University of California, Riverside Herbarium

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The UCR Herbarium is a clearinghouse for information regarding plant species distribution in the Western hemisphere. The collection houses over 110,000 dried specimens, approximately 80,000 of which are from the United States, and 32,000 from Mexico. The collection is especially strong in the flora of Southern California and the Baja California peninsula. [1]

Species distribution

Species distribution is the manner in which a biological taxon is spatially arranged. The geographic limits of a particular taxon's distribution is its range, often represented as shaded areas on a map. Patterns of distribution change depending the scale at which they are viewed, from the arrangement of individuals within a small family unit, to patterns within a population, or the distribution of the entire species as a whole (range). Species distribution is not to be confused with dispersal, which is the movement of individuals away from their region of origin or from a population center of high density.

A biological specimen is a biological laboratory specimen held by a biorepository for research. Such a specimen would be taken by sampling so as to be representative of any other specimen taken from the source of the specimen. When biological specimens are stored, ideally they remain equivalent to freshly-collected specimens for the purposes of research.

United States Federal republic in North America

The United States of America (USA), commonly known as the United States or America, is a country composed of 50 states, a federal district, five major self-governing territories, and various possessions. At 3.8 million square miles, the United States is the world's third or fourth largest country by total area and is slightly smaller than the entire continent of Europe's 3.9 million square miles. With a population of over 327 million people, the U.S. is the third most populous country. The capital is Washington, D.C., and the largest city by population is New York City. Forty-eight states and the capital's federal district are contiguous in North America between Canada and Mexico. The State of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east and across the Bering Strait from Russia to the west. The State of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U.S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, stretching across nine official time zones. The extremely diverse geography, climate, and wildlife of the United States make it one of the world's 17 megadiverse countries.

The Herbarium maintains an online-assessable Filemaker database of every specimen in the stacks, which is constantly updated. The Herbarium's staff makes between 5-10 thousand identifications a year for visitors who bring in plant samples, approximately 1/4 of which have been made into new specimens. In addition, the Herbarium's active collection program generates thousands of additional specimens a year. Current field projects include the flora of the San Bernardino Mountains and western Riverside County, as well as an investigation of the Curú Biological Reserve on the Nicoya Peninsula in Costa Rica.

San Bernardino Mountains mountain range in Southern California

The San Bernardino Mountains are a high and rugged mountain range in Southern California in the United States. Situated north and northeast of San Bernardino and spanning two California counties, the range tops out at 11,489 feet (3,502 m) at San Gorgonio Mountain – the tallest peak in all of Southern California. The San Bernardinos form a significant region of wilderness and are popular for hiking and skiing.

Nicoya Peninsula peninsula

The Nicoya Peninsula is a peninsula on the Pacific coast of Costa Rica. It is divided into two provinces: Guanacaste Province in the north, and the Puntarenas Province in the south. It is located at 10°N 85.4166667°W. It varies from 19 to 37 miles (60 km) wide and is approximately 75 miles (121 km) long, forming the largest peninsula in the country. It is known for its beaches and is a popular tourist destination.

Costa Rica Country in Central America

Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, and Ecuador to the south of Cocos Island. It has a population of around 5 million in a land area of 51,060 square kilometers. An estimated 333,980 people live in the capital and largest city, San José with around 2 million people in the surrounding metropolitan area.

The Herbarium is an active correspondent to the Inventory of Rare and Endangered Vascular Plants of California, a list of endangered plants published by the California Native Plant Society (CNPS). The Herbarium's records allow the CNPS to provide scientific evidence to support biological conservation, leading to the nomination of certain species for federal listing under the Endangered Species Act. [2]

California Native Plant Society organization

The California Native Plant Society (CNPS) is a California environmental non-profit organization that seeks to increase understanding of California's native flora and to preserve it for future generations. The mission of CNPS is to conserve California native plants and their natural habitats, and increase understanding, appreciation, and horticultural use of native plants throughout the entire state and California Floristic Province.

Scientific evidence is evidence which serves to either support or counter a scientific theory or hypothesis. Such evidence is expected to be empirical evidence and interpretated in accordance with the scientific method. Standards for scientific evidence vary according to the field of inquiry, but the strength of scientific evidence is generally based on the results of statistical analysis and the strength of scientific controls.

Conservation biology the study of threats to biological diversity

Conservation biology is the management of nature and of Earth's biodiversity with the aim of protecting species, their habitats, and ecosystems from excessive rates of extinction and the erosion of biotic interactions. It is an interdisciplinary subject drawing on natural and social sciences, and the practice of natural resource management.

Related Research Articles

University of California, Riverside public research university in Riverside, California, USA

The University of California, Riverside, is a public research university in Riverside, California. It is one of the 10 general campuses of the University of California system. The main campus sits on 1,900 acres (769 ha) in a suburban district of Riverside with a branch campus of 20 acres (8 ha) in Palm Desert. In 1907 the predecessor to UCR was founded as the UC Citrus Experiment Station, Riverside which pioneered research in biological pest control and the use of growth regulators responsible for extending the citrus growing season in California from four to nine months. Some of the world's most important research collections on citrus diversity and entomology, as well as science fiction and photography, are located at Riverside.

New York Botanical Garden botanical garden in the Bronx, New York City

The New York Botanical Garden (NYBG) is a botanical garden located in the Bronx, New York City. The 250-acre (100 ha) site's verdant landscape supports over one million living plants in extensive collections. The garden has a diversity of tropical, temperate, and desert flora, as well as programming that ranges from exhibitions in the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory to festivals on Daffodil Hill. As of 2016, over a million people visit the New York Botanical Garden annually.

University of California, Riverside Botanic Gardens

The University of California, Riverside, Botanic Gardens are 40 acres of botanical gardens containing more than 3,500 plant species from around the world. The Gardens are located in the eastern foothills of the Box Springs Mountain on the University of California, Riverside campus in Riverside, California, US. Over four miles (6 km) of trails wind through many microclimates and hilly terrain.

Quarryhill Botanical Garden botanical garden in California

Quarryhill Botanical Garden is an education and research botanical garden home to one of the largest collections of scientifically documented, wild-source Asian plants in North America and Europe, many of which represent ancestors of horticultural favorites found throughout the western world. Quarryhill is located near Glen Ellen, in the Sonoma Valley of California, United States, and is open to the public.

Alice Eastwood Canadian American botanist

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Elmer Drew Merrill U.S. botanist (1876–1956)

Elmer Drew Merrill was an American botanist and taxonomist. He spent more than twenty years in the Philippines where he became a recognized authority on the flora of the Asia-Pacific region. Through the course of his career he authored nearly 500 publications, described approximately 3,000 new plant species, and amassed over one million herbarium specimens. In addition to his scientific work he was an accomplished administrator, college dean, university professor and editor of scientific journals.

Entomology Research Museum

The UCR Entomology Research Museum is the insect collection of the Department of Entomology of the University of California, Riverside. It contains approximately 4 million total insect specimens, over 3 million of which are pinned, roughly 400,000 mounted on slides, the remainder preserved in ethanol. Of the ~4 million curated holdings, approximately 75% of are identified to genus level or better. An estimated 25% of the entire collection are Hymenoptera, 21% are Coleoptera, 18% Diptera, and 18% Lepidoptera.

Botanical Survey of India

Botanical Survey of India (BSI), founded 13 February 1890, is Government of India Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change's organization for survey, research and conservation of plant resources, flora and endangered species of India, including by collecting and maintaining germplasm and gene bank of endangered, patent and vulnerable plant species.

Austin R. Mast is a research botanist. Born in 1972, he obtained a Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 2000. He is currently an associate professor within the Department of Biological Science at Florida State University (FSU), and has been director of FSU's Robert K. Godfrey Herbarium since August 2003.

The University of California Citrus Experiment Station is the founding unit of the University of California, Riverside campus in Riverside, California, United States. The station contributed greatly to the cultivation of the orange and the overall agriculture industry in California. Established February 14, 1907, the station celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2007.

The UCR Insectary and Quarantine Facilities are where foreign insect and mite predators and parasites are confined and screened before propagation and release in California and the United States. This complex of facilities was first established in 1923 as part of the UC Citrus Experiment Station, and is currently managed by the University of California, Riverside Department of Entomology. The complex supports integrated pest management and biological control research, and includes the Insectary, Quarantine Facility, Insect Preparation Facility, eight specialized greenhouses, a lathhouse, and storage.

<i>Hieracium albertinum</i> species of plant

Hieracium albertinum, known as western hawkweed or houndstongue hawkweed, is a species of the genus Hieracium that is very similar to Hieracium albiflorum with white flowers but differs in that the flower heads are clustered and the leaves, stems and bracts are covered in a thick layer of hairs. Standing 1 inch (3 cm) to 5 inches (13 cm) tall, it can be found blooming from June through August in forest clearings.

University of California, Riverside academics

The University of California, Riverside, is organized into three academic colleges, two professional schools, and several interdisciplinary divisions. These units provide 81 majors and 52 minors, 48 master's degree programs, and 42 PhD programs. It is the only UC campus to offer undergraduate degrees in Creative Writing and Public Policy, and one of only three UCs to offer an undergraduate degree in Business Administration. Additionally, UCR's doctoral program in the emerging field of Dance theory, founded in 1992, was the first program of its kind in the United States. UCR's various academic units are as follows:

<i>Galium californicum</i> species of plant

Galium californicum is a species of flowering plant in the coffee family known by the common name California bedstraw.

Boggs Lake Ecological Reserve

The Boggs Lake Ecological Reserve is a nature reserve in Lake County, California. The land area is about one quarter of a square mile and contains a large vernal pool as well as endangered plants such as the Boggs Lake hedge-hyssop.

Flora of Western Australia

The flora of Western Australia comprises 10,252 published native vascular plant species and a further 1,245 unpublished species. They occur within 1,543 genera from 211 families; there are also 1,276 naturalised alien or invasive plant species more commonly known as weeds. There are an estimated 150,000 cryptogam species or nonvascular plants which include lichens, and fungi although only 1,786 species have been published, with 948 algae and 672 lichen the majority.

James Francis Macbride was an American botanist who devoted most of his professional life to the study of the flora of Peru. Born on 19 May 1892 in Rock Valley, Iowa. Macbride graduated from the University of Wyoming in 1914 and worked briefly at the Gray Herbarium, Harvard University.

CNPS Inventory of Rare and Endangered Plants of California

The CNPS Inventory of Rare and Endangered Plants of California is a botanical online database providing information on rare, threatened, and endangered California native plants. It is sponsored by the California Native Plant Society (CNPS).

Biological Institute of TSU

Biological Institute of Tomsk State University in past, the faculty of Biology of TSU, one of the oldest faculties, whose work began in 1885, three years before the official opening of the university.

References

  1. ↑ "UCR Herbarium". University of California, Riverside. Retrieved 2007-11-07.
  2. ↑ Holt, Jodie (Winter 2001). "UC Riverside: Botanical and Related Pest Management Programs" (PDF). Noxious Times. California Interagency Noxious Weed Coordinating Committee. 3 (3). Retrieved 2007-11-07.
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