Identification of grassland plants

• Grant number: 23/03173-5
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: May 01, 2023
• End date: April 30, 2024
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Botany - Plant Taxonomy
• Principal Investigator: Giselda Durigan
• Grantee: Maria Paula Giustino Jorge
• Host Institution: Instituto de Pesquisas Ambientais (IPA). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 20/01378-0 - Grasslands in the State of São Paulo: diagnosis, management and conservation, AP.BTA.TEM

Abstract

The activity starts with the reception of the material from the field in the Laboratory, although it is desirable that the student has time available to participate in one or more expeditions foreseen in the project. If the material has not been completely dehydrated, the scholarship holder will be responsible for drying the material, carried out in electric resistance ovens (60ºC) with air circulation. According to the oders researchers preliminary identification, the dehydrated material will be organized in a temporary collection (reception cabinets/sorting ). For the organization of this and other expected collections, the student will have the help of a technician (TT3 scholarship holder), responsible for assembling, digitizing the exsiccates, incorporating them into the SPSF Herbarium collection and making them available in SpeciesLink database.After the incorporation into the collection, it will be the responsibility of the undergraduate researcher to keep the database of these project materials updated, informing the advisor on a weekly basis of the progress of the identifications of each collection. During periodic meetings with the SPSF Herbarium team and project researchers, the scholarship holder will be guided regarding the procedures for identifying each material (suggestion of names for checking by comparison with botanical material already existing in the collection, indication of bibliographies for consultation and /or referral to specialists).During the week, the intern will work on identifying the previously selected material, under supervised guidance. At the end of the week, the identified material will be presented to a team member, confirming the identification, reporting doubts/difficulties and guidance on procedures. For each specimen determined, a notification with the determination will be inserted in the SpeciesLink database, which will be forwarded directly to the SPSF Herbarium Curator for definitive updating.The material to be sent for specialist identification will receive the usual treatment, with separation of duplicates for donation to the Herbarium to which the specialist is linked, preparation of a delivery note to be checked and signed by the SPSF Curator, organization of packages and shipment via mail. The frequency of this submission will be defined according to the volume of material collected.The undergraduate researcher scholarship holder will keep an updated list of all botanical material collected, with the following information: family, genus, specific epithet, author, determinator, collection and collector number, date of collection, location, geographic coordinates, registration in the SPSF Herbarium , delivery note number (if sent to specialist). With the identifications confirmed, the scholarship holder will verify the spelling of the scientific names and authorship in the List of Flora and Funga of Brazil, where he will also obtain information for the species, such as: way of life, phytogeographical domain, type of vegetation and level of threat to extinction . It will also be the responsibility of the scholarship holder to keep up to date the collection of photographic images of living plants obtained in the field, made available on a shared drive online, where each photo is named according to the collector's name and collection number (letters a, b, c.. will be added to the name for plants with more than one image). This same photographic collection will also be used by the TT Scholar to feed the SpeciesLink database.Finally, the scholarship holder will be responsible for organizing the worksheets with data from all specimens collected in the project, aiming at the annual update in the SinBiota System.