Small Collections Grant
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Sharing specimen images of the Italian endemic flora: a contribution from the central Apennines
Italy
Digitally image
Cost (USD):
1990
CAME
University of Camerino
Objective:
Italy is one of the richest countries in endemic taxa in the Mediterranean region. Several of them are endangered due to land-use change and climate warming. Collecting and sharing data that document the distribution of these taxa and their temporal trends are key for species conservation. The Italian Botanical Society is collecting digitized data on Italian endemic taxa, but images of these specimens are often lacking, especially from small herbaria. We aim to acquire, store and make available online, high-resolution images of the accessioned specimens of endemic taxa in our herbarium.
Timetable:
We plan to perform the imaging of about 1700 specimens of endemic taxa of the Italian peninsula, collected in the central Apennines. We provide to scan and archive 30-35 samples per working day, and to dedicate one day per week to this activity, in such a way to complete the activity within 12 months.
Scoring Rubric
Reviewer's name:
Collection Improvement (max. 120 points)
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Facilitating access to the physical collections by digitization (e.g., data entry, setting up database structure with an outline of the platform to be used, purchasing equipment, and imaging specimens) – up to 30 points.
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Enhancing physical collections by improving the conservation status of specimens in the herbarium (e.g., better folders, protecting covers, mounting paper, labeling, etc.) – up to 30 points.
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Curating specimens (e.g., updating families, species identification, identifying types) – up to 20 points.
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Increasing our understanding of the flora or funga by making new herbarium specimens available, such as processing of backlog or collecting and mounting of new specimens from understudied sites – up to 20 points.
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Securing collections by distribution of duplicates (or orphan collections) to other regional or international herbaria or shipping endangered collections to another herbarium – up to 20 points.
This proposal scores:
/120
Methods & Funding (max. 40 points)
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Match between the proposed budget and methods for the aims described – up to 10 points.
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Perceived need, the extent to which the project will benefit from IAPT funding: e.g., due to active floristic work or contribution to poorly collected sites, due to threatened conditions of collections, and for the degree of involvement of others (outreach and education). We give more points for herbaria in low- and middle-income countries – up to 20 points.
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Sharing duplicate specimens with other herbaria – up to 10 points.
This proposal scores:
/40
Broader Impacts (max. 40 points)
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Degree of regional importance of the collection or the taxonomic importance of the targeted collection – up to 10 points.
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The project will yield durable benefits (specimens, digitized metadata, databases, websites) – up to 15 points.
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The project involves outreach/mentoring and broad dissemination – up to 15 points.
This proposal scores:
/40
Year of last successful SCG application:
Has applicant applied for SCG before?:
Plan:
Label information of specimens have been already databased and are available online at the Anarchive website (www.anarchive.it). Labels of specimens have a barcode to identify them.
The working plan will consist of the following steps.
1) Acquisition of high-quality digital images of about 1,700 specimens, using a high-resolution scanner or a camera installed on a specific structure (equipment already present in the herbarium) and image elaboration using a software (already present in the herbarium) to improve its quality. This step will require to purchase a computer for digitization.
2) Naming each image using the label’s barcode. This step will require to purchase a barcode scanner.
3) Archiving original file images and saving images in different file formats for online access in two different locations. It will be necessary to purchase an external hard disk drive (8 TB) and a Network Attached Storage system with two hard disks (4 TB), which can store and share files and information, also through a Cloud service, to make the images available to other national and international institutions (Universities, Herbaria, Museums).
The staff of the Herbarium Universitatis Camerinensis (CAME) will carry out the image acquisition. We plan to involve in this activity students of our University who attend the Bachelor’s Degree and the Master’s Degree courses in Biology, assigning training credits and activating stages.
Institution:
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Applicant First Name/s:
email:
"Other" target:
Andrea Catorci
Applicant Last Name/s: