Small Collections Grant
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Seed/Fruit collection FESC-Herbarium Image Project
Mexico
Digitally image
Cost (USD):
1600
FESC
Facultad de Estudios Superiores Cuautitlán, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (FESC-UNAM)
Objective:
Our aim is to create a web-based repository of high-resolution digital images documenting the morphology of mexican useful plant seeds and fruits stored at the FESC-Herbarium, which is associated to an Mexican Agronomy School.
To publish an online database with the images of the seeds/fruits and also the specimens in the general collection of FESC Herbarium. The database will include a recent taxonomic identification, geographic location and (if available) the ethnic group associated with the plant specimen.
To involve students in the curation-digitalization of the seed/fruit collection.
Timetable:
The first months (January-March) we will be working on curatorial labor of the material in the collection of fruits/seeds, discarding material without collection information, and seeking to associate them with specimens in the general herbarium collection. We will also proceed to include this information in a database (Microsoft Access) and taxonomically identify the herbarium specimen.
Once we have found the specimens in the general collection, the seeds/fruits will be photographed in high resolution images, also the specimen associated will be scanned. This process will take about 3-4 months (March to June), employing both herbarium staff and students and volunteers.
Subsequently, the database and the images will be uploaded to the herbarium's web portal (under construction) where it will be available to anyone around the world (July-August). Although it is a small collection, it is continuously growing, each new accesion will be digitized and published.
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:
The FESC Herbarium is part of National Autonomous University of Mexico, the biggest public research university in Mexico, and associated with an agronomic sciences carreer, therefore, the Hebarium staff and the students are continuosly collecting cultivated seeds from several parts of Mexico, and today maintain a seed/fruit collection of almost 800 samples.
Our plan is to buy photographic equipment to image the seed/fruit collection (ca. 800 specimens) and create a web portal with the photographs, that includes taxonomic, ethnic and geographic information of the species. Mexico is particularly rich in cultivated plants, such as beans and maize, as well as a large number of ethnic groups who have their own cultivated plants and native edible fruits. This is why we believe it is necessary to make the seed images accessible to the public.
To create the database and the images, the herbarium staff will work together with agronomists students for almost eigth months. The seed/fruit specimens are mostly related to an herbarium specimen in collection, we will associate the seed photograph to the specimen sheet, and both will be on the website, also we will generate a database including the collection site, date, ethnic group (if available).
The digitized images of seeds could offer an important new aid for teaching seed identification, a fundamental skill in agronomy, plant propagation, hybridization and sure serve as a resource for nurserymen, horticulturists or taxonomists.
Institution:
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Applicant First Name/s:
email:
"Other" target:
Alejandro Torres Montúfar
Applicant Last Name/s: