Through a National Science Foundation award, 1.1 million plant specimens in the 15 Louisiana herbaria will be imaged during a three-year project. 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 plants, plant parts, and identifying features for species found in Louisiana. Visual identification keys will be developed that are easier to use than traditional ones with difficult terminology.
Imaging, databasing, and geo-referencing all the state?s collections would 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.
project was designed to image and digitize all of the herbarium specimens in the state of Louisiana, located in 12 institutions. Over 950,000 specimens were imaged to develop a statewide database and website to make these available to researchers around the state, country, and world. In addition, the website will provide the basic framework to add more information in the future that will be useful to the general public such as general information about plants and their habitats, distribution maps of specimens, photographs of live plants, and other guides to Louisiana's plant resources. This will become a valuable resource to students and educators at all levels. As one of the first states to image all of its herbarium specimens, the project provides the opportunity to compare the value of imaging very large, large, average, and small collections. While large collections are considered to be more complete, small collections often contain a significant number of unique or valuable specimens that are often overlooked. During the project, imaging procedures and supporting software were developed to create a fast and efficient method for imaging herbarium specimens. High resolution cameras were used to image the specimens so that when viewed online, the specimens can be zoomed to provide at least 3X magnification. This allows researchers to observe small details in the structure and morphology of the plant specimens without having to request a physical loan of the specimens. Utilizing barcodes as a standard reference, the computer-interfaced cameras allowed for easy transfer and storage of the images until they could be transferred to the central database for the state. Automatic procedures simplified this process and helped to ensure that the data was adequately backed up. As the data collected during the project is analyzed and refined, it will be possible to develop a revised atlas of the distribution of plant species in Louisiana, compare and refine the taxonomic identification of plants among the state's herbaria, and learn more about the historical and geographical patterns of species distributions. In addition, the project has provided a strong foundation for uniting many plant scientists around the state and the development of a consortium for future cooperation. This will also help to ensure that any herbaria that are less active can be supported by other experts around the state who can help maintain the integrity and accuracy of the collections through remote access. Most importantly, the specimens from Louisiana will now be available to a much wider audience of researchers around the world via online access.
