39th Annual Student Research Conference
Exploring Truman State University’s Herbarium (NEMO) Through the Lens of Weed Science
Jenna C. Wood
Dr. Maria Beatriz de Souza Cortez, Faculty Mentor
Herbaria have been around for hundreds of years, and hold millions of preserved plant specimens useful for answering questions related to many topics, including spatial distribution, phenology, impacts of climate change, etc. Truman State University’s herbarium (NEMO) has been used as a research and teaching resource for many years. The goal of this project was to investigate specimens of agricultural weeds stored at NEMO to understand how their historical and spatial distribution could inform farming practices and influence weed management techniques. Looking at specimen labels, we collected information on the prevalence of annotations and coordinate records, proximity to agricultural areas, and frequency of collections over time. Coordinate data is especially important to create precise distribution maps and spatial analyses, but is commonly lacking in older specimens. For further analysis, we hope to use georeferencing techniques to assign coordinates to these specimens based on their locality descriptions.
Keywords: herbaria, spatial distribution, weed science, weed management, georeferencing
Topic(s):Biology
Presentation Type: Poster Presentation
Session: -20
Location: Activities Room
Time: 2:30