Fiji Herbarium (Univ. of the South Pacific) digitizes plant specimen collection

The University of the South Pacific herbarium (SUVA) is collaborating with the development of a regional herbaria consortium in partnership with the Department of Botany of the University of Hawaii. The new regional network is funded by the National Science Foundation for 3 years ($1.4 million) and is assisting regional plant collections with digitally photographing and databasing plant and algal collections from the Polynesia-Micronesia biodiversity hotspot region.

The Polynesia-Micronesia hotspot is a center of plant biodiversity that harbors approximately 5350 native plant species. In addition to Fiji, other collaborating partners include institutions in American Samoa, Hawaii, Guam, Palau, Samoa, and Tonga. We are also working in collaboration with the National Tropical Botanical Garden and the Bishop Museum both in Hawaii,” said Dr. Michael Thomas, Curator of the Joseph F. Rock Herbarium, University of Hawaii.

Marika Tuiwawa, Curator of the USP herbarium added, “he looks forward to providing increased access to the collection by delivering content to the Internet for students, researchers, and the general public. Increased access to the digital data for plants and algae of the Pacific Basin through the Consortium of Pacific Herbaria will create new regional research opportunities to discover and use specimen collection data,” Thomas added. The project will help the public understand the various plants that grow not only here in Fiji but also throughout Micronesia and Polynesia.

The project is providing several USP students with employment opportunities as museum curatorial assistants and the staff at the South Pacific Regional herbarium have received training on specimen digitization.

In addition, the project will develop an authoritative plant checklist of latin and common names that will facilitate the research of biologists and work of land managers who monitor invasive and endangered species throughout the Pacific. For more information about the collaborative project, visit the web site www.pacificherbaria.org