This project will support improvements for the Planktonic Invertebrates Collection of Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego. This Collections has geographic and bathymetric strengths unequaled elsewhere in the world. The Collection includes over 93,500 whole zooplankton samples and 10 8 specimens from most regions of the world ocean, with extensive and intensive geographic coverage of the Pacific. It includes more than 30,800 sorted, identified specimens. The collection includes a unique and ongoing time series of continuous sampling of the Northeast Pacific ocean that began in 1949. The collection includes extensive expeditionary collections, as well as over 1,780 zooplankton trawls from depths ranging to 4,000m. Beginning in early 1995 holdings of this Collection will be searchable on the Internet. The Planktonic Invertebrates Collection is currently divided into 2 locations. More the 80% of the collection is housed in a structure that has inadequate seismic safeguards and no thermal insulation. High temperatures (to 34.4 degrees C) and ext ensive daily temperature variations (to 10.2 degrees C) will eventually accelerate evaporative losses of preserving fluids, pH changes, and could ultimately lead to long term degradation of collection specimens. Prudent management of this Collection for posterity suggests that relocation of the Collection to a new facility is essential. A building has become available to house all of the Planktonic Invertebrates Collection in a single location. Relocation the collection to this building would accomplish several desirable goals: (1) Buffering of temperature variations experienced by the samples, thus ensuring long term physical integrity of specimens, (2) improvement of seismic safety through installation of earthquake bars on all collection shelving, (3) consolidation of all Planktonic Invertebrates Collection holdings, (4) improvement of access to collection materials by placing them in a central campus location close to research laboratories, (5) complete re-organization of Collection holdings, and (6) provision for future growth.
