of plant data from small natural history collections (collections with < 100,000 specimens) on species distributional models in an effort to document the potential of data from small NHCs to contribute to and inform biodiversity research. We modelled suitable habitat of five test case species from Fuireneae (Cyperaceae) in the United States using specimen records available via the Global Biodiversity Information Facility and that of data ready to mobilize from two regional small herbaria. Data were partitioned into three datasets based on their source: 1) collections-based records from large NHCs accessed GBIF, 2) collections-based records from small NHCs accessed from GBIF, and 3) collections-based records from two small regional herbaria not yet mobilized to GBIF. We extracted and evaluated the ecological niche represented for each of the three datasets by applying dataset occurrences to 14 environmental factors, and we modelled habitat suitability using Maxent to compare the represented distribution of the environmental values among the datasets. Our analyses indicate that the data from small NHCs contributed unique information in both geographic and environmental space. When data from small collections were combined with data from large collections, species models of the ecological niche resulted in more refined predictions of habitat suitability, indicating that small collections can contribute unique occurrence data which enhance species distribution models by bridging geographic collection gaps and shifting modelled predictions of suitable habitat. Inclusion of specimen records from small collections in ongoing digitization efforts is essential for generating informed models of a species' niche and distribution.     

Sampling procedures and species estimation: testing the effectiveness of herbarium data against vegetation sampling in an oceanic island

Questions: What is the relationship between species assemblages in herbarium collections and species abundances in the field, and how trustworthy are herbarium data in vegetation science? Location: Guadalupe Island, Baja California, Mexico. Methods: We compared species‐abundance distribution and evenness in 110 vegetation plots in Guadalupe Island against data from four herbaria. We tested whether the relative frequencies derived from herbarium specimens differed significantly from species frequencies in the field. We compared the rarefaction curves for both field and herbarium data sets, and tested whether taxonomic collectors accumulated new species at a higher rate than that observed in ecological plot sampling. Results: At any given sampling effort, the total number of observed species was higher in herbarium data. The relative abundance of common species in the field was higher, and the evenness of the distribution was lower, than in herbarium data. There was no significant correlation between species abundances in the field and in the herbaria. By selectively targeting rare species, collectors accumulate previously unseen species much faster than through ecological sampling. Conclusions: Because collectors aim for the rarer species and avoid the more common ones, the relative abundance of species in herbarium collections cannot be interpreted as a predictor of their true abundance in the field. Any statistical procedure that requires the sample to be representative of the true abundance distribution is likely to show errors when applied to herbarium data. However, because collectors actively search for rare species their rate of species accumulation is higher and their floristic lists are more complete than those obtained through ecological field sampling.     

A brief history of the Wellesley College Herbarium (WELC) and a list of its type specimens of vascular plants now deposited at The New York Botanical Garden Herbarium (NY)

The majority of the Wellesley College Herbarium (62, 193 specimens) has been intercalated into The New York Botanical Garden Herbarium (NY). Duplicated collections were distributed to other herbaria. Most specimens has been collected between 1850 and 1940. A brief history of the Wellesley Herbarium is given, and lists of the vascular plant type specimens and of some notable collectors of vascular plants are appended.     

Sources of information about botanic gardens and herbaria

Botany is the study of living plants in the garden and the wild and of dead plants in the herbarium and laboratory. The value of a botanic garden for teaching purposes became evident in the 16th century with the founding between 1543 and 1600 of botanic gardens at Pisa, Padua, Florence, Bologna, Leyden, Leipzig, Paris, Montpellier and Heidelberg: indeed most of the major European botanic gardens were founded during this and the next two centuries. Associated with the study of living plants in botanic gardens was the invention of the herbarium by Luca Ghini (1490–1556) and the subsequent making of many private herbaria, out of which have developed the large institutional herbaria, mostly in the 18th and 19th centuries. The continuous enrichment of European gardens by the introduction of new plants resulting from European exploration and colonization created many problems of classification and naming, and so led to the development of taxonomic methods and the adoption of consistent binomial nomenclature for species, following Linnaeus, during the 18th century. The fashion for collecting in the 17th and 18th centuries resulted in the amassing of big private collections which later became the basis of institutional collections. The increase of such public collections by making available material for study from all over the world has, in turn, increased the publications relating to this. Thus the botanic garden and the herbarium, with their associated libraries, have become complementary repositories of botanical information invaluable to the taxonomist, the plant geographer, the economic botanist and the student of evolution. Some useful publications relating to botanic gardens, herbaria and botanical and horticultural collectors are listed.     

A review and typification of some of Kunze's newly described South African Pteridophyta published in his Acotyledonearum Africae Australioris Recensio Nova

A brief historical background is provided concerning some early collectors and their pteridophyte collections in South Africa which preceded the publication of Kunze's Acotyledonearum Africae Australioris Recensio Nova , a paper which was largely based on the pteridophyta collection of Drege, Ecklon and Zeyher. This paper was reprinted twice during 1836. Inconsistencies led to a great deal of confusion. Kunze recognized a total of 123 species (a figure which excluded forms and varieties), and of these 29 were described for the first time. The destruction of Kunze's herbarium resulted in most of his species which are described here, and elsewhere, remaining untypified. A search in most of the prominent European herbaria has revealed that adequate duplicates still exist and most of the taxa described by Kunze in the relevant publication can now be typified.     

A novel artificial habitat collection device for studying resettlement patterns in anguillid glass eels

The number of glass eels Anguilla australis and A. reinhardtii caught in artificial habitat collectors, made from a PVC base and polyethylene split rope fibres, was related to the number of rope fibre tufts attached to each collector rather than collector area directly. Ageing of collectors in situ to promote algal growth enhanced the catch of glass eels. Glass eels entered the collectors at night primarily during the flood tide, and did not move into the collectors during daylight hours. Glass eel abundance increased with increasing distance from the freshwater drain located in the causeway. The artificial habitat collectors are effective for assessing relative numbers of resettling glass eels and may be useful for studying recruitment and settlement patterns of other anguillid eel species, as well as identifying areas and habitats within a catchment that provide important shelter for glass eels. Sampling glass eels can be carried out with maximum effect and minimum effort using compact, aged artificial habitat collectors on the night time flood tide when low tide coincides with dusk.     

Bryophytes and lichens in 16th-century herbaria

The diversity of bryophyte and lichen collections in 9 of the oldest preserved herbaria (dating from ca 1542 to 1577) was compared, including the first reports of bryophytes and lichens from the ‘En Tibi’ herbarium (possibly 1542–1544) and the herbarium of Leonhard Rauwolf (1560–1563). Bryophytes and lichens formed only a minority in each herbarium compared to the numbers of vascular plant specimens; numbers ranged from representatives of 21 genera in the herbarium of Ulisse Aldrovandi to the single genus Conocephalum in the Rauwolf herbarium. The focus was on large, handsome species of bryophytes and macrolichens, apart from small amounts of additional species collected as ‘by-catch’ in mixed collections. All herbaria together included 34 genera of bryophytes (36 species and 10 specimens identified to genus level) and 13 genera of lichens (24 species and 4 specimens identified to genus level). The diversity of mosses was higher than that of liverworts, and pleurocarpous mosses were more diverse than acrocarpous mosses. The collectors probably aimed at selecting material that was either characteristic of the vegetation in the respective areas of collecting or used for certain purposes (or both). The former hypothesis is supported by the small overlap in taxonomic diversity between the herbaria, and the latter by the fact that several moss, liverwort, and lichen genera are included whose traditional uses are well documented.     

Assessing the Relevance of Herbarium Collections as Tools for Conservation Biology

Herbarium collections constitute permanent and often well-documented records of the distribution of taxa through space and time. Since their creation, their uses have dramatically expanded and with many new uses being proposed, including some for which herbaria were not initially intended for. In this paper we assess the potential of these collections on conservation biology, by providing exemplary studies that use herbarium specimens, grouped into four categories: (1) based on occurrence data, such as studies about plant extinction or introduction, or those focused on modelling their ecological niche; (2) based on the specimens themselves, such as morphological or phenological studies to evaluate the impact of climate change; (3) based in genetic data, such as phylogeographic or taxonomical studies; and (4), other applied studies.     

Experiments on the Capture of Li,H, and D by Lithium Collectors at Different Surface Temperatures at the T-11M Tokamak

Prototypes of lithium emitters and collectors designed on the basis of capillary-porous systems (CPS) are being tried-out at the T-11M tokamak within the concept of continuous lithium circulation, previously proposed for stationary fusion neutron sources (FNSs). One of the goals of the T-11M tokamak research program are to implement the closure of the lithium circulation circuit and to develop the technology of recuperation (extraction and removal from the tokamak chamber) of hydrogen isotopes by using special lithium CPS-based collectors in order to prevent hydrogen isotope accumulation on the inner surface of the discharge chamber. In order to determine the optimal temperature regime for the future FNS operation, the effect of the temperature of the collector surface on its ability to capture lithium and hydrogen isotopes was studied. It is ascertained that the efficiency of capturing lithium and hydrogen isotopes by metal (12Cr18Ni10Ti) collectors in the operating regimes of the T-11M tokamak depends on the temperature of their collecting surfaces; namely, it remains almost constant in the temperature range from–196 to 50°С and then gradually decreases as the temperature rises to 300–400°С. In this case, the amount of the collected lithium is reduced by no more than sixfold, whereas the amount of collected hydrogen isotopes decreases by more than two orders of magnitude. Thus, the wall of a tokamak reactor chamber, which will be heated to 400°С but still coated with residual lithium (or its chemical compounds), will serve as a “mirror” for the incident hydrogen isotopes. It is found that the liquid lithium surface of the CPS-based collector can efficiently capture hydrogen isotopes falling onto it. As the lithium CPS-based collector is heated from 100 to 240°С, the amount of captured deuterium is reduced only twofold. This means that, in a steady-state mode, if, e.g., an MHD pump is used to transport liquid lithium from the collector back to the emitter, then, together with lithium, the captured hydrogen isotopes can also be transported into the recuperation zone.     

我国植物模式标本的馆藏量

植物标本是物种存在的永久凭证,模式标本在保障命名体系稳定中有不可替代的作用。标本馆藏量和模式标本数量反映一个国家或地区的历史积累。作者通过对比分析,发现我国的标本馆藏量远低于国际平均水平,模式标本馆藏量也相对较少,历史积累不足。在数字化本土馆藏模式标本基础上,标本数字化平台项目应将国外馆藏的中国植物种类的模式标本"引渡"回国。今后我国植物分类学研究者的重要工作之一是加强空白地区和国外标本采集,提高馆藏标本的代表性。     

Comparative analysis of insect control by nitrogen, argon and carbon dioxide in museum, archive and herbarium collections

An investigation of insect control using non-toxic methods was carried out in museums, archives and herbaria in different climatic regions. The efficacy of using modified atmospheres including nitrogen, argon and carbon dioxide to eliminate insect families was evaluated. Analyses were performed on eight different species, and all their development stages, in the families Cerambicidae, Anobiidae, Dermestidae and Lyctidae in the Coleoptera. The modified atmospheres were used in several treatment systems, i.e. plastic bags of low permeability, a fumigation vacuum chamber and a fumigation bubble, and the most appropriate conditions for disinfestation of ancient objects were assessed. An argon atmosphere achieved the best results for insect elimination with a short exposure time. Different species of Coleoptera were found to be resistant to carbon dioxide. From this study, a model of insect control was used in situ for art and historical collections.     

Biogeo: an R package for assessing and improving data quality of occurrence record datasets

Occurrence data from museum and herbarium collections are valuable for mapping biodiversity patterns in space and time. Unfortunately these collections datasets contain many errors and suffer from several data quality issues that can influence the quality of the products derived from them. It is up to the user to identify these errors and data quality issues when using these data. Despite the large number of potential users of these datasets there are few software tools dedicated to error detection and correction of collections datasets. The R package biogeo was developed for detecting and correcting errors and for assessing of data quality of collections datasets consisting of occurrence records. Features of the package include error detection, such as mismatches between the recorded country and the country where the record is plotted, records of terrestrial species that fall into the sea and outlier detection. A key feature of the package is the ability to identify likely alternative positions for points that represent obvious errors in the dataset and functions to explore records in geographical and environmental space in order to identify possible errors in the dataset. Functions are also available for converting coordinates that are in various text formats into degrees, minutes and seconds and then into decimal degrees.     

H．史密斯采集的中国紫草科植物

自H．Smith在二十,三十年代从我国采集的紫草科标本中鉴定出15属,36种,4变种,均属紫草亚科,其中包括附地菜属一新种,其中,这批标本本来应该包括更多的新种,如Johnston在1928年及以后描述的Microula rockii Johnst.,Onosma mertensioides Johnst.,O.adenopus Johnst.,Trionotis floribunda Johnst.,Kitagawa在六十年代描述的Lappula shanhsiensis Kitag.,本文作者和王庆瑞在八十年代描述的Microula pseudotrichocarpa W.T.Wang,M.turbinata W.T.Wang,M.turbinata W.T.Wang,M.floribunda W.T.Wang,Trigontis longipes W.T.Wang,T.corispermoides C.J.wang。只是由于这批柴草科标本未得到及时鉴定,才推迟了这10个种的发表。     

Distribution and species richness of woody dryland legumes in Baja California,Mexico

Abstract. We analysed the biogeographic patterns of woody legumes in the Baja California peninsula, NW Mexico. From the specimen labels of eight herbaria, we digitized 4205 records from 78 species, and projected them onto a grid of 205 cartographic cells (20’ longitude × 15’ latitude). Most species followed distribution patterns that coincide with floristic subdivisions of the peninsula. Endemism is high, reaching 60–70% in the centre of the peninsula, where the driest deserts are found and where significant floristic changes took place during Pleistocene glacial events. The number of cartographic cells (i.e. their geographic ranges) were log‐normally distributed, as has been reported for many other taxa. Floristic richness was found to be clumped around some cells where the observed richness is significantly higher than could be expected from chance variation. We tested the hypothesis that these ‘hotspots’ could be attributable to great collection efforts or to large land surfaces, but we still found 16 cells where richness is significantly high once these two factors are accounted for. Species richness and micro‐endemism increase towards the south, conforming to Rapoport's rule that predicts that species ranges become smaller towards the equator while richness increases. The floristic hotspots for woody legumes in Baja California occur in the Cape Region and along the Sierra de la Giganta in the southern Gulf Coast, where 77% of the total peninsular legume flora can be found. These hotspots are mostly unprotected, and should be considered priority areas for future conservation efforts.     

Unrecognized Antarctic biodiversity: a case study of the genus Odontaster (Odontasteridae; Asteroidea)

Antarctica has a complex and multifaceted geologic and oceanographic history that has influenced and shaped patterns of marine invertebrate diversity. This evolutionary history consists of major events on a wide range of time scales such as the formation of the Antarctic Polar Front (25-41 million years ago) to repeated glacial cycles during the past million years. These factors variably influenced genetic connectivity of fauna to produce a highly unique, but incredibly diverse marine community. Use of molecular phylogeographic methods is creating the need to revise our understanding of Antarctic patterns of biodiversity. In particular, almost every phylogeographic study carried out to date, suggests that the biodiversity of Antarctic marine shelf fauna is considerably underestimated. In discovering this diversity, some lineages (i.e., cryptic lineages) show no diagnostic morphological differences whereas others (i.e., unrecognized species) show differences that were unknown to science. The sea star genus Odontaster is among the best-studied of Antarctic invertebrate groups. Nonetheless, two unrecognized lineages were recently discovered along the Antarctic Peninsula, which is one of the best-studied regions in Antarctica. Herein, we elucidate the molecular and morphological uniqueness of these species and name them O. roseus and O. pearsei. The latter is in honor of John Pearse, an Antarctic biologist, as well as past President and long-time member of the Society of Integrative and Comparative Biology.     

Bromeliaceae diversity and conservation in Minas Gerais state,Brazil

Field work and data from herbaria collections (2686 records) representing 283 taxa (265 species and 18 infraspecific taxa) of Bromeliaceae occurring at Minas Gerais state, southeastern Brazil, were analyzed in order to obtain distribution and diversity information, and to determine IUCN (The World Conservation Union) conservation status for each taxon. A map containing 1° × 1° grid cells was used to identify priority areas for new research collections, areas of high species diversity, and Bromeliaceae conservation status. A clear decrease in Bromeliaceae diversity is observed between the eastern and the western portions of Minas Gerais, and low floristic similarities were found between neighboring grid cells. The rocky mountains of Cadeia do Espinhaço are considered the most important area for Bromeliaceae endemics. From the 283 taxa of Bromeliaceae that occur at Minas Gerais, 118 (42%) are considered threatened, and 124 taxa (44% of the total) do not occur inside any protected area. The region of the Quadrilátero Ferrífero in the southern portion of the Cadeia do Espinhaço is the most threatened, and urgent strategies for conservation of this rich Bromeliaceae flora are needed. Northeastern Minas Gerais, particularly the rocky outcrops or inselbergs located in the Jequitinhonha and Mucuri rivers drainage basins need additional collection efforts and conservation actions focused on these saxicolous taxa.     

美国在华采集竹类植物标本的历史(1840-2010年)

植物标本采集是植物学研究的重要内容, 与植物引种密切相关。自19世纪以来, 美国植物采集者在全球尤其是中国进行了广泛的植物采集。在众多的植物类群中, 中国的竹类植物引起了美国采集者的极大关注, 并开展了大量调查研究和标本采集工作。研究美国植物采集者在中国采集竹类植物标本的历史, 对了解竹类植物从中国引种到美国的历史具有重要意义。本文基于国内外有关美国在华采集的竹类植物标本数据, 对其学名、采集地、采集人以及采集时间进行整理校对, 分析了美国采集者在华采集竹类植物标本的历史。结果表明: 1840-2010年, 美国在华共采集竹类植物标本960号2,238份, 隶属于25属120种(含变种和变型), 分别占中国竹类属和种数的73.5%和22.5%; 有45位(支)采集者(采集队), 在这些采集者中莫古礼最为重要; 采集地涉及20个省级行政区; 采集时间前后跨度约170年, 主要集中在20世纪上半叶。