Submission Type
Poster
Abstract
Eastern Michigan University (EMU) owns an 86-acre property in northwest Michigan called the Parsons Center for Arts and Sciences. No botanical research has been done at the Center. A comprehensive plant species list will provide important resources for EMU students, all Parsons users (e.g., artists and community members), and county biologists. This research aims to collect and identify as many plant species at the site as possible and create two online, publicly available databases of the plant list and collection. Such a collection will bring awareness to the Parsons Center and add to its botanical value.
Initial field-work was conducted in two forays in summer 2022. Data was collected in several ways: 1) physical plants were cut and pressed in the field 2) specimens were dried, mounted, digitized (in the Consortium of Midwest Herbaria), labeled, and organized into the museum collection in the EMU herbarium. 3) Images were taken of each species in the field and put on iNaturalist in a Parsons Center project. Prior to the summer of 2022 zero plant specimens had been collected at Parsons Center. Collections in Summer 2022 uncovered at least 66 species in 55 genera and 40 families. Of these, 38 species were native, 22 were introduced, and 6 were known invasives. Plant collection at Parsons will continue for the next two summers with the goal to collect 20-30 species per visit. We estimate collecting at least 240 plant species at Parsons Center.
Included in
Biodiversity Commons, Biology Commons, Botany Commons, Plant Biology Commons
Documenting plant biodiversity at the Eastern Michigan University owned Parsons Center for Arts and Sciences
Eastern Michigan University (EMU) owns an 86-acre property in northwest Michigan called the Parsons Center for Arts and Sciences. No botanical research has been done at the Center. A comprehensive plant species list will provide important resources for EMU students, all Parsons users (e.g., artists and community members), and county biologists. This research aims to collect and identify as many plant species at the site as possible and create two online, publicly available databases of the plant list and collection. Such a collection will bring awareness to the Parsons Center and add to its botanical value.
Initial field-work was conducted in two forays in summer 2022. Data was collected in several ways: 1) physical plants were cut and pressed in the field 2) specimens were dried, mounted, digitized (in the Consortium of Midwest Herbaria), labeled, and organized into the museum collection in the EMU herbarium. 3) Images were taken of each species in the field and put on iNaturalist in a Parsons Center project. Prior to the summer of 2022 zero plant specimens had been collected at Parsons Center. Collections in Summer 2022 uncovered at least 66 species in 55 genera and 40 families. Of these, 38 species were native, 22 were introduced, and 6 were known invasives. Plant collection at Parsons will continue for the next two summers with the goal to collect 20-30 species per visit. We estimate collecting at least 240 plant species at Parsons Center.
