An Online, Interactive Flora of Polk County, Oregon

Project Tools Interactive Keys Polk County Plant Encyclopedia (information about all the native species in the Polk County) The Polk County Flora Online Database Distribution Maps (generated using ArcGIS) Frequently Asked Questions(FAQs) Links to other Cool Plant Sites Onsite Tours WOU Project Team Acknowledgements

ABOUT THE PROJECT Introduction Project Components Project Goals Introduction: An Online, Interactive Flora of Polk County, Oregon is an on-going research project at Western Oregon University. The project provides: research and training opportunities for undergraduate students at Western Oregon University in methodologies and tools employed by environmental scientists, conservation biologists, phylogeneticists and systematists new and useful results to the scientific/academic community on the vascular flora of Polk County, Oregon for the development of a resource information center regarding our local vascular plant resources for the educational community via the worldwide web education outreach opportunities for students and teachers from local junior high and high schools and interested members of the surrounding community, especially within Polk County continuing research in, and development of, internet based plant resource information centers The project employs a collaborative model where students collaborate with faculty in specific research activities related to the project’s overall goals. The ultimate "product" will be an extensive online, interactive identification guide for the vascular plants of Polk County along with interactive maps generated via a geographic information system (GIS). The project employs, among other things, the internet, graphic imaging and global positioning system (GPS) technologies, and taxonomic, databasing and GIS software. The results of this project are ideal for not only teaching in formal and informal settings, but in teaching how environmental, conservation, systematic, and phylogenetic research "is done" using a collaborative approach. In addition, these results are an invaluable resource for plant biologists (e.g., detailed information regarding phytodiversity and abundance), policy makers (e.g., baseline data on plant distribution and prevalence), developers (e.g., species occurrence and indicator species), environmentalists and conservation biologists (e.g., species of conservation concern, species biology), students (e.g., classroom and independent projects based on our data) and the general public (e.g., plant identification). The project will take several years to complete, but will include both short- and long- term participatory opportunities for students. The work is proceeding on several plant families simultaneously and results will be made available as each family of the flora is completed. Courses in systematics and field techniques, as well as other biology courses, are utilizing the ongoing compilation of results as a source of classroom and reference materials on the region's phytodiversity. The extent of the research is broad in order to include species conservation data, propagation information, ideas/suggestions for student-based projects, etc. The project allows for the full utilization of our local vascular plant resources in a unique and meaningful way while providing critical tools for accessing these resources and communicating project results to both the academic community and the general public. The project is especially timely as no taxonomic resource specific to Polk County currently exists. Project results are especially useful for courses featuring identification and recognition of vascular plant families of our region. Project Components: 1. Flora of Polk County, Oregon WWW Pages. These pages will include: About the Project Interactive Keys Polk County Plant Encyclopedia (information about all the native species in the Polk County) The Polk County Flora Online Database Distribution Maps (generated using ArcGIS) Frequently Asked Questions [(FAQs) questions, projects, activities regarding our local flora as an educational resource appropriate for students ranging from kindergarten through college] Links to other Cool Plant Sites (links to other sites with relevant information) Onsite Tours (come to Western and experience, first-hand the inner workings of the project) WOU Project Team (a list of contributors to the project) Acknowledgements (a list of donors to the project) 2. Fieldwork: Research is being conducted within the boundaries of Polk County, Oregon. This includes the collection of voucher specimens, gathering latitude/longitude data via handheld global positioning system units (GPS), collecting relevant ecological and phenological data, and photographing specimens. 3. Computer Applications/Technologies: Databasing software will be employed to capture specific plant location information taken in the field. This data will be linked to a geographic information system (GIS) for the visualization of plant distributions and will be posted to the Polk County Flora website (hosted by Western Oregon University). Historical distribution records will also be included based on label data accompanying dried plant specimens stored in the Western Oregon University herbarium and the herbarium at Oregon State University. The Little Sink Natural Area Collection, the Rickreall Ridge Collection and the Baskett Sough Collection are three important historical reference collections housed in Western’s herbarium that will be among the first records that will be incorporated into this database. Taxonomic data software will be used to generate plant descriptions and interactive keys. Interactive keys will be made available on the website at various taxonomic levels (e.g., "key to the vascular plant families of Polk County", "key to the vascular plant genera of Polk County"). Imaging hardware and software be used to digitize and manipulate images for presentation on the website. Word-processing software and hyper-text mark-up language will be employed for various computerized aspects of the Flora project, especially for the creation of web pages. 4. Western Undergraduate Research: As Western undergraduates complete projects, their results will be formatted for, and migrated to the Polk County Flora web page. Students will not only take an active role in designing individual problems, they will collaborate with faculty in all relevant components of the entire project. 5. Education/Community Outreach: Participatory activities will be developed allowing for direct and close interaction with local schools (primarily junior high and high school age groups) and interested members of the Western Oregon University community and surrounding area. Activities will include plant identification workshops, "adopting" an area for surveying, workshops/seminars on how to access and use the Interactive Flora of Polk County Website at Western Oregon University, and consultation on independent, Polk County based flora projects. 6. Research Papers: Research papers on various aspects of the species comprising our flora will be submitted, when feasible, to appropriate scientific journals. Project Goals: For Western Oregon University Undergraduates: Involve Western undergraduates in the entire Flora project "process" through collaborative research projects in order to introduce methodologies and tools employed by environmental scientists, conservation biologists, phylogeneticists and systematists Provide "in the field" learning experiences featuring the local flora, designed to introduce basic concepts in environmental science (including ecology, biodiversity, conservation biology, etc.) and systematics (including phylogenetics) Encourage creative, student-derived applications for the data being captured and products being proposed beyond those already envisioned through inquiry-based activities utilizing the flora and project results (e.g., analysis of floristic demographics for particular portions of Polk County, phenetic analyses of disjunct plant populations) Encourage students to carry newly learned skill sets back to the classroom where the flora and project products can be employed as inquiry-based learning tools through peer mentoring in courses Introduce students to career opportunities in plant science/environmental science Provide students an avenue for sharing and disseminating their project designs and results via the Flora of Polk County Worldwide Web Site For the educational community: Generate an educational resource that can be utilized in a number of biology/environmental courses along with suggestions for projects and activities Provide outreach opportunities for local Public Schools, especially teachers interested in long-term research on a locally available educational resource For various other users: Provide data to the ongoing Oregon Flora Project, the Bureau of Land Management, The Nature Conservancy, Oregon State Parks, City Governments and Local Parks, and the Native Plant Society of Oregon Provide plant biologists detailed information regarding phytodiversity and abundance, policy makers baseline data on plant distribution and prevalence, developers species occurrence and indicator species data, environmentalists and conservation biologists information on species of conservation concern and species biology and the general public tools for plant identification and general plant information Provide participatory experiences for interested members of the Western Oregon University community and surrounding area ranging from plant identification workshops to engaging volunteers in plant surveys of areas within Polk County