Capturing California's Flowers: Using Digital Images to Investigate Phenological Change in a Biodiversity Hotspot: Difference between revisions

By expanding the geographic scope to encompass Oregon and the northern Baja California peninsula, the CAP-TCN will now cover the entire California Floristic Province, a biodiversity hotspot of global significance. This will increase the number of species with imaged specimens across their entire range from 1,217 to 1,850, a 55% increase. The addition of 80,000 Oregon and Baja California specimens to CCH2 will facilitate efficient specimen-based analyses of the entire California Floristic Province and for the first time allow a more objective and reproducible specimen-based delineation of its geographic boundaries. Three institutions in California and Nevada will fill key geographic gaps for northwestern California, the northern San Joaquin Valley, and the Mojave Desert. Two additional institutions will significantly increase CAP-TCN representation of 1) the ecologically important and taxonomically complex genus Arctostaphylos (manzanita); and 2) introduced and invasive species of importance to California agriculture, rangelands, and native ecosystems. An estimated 25 additional undergraduates will participate in digitizing activities. Ongoing public outreach efforts about the floras of Oregon and Baja California at Oregon State University and the San Diego Natural History Museum will also benefit from the newly imaged specimens. Data will be shared through online resources, including iDigBio.org.