Digitization TCN: Collaborative: Capturing California's Flowers: using digital images to investigate historical and geographic phenological change in a biodiversity hotspot

The digitization of herbarium specimens has advanced our ability to understand complex and changing biological systems. However, when a digital record provides only a taxon name, date, and location, we are limited in the types of research questions we can address. While basic data such as these can be used to address changes in species distributions, herbarium specimens are rich in additional information regarding plant health, reproductive condition, and morphology that is generally not captured in digitization workflows. Flowering time, in particular, is a character that has cascading effects on multiple levels of biological organization from individuals to ecosystems. Flowering time not only determines individual plant fitness but also the fitness of mutualistic and antagonistic organisms that depend on them. Here, the 20 herbaria are proposing to capture the currently untapped research potential contained in our specimens through a massive imaging effort. We are proposing to image, database, georeference, and digitize phenological traits on ~900,000 specimens at 20 collaborating institutions with significant California holdings. We are targeting the oldest specimens (pre-1930) to establish a phenological baseline before the onset of climate change, as well as the most diverse vascular plant families in California to understand the evolution of phenological shifts. Our target taxa also include the California species currently monitored by the USA National Phenology Network (USA-NPN) and the California Phenology Project (CPP) making our digital data immediately applicable for current-day research. Data standards for scoring phenology on herbarium specimens are currently lacking. We will collaborate with iDigBio and TDWG to create community-wide data standards for phenological traits, integrate those traits into the Darwin Core, and develop the training tools necessary for phenological digitization to be included in all future digitization workflows. The intellectual merit of the proposed work lies in its ability to not only address pressing questions about plant phenology but also to generate images for future work in other areas. In general, many plant species are flowering earlier in response climate change, but the consequences of these shifts are unknown. In addition, plants may allocate energy differently, causing changes in the timing or amount of floral resources or defensive compounds produced. All of these changes have cascading effects on disease, population dynamics, pollinators, herbivores, and parasites. Consequently, tracking the phenology of plants and animals is necessary to our understanding of how resilient or vulnerable biological networks will be in the future. The proposed work will define the way in which future digitization efforts are conducted with regards to phenology while creating a robust dataset for observing phenological changes in California?s flora. The project?s broader impacts affect society at many levels. First, the Phenology Workshops that we are proposing will have broad public appeal and reach those that have not previously participated in scientific endeavors. For those already scientifically inclined, our proposal is closely integrated with the work of the USA-NPN and the CPP. These programs have trained and fostered a network of citizen scientists to measure phenology in reserves throughout California. We will capitalize on the expertise already generated by the CPP to recruit student and adult volunteers to digitize phenology. Our proposal includes significant graduate student and undergraduate training at both research universities and predominantly teaching universities. The dataset created by this project can be immediately paired with data on insect emergence, bird and insect migration, seed dispersal, and floral resources for pathogens and pollinators to improve our understanding of ecosystem links. Understanding phenological changes directly impacts agricultural practices in the U.S., and therefore has direct ties to the health of our economy. Capturing and digitizing the phenological data present on museum specimens greatly increases the value and utility of these collections to society. Additionally, because of the high density of at-risk endemic species in California, a biodiversity hotspot, understanding the cascading effects of phenological shifts is a top priority of conservation efforts.