Floristic Projects at the Rocky Mountain Herbarium

The following abbreviates and updates information contained in Hartman (1992) and Hartman (1996) concerning efforts at the Rocky Mountain Herbarium (RM) to document the flora of the region. Traditional floristic surveys have focused almost entirely on the question what occurs here?, frequently with but a single voucher specimen to document the occurrence of a taxon over a broad area. Floristic efforts at the RM aim at not only adding to our knowledge in terms of presence or absence (the what), but also in terms of the distribution of a taxon within a project area (the where does it occur?). Hence, a large number of specimens (6,000 to 10,000 or more) are collected in order to better document the geographical and ecological range of a taxon. These data are entered into the RM plant specimen database and can be used in a geographical information system (GIS) to plot distribution maps and to analyze patterns of distribution among species and relative to other geographic data (surficial geology, soils, slope and aspect, topography, community types, etc.).

Floristic studies are frequently undertaken by graduate students with assistance from RM staff (curator Ron Hartman and herbarium manager Ernie Nelson) and consist of two summers of fieldwork. The general methods are described in more detail in Hartman (1992). The map at left illustrates the many projects undertaken, most over the last 20 years. To view project descriptions and a map of projects within a particular state, click on the relevant portion of the map at left or select from the following list:

• Colorado

• Idaho

• Montana

• New Mexico

• South Dakota

• Utah

• Washington

• Wyoming

Under the curatorship of Dr. Ron Hartman, the RM has developed one of the most aggressive floristic programs in North America. Nonetheless, a great deal of work remains in inventorying the flora of the Rockies, as the map indicates. If you are interested in pursuing a M.S. in floristics, please contact Dr. Hartman (rhartman@uwyo.edu) or call the RM at (307) 766-2236.