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| Consortium of North American Herbaria | |
|---|---|
| Name | Consortium of North American Herbaria |
| Formation | 1990s |
| Type | Non-profit collaborative network |
| Location | North America |
Consortium of North American Herbaria The Consortium of North American Herbaria is a collaborative network linking botanical collections from institutions such as Smithsonian Institution, New York Botanical Garden, Missouri Botanical Garden, Royal Ontario Museum and Canadian Museum of Nature. It aggregates specimen data from regional herbaria including Gray Herbarium, Farlow Herbarium, Missouri Botanical Garden Herbarium, University of California, Berkeley Herbarium and New York Botanical Garden Herbarium to support research by users at Harvard University, University of Michigan, University of California, Davis, University of Toronto and Yale University. The Consortium interoperates with initiatives like Global Biodiversity Information Facility, iDigBio, Biodiversity Heritage Library, National Science Foundation and Integrated Digitized Biocollections.
The Consortium connects data from institutions such as Smithsonian Institution Department of Botany, Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University, Field Museum of Natural History, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Canadian Museum of Nature and Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia while serving stakeholders including United States Geological Survey, Environment and Climate Change Canada, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, United Nations Environment Programme and World Wildlife Fund. It facilitates specimen access for researchers at Columbia University, Stanford University, Cornell University, University of British Columbia and McGill University and integrates taxonomic resources like International Plant Names Index, The Plant List, World Flora Online, Tropicos and Plants of the World Online.
Origins involved collaborations between New York Botanical Garden, Missouri Botanical Garden, Gray Herbarium at Harvard University, Farlow Herbarium of Harvard University and University of California herbaria inspired by projects funded by National Science Foundation and coordinated with iDigBio, Global Biodiversity Information Facility and Biodiversity Heritage Library. Early digitization efforts paralleled initiatives at Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Natural History Museum, London, Smithsonian Institution and Botanical Research Institute of Texas and drew upon standards from Biodiversity Information Standards (TDWG), Darwin Core, GBIF, Integrated Digitized Biocollections and Atlas of Living Australia.
Membership includes museums and universities such as New York Botanical Garden, Missouri Botanical Garden, Royal Ontario Museum, California Academy of Sciences, Denver Botanic Gardens, Missouri Botanical Garden Herbarium (MO), University of Florida Herbarium, Oklahoma State University, Purdue University and Texas A&M University. Governance models involve advisory boards with representatives from National Science Foundation, Smithsonian Institution, iDigBio, Global Biodiversity Information Facility, Biodiversity Heritage Library and academic partners at Harvard University Herbaria, University of Michigan Herbarium and Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History.
The Consortium’s infrastructure integrates specimen databases from Specify institutions as examples only such as New York Botanical Garden, Missouri Botanical Garden, University of California, Harvard University and Royal Ontario Museum using schemas from Darwin Core, indexing tools adapted from GBIF pipelines, georeferencing methodologies from MaNIS/HerpNet/ORNL georeferencing guidelines, imaging workflows similar to ERGA and metadata standards from Biodiversity Information Standards (TDWG). Services include searchable portals used by Global Biodiversity Information Facility, APIs consumed by iNaturalist, mapping tools used by Esri, research support for National Science Foundation grants, and data exports for projects at Smithsonian Institution and Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
The Consortium partners with initiatives such as Global Biodiversity Information Facility, iDigBio, Biodiversity Heritage Library, The Plant List, World Flora Online, Tropicos, iNaturalist, NatureServe, Botanical Society of America, Society for the Preservation of Natural History Collections, Natural History Museum, London, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Canadian Museum of Nature, and funding bodies like National Science Foundation and Environment and Climate Change Canada. Collaborative projects include digitization campaigns modeled on work at Smithsonian Institution, image repositories inspired by Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew Digitisation Program, georeferencing efforts similar to MaNIS, and taxonomic coordination echoing International Plant Names Index and World Flora Online.
Researchers at Harvard University, University of California, Berkeley, Yale University, Columbia University, University of Toronto and McGill University use aggregated specimen data for studies in areas related to programs at National Science Foundation, biodiversity assessments for United Nations Environment Programme, conservation planning with NatureServe, climate change modeling with National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and invasive species tracking used by United States Department of Agriculture. Educators from Smithsonian Institution and Royal Ontario Museum use the data for exhibits and curriculum linked to American Museum of Natural History and Field Museum programs. Citizen science platforms such as iNaturalist and eBird integrate occurrence data for community research supported by Global Biodiversity Information Facility.
Ongoing challenges mirror those faced by partners like Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Natural History Museum, London, Smithsonian Institution, Missouri Botanical Garden and New York Botanical Garden: sustaining funding from National Science Foundation and Environment and Climate Change Canada, improving interoperability with Global Biodiversity Information Facility and iDigBio, resolving taxonomic concepts across resources like The Plant List and World Flora Online, enhancing georeferencing to standards promoted by MaNIS and TDWG, and scaling imaging workflows similar to Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew Digitisation Program. Future directions include increased collaboration with GBIF, integration with genomic resources such as GenBank, partnerships with Conservation International and World Wildlife Fund, and expanded educational outreach with institutions like Smithsonian Institution and American Museum of Natural History.
Category:Herbaria