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The E.C. Smith Herbarium

The E.C. Smith Herbarium. Acadia University Herbarium founded by H.G. Perry (1910) Named as a tribute to E.C. Smith in 1975 (contributed ~50,000 specimens between 1947 and 1971) Contains over 200,000 specimens (vascular plants, bryophytes, fungi) Largest Herbarium in Atlantic Canada.

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The E.C. Smith Herbarium

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  1. The E.C. Smith Herbarium • Acadia University Herbarium founded by H.G. Perry (1910) • Named as a tribute to E.C. Smith in 1975 (contributed ~50,000 specimens between 1947 and 1971) • Contains over 200,000 specimens (vascular plants, bryophytes, fungi) • Largest Herbarium in Atlantic Canada

  2. Digital Herbarium Project EC Smith Herbarium, Vaughn Memorial Library & Acadia Biology Department 1995-1996: Entry of specimen data begins 1999: Development of idea for a digital information component to complement KC Irving Centre. 2001: 1500 species entered into database; records created for >1000 images. 2004: “Nova Scotia’s Rare and Endangered Flora” available to the public. (>2000 specimens) 2005: “Introduced, Invasive and Weedy Species” 2006-2007: CUBC CFI Grant ($475K of $20 Million) 2007: ~21,000 specimens in database (~10%)

  3. Website and Database http://herbarium.acadiau.ca/

  4. Visitation Results: *Statscounter not activated when “new” site launched, hence the low numbers for Q4 2006 and Q1 2007.

  5. Pan-Canadian Biodiversity Network universities botanical gardens museums

  6. A cyber-infrastructure of >30 collections • Herbaria: • Marie-Victorin, Montréal (950,000) • Louis-Marie, Laval (750,000) • UBC (600,000) • Royal Ontario Museum & Toronto (600,000) • Alberta (337,000) • Acadia (200,000) • Saskatchewan (170,000) • McGill (135,000) • Guelph (120,000) • Memorial (120,000) • Manitoba (80,000) • Botanical Gardens and Museums: • Jardin botanique de Montréal • UBC Botanical Garden and Centre for Plant Research • Devonian Botanic Garden (Alberta) • Harriet Irving Botanical Gardens (Acadia) • Memorial University Botanical Garden • Royal Ontario Museum • Insectarium de Montréal • Entomological Collections: • Lyman Museum, McGill (3,000,000) • Guelph (2,000,000) • Ouellet-Robert, Montréal (1,000,000) • Strickland Museum, Alberta (1,000,000 • JB Wallis, Manitoba (1,000,000) • Spencer Museum, UBC (600,000) • Insectarium (165,000) • York, bees (80,000) • Mycological Collections: • Alberta (10,500 – cultures) • Royal Ontario Museum (500,000) • Cercle des Mycologues de Montréal (4,000) • Saskatchewan (1,000)

  7. The CUBC Biodiversity network… • coordinate, development and link of distributed databases • accessible and interoperable Web-based network • image significant collections (research, historical, etc.) • link with specialised databases throughout the world

  8. Integrationwith National & International Databases GBIF CBIF

  9. Dynamic Species pages Descriptions Images Details of crucial morphological characters Distribution maps Synonyms Taxonomic references Links to external databases (e.g., GenBank, MorphBank, MorphoBank, BOLD…) etc…

  10. Data analysis – answering BIG questions • Determining species richness • Species hotspots, endemism, floristic regions • Geographic distributions • What limits the range of a species? • Present versus historical distributions • Distribution of rare species – biodiversity loss • Spread of invasive species – biodiversity expansion • Modeling species distributions • Effects of climate change on species distribution • Effects of environmental change on species distribution • Monitoring ecosystem changes • Functional, morphological and phylogenetic analyses • Gene and ecosystem level biodiversity questions

  11. Geographic distributions The Nearctic Spider Database David Shorthouse, University of Alberta Grass spiders – dynamic maps from specimen data

  12. Distribution of rare species – monitoring changes through time… Historical Sites Resurveyed Present Absent Not yet sampled Laurence Packer York University Historical localities for Bombus affinis were revisited. The species was found in only one of the 18 sites and clearly has become endangered.

  13. 1921-1940 ~16 km/an 1905-1920 1941-1999 Tracking Biological Invasions Historical distribution of Butomus Lavoie et al. (2003), Université Laval

  14. Climate change analyses… http://maps.grida.no/go/graphic/forest_composition_case_study_in_north_america Philippe Rekacewicz, UNEP/GRID-Arendal

  15. What the CUBC CFI means for us: • ~14-20 Terabytes of dedicated server space for image and database storage • high throughput, high resolution top down scanner • several desktop workstations for data input • digital camera and microscopes for cataloguing and imaging specimens • Database and GIS software • laptop computer and high resolution flatbed • scanner for “Maritime” project

  16. Pan-Canadian Biodiversity Network universities botanical gardens museums

  17. Thanks! Acadia University: Indirect Costs of Research Article 25.55UniversityResearch Grants Research and Graduate Studies Vaughan Memorial Library Biology Department Nova Scotia: Department of Natural Resources Department of Economic Development Museum of Natural History Young Canada Works/Canadian Library Association HRDSC Summer Career Employment Programme Atlantic Canada Conservation Data Centre Anne Bruneau Numerous Summer Students & Herbarium Volunteers

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