| NSF Org: |
OPP Office of Polar Programs (OPP) |
| Recipient: |
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| Initial Amendment Date: | August 30, 2011 |
| Latest Amendment Date: | August 30, 2011 |
| Award Number: | 1023497 |
| Award Instrument: | Standard Grant |
| Program Manager: |
Marc Stieglitz
mstiegli@nsf.gov (703)292-4354 OPP Office of Polar Programs (OPP) GEO Directorate for Geosciences |
| Start Date: | December 1, 2011 |
| End Date: | November 30, 2015 (Estimated) |
| Total Intended Award Amount: | $168,417.00 |
| Total Awarded Amount to Date: | $168,417.00 |
| Funds Obligated to Date: |
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| History of Investigator: |
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| Recipient Sponsored Research Office: |
2145 N TANANA LOOP FAIRBANKS AK US 99775-0001 (907)474-7301 |
| Sponsor Congressional District: |
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| Primary Place of Performance: |
2145 N TANANA LOOP FAIRBANKS AK US 99775-0001 |
| Primary Place of
Performance Congressional District: |
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| Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): |
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| Parent UEI: |
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| NSF Program(s): | Polar Cyberinfrastructure |
| Primary Program Source: |
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| Program Reference Code(s): |
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| Program Element Code(s): |
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| Award Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Fund Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Assistance Listing Number(s): | 47.078 |
ABSTRACT
Lichens are symbiotic organisms that are highly sensitive to environmental change, and have been used for decades as bioindicators to monitor air pollution. Their past, current, and future patterns of distribution in Arctic and Subarctic ecosystems are likely to be reflective of significant ecosystem change in temperature, water and nutrient cycling, as well as population dynamics of migratory animals such as caribou. Most of the data concerning current and historical distributions of Arctic lichens presently resides in the literature and within the natural history collections of North America, the two largest of which reside in the herbaria of the University of Alaska Museum (Fairbanks) and the University of Wisconsin State Herbarium (Madison). This project would identify, update nomenclature, barcode, georeference, and database this pair of collections. At the same time, an updated checklist of all Arctic & Subarctic lichen species will be generated, photographs will be collected, and taxonomic characters for each species will be coded for use in creating dynamic taxonomic keys and species descriptions. Together, this dataset will be integrated using the Symbiota software package to generate an online virtual Flora of Arctic Lichens. Virtual floras, with their interactive keys, color photographs, species descriptions, real-time distribution maps, and direct access to complete specimen metadata, represent a revolution in the way that biodiversity information is shared in a democratic manner with all who are interested. The creation of what promises to be a relatively comprehensive Flora will expose the discipline of lichenology to a larger community, and help to further advance an appreciation of ecological complexity within the Arctic biome. In addition to the online databases and information technology tools that will be generated, data gathered for this project will be disseminated through a series of regional and national workshops. The project will also serve as the basis for Arctic lichen-themed science camps, exhibits, lectures, and activities created for the greater public, including the K-12 student/teacher audience. Finally, the collaborative effort includes both undergraduate and graduate students who will receive training from a diverse team of researchers.
PUBLICATIONS PRODUCED AS A RESULT OF THIS RESEARCH
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PROJECT OUTCOMES REPORT
Disclaimer
This Project Outcomes Report for the General Public is displayed verbatim as submitted by the Principal Investigator (PI) for this award. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this Report are those of the PI and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation; NSF has not approved or endorsed its content.
Lichens, which are symbiotic organisms that are highly sensitive to environmental change, represent a major component of the Arctic flora. Their past, current, and future diversity and evolution in Arctic and Subarctic ecosystems are reflective of significant ecosystem change in temperature, water and nutrient cycling, as well as population dynamics of migratory animals such as caribou. Our project made the vast natural history resources of Arctic and Subarctic lichens contained in the herbaria of the University of Alaska Fairbanks and the University of Wisconsin-Madison available to the general public, researchers interested in lichen taxonomy, ecology, climate change and other subdisciplines of biology. We enhanced the value of the physical specimens by adding expert identifications, updates to the nomenclature, an object tracking system through barcodes and the retrieval of these collections through global information systems and georeferencing. All of the metadata and digital images of the specimens are now freely available through our Arctic Lichen Webportal http://lichenportal.org/arctic/index.php.
We created an updated checklist of all Arctic and Subarctic lichen species, which is linked to photographs and taxonomic characters for each species so that the user can generate species description and checklists for particular regions of interest (e.g., Denali National Park in Alaska). Our online virtual Flora of Arctic Lichens with interactive keys, color photographs, species descriptions, real-time distribution maps, and direct access to complete specimen metadata, represent a model of online floras and the most complete and data-rich example of its kind. In addition to the online databases and information technology tools that were generated, data gathered for this project were disseminated through a series of regional and national workshops, lectures, educational workshops, Arctic lichen-themed science camps, exhibits, and activities created for the greater public, including the K-12 student/teacher audience.
Finally, the collaborative effort included both undergraduate (3 female and 1 male) and two female graduate students who received training in curatorial practices, lichen identification and training in natural history information technology, from a diverse team of researchers. The availability of the digital information technology and the classic natural history collections of lichens provides an ideal opportunity to introduce students and educators alike to the excitement and intellectual challenges of collections-based research and for students to help solve global problems of climate change, biodiversity loss, emerging pathogens, and food security and contributes to an informed citenzry. Our project contributes to the conservation and management of Arctic and Subarctic ecosystems in the context of climate change challenges associated with critical knowledge gaps in Arctic floristic diversity and evolution of lichens.
Last Modified: 02/10/2016
Modified by: Stefanie M Ickert-Bond
