Rocky Mountain Region
Digital Herbarium
The Rocky Mountain Region Digital Herbarium is an online collection of herbaria specimen images and record information, it is a searchable web interface allowing users to select through a variety of parameters and provides export options to save and access reports from a search query. This project had been made possible by a number of contributors, grants and agencies (Grants & Support).
In partnership with the National Park Service Northern Great Plains Network of Parks (NGPN), the University of Wyoming Libraries has digitized vascular plant herbarium collections for Devils Tower National Monument, Fort Laramie National Historic Site, Jewel Cave National Monument, Mount Rushmore National Memorial, and Wind Cave National Park. The project includes the specimens of Bandelier National Monument and the Markow- Murie Herbarium at the Teton Science School, Kelly campus.
The Digital Herbaria search interface provides access to specimen label data and high-resolution photographs for each vascular plant specimens. Label data includes pertinent information about the specimen such as the scientific name of the plant, the location and habitat where it was collected, the date of collection, the collector's name, and the collector's number. Recently students and RM Herbarium staff have georeferenced specimen locations for many of the records in the database.
Herbarium collections provide valuable information for research, education, and conservation. They document a park's flora and the changes that may occur over time. Some plants are known to occur in a park only because of these historical collections. Creating online access to these collections will allow users to access material that has historically been hidden and difficult to use.
| acronym | Institutions (23) | # of collections | Icons |
|---|---|---|---|
| Descriptions | |||
| BAND | Bandelier National Monument | 2021 |  |
| The flora of Bandelier is now one of the best documented, and most current, vascular plant inventories available for any unit in the National Park Service. The completion of a Revised Checklist of the Vascular Plants of Bandelier National Monument (Jacobs 2012) represents the first significant update to the flora of the monument in the 20 years since completion of the initial Flora of Bandelier project (Jacobs, 1989). Over 50 additional taxa are documented for the monument, bringing the total from around 746 species in 1989 to 800+ in 2012.
The relatively high diversity of vascular plants (800+ taxa documented for 33,000 acre area) reflects the complex topography and wide range of climatic settings available across a nearly 5000-foot elevation range from the Rio Grande at 5300-feet to the summit of Cerro Grande at 10100-feet. However over 15% of the flora is non-native reflecting the legacy of historic landuse and modern disturbances. The monuments herbarium serves the dual purpose of documenting the monuments flora, while also providing a key botanical reference in support of research and monitoring efforts. |
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| BICA | Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area | 1601 |  |
| The vast, wild landscape of Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area offers visitors unparalleled opportunities to immerse themselves in the natural world, and experience the wonders of this extraordinary place. With over 120,000 acres, one can find an astounding diversity in ecosystems, wildlife, and more than 10,000 years of human history to explore. | |||
| BLMPD | Bureau of Land Management - Pinedale | 900 | |
| description of BLMPD coming soon | |||
| BLMRFO | BLM Rawlins Field Office | 25 | |
| description of BTBRD coming soon | |||
| BTBRD | Bridger Teton National Forest - Big Piney Ranger District | 363 | |
| description of BTPRD coming soon | |||
| BTPRD | Bridger Teton National Forest - Pinedale Ranger District | 401 | |
| Casper College Digital Herbaria teaching and research collections. | |||
| CACO | Casper College | 2259 | |
| Devils Tower National Monument was established in 1906 and is comprised of 1,347 acres in Crook County, Wyoming. It is located in northeastern Wyoming on the northwest edge of the Black Hills. The 867 foot high Devils Tower was formed by the intrusion of igneous material into softer sedimentary rocks which later eroded to expose the tower. It attracts thousands of climbers each year. Ponderosa pine forests/woodlands cover approximately 60% of the monument. Six types of prairie grasslands occupy roughly 30% of the area in small patches within the more dominant ponderosa pine forest and woodland. The Belle Fourche River flows through the eastern part of Devils Tower NM and forms part of its southern boundary. Deciduous forests/woodlands (including plains cottonwood riparian woodland) occur in about 5% of the monument. Early efforts to document the Monument’s flora included significant contributions by Laura Joyner, wife of an early superintendent, and George W. Giles, working for the Works Project Administration. The first comprehensive plant species inventory was carried out in 1981-1982 (H. Marriott). An extensive list of plant species for Devils Tower NM was reviewed and certified by Marriott in 2004. Ten additional species were found in a survey for plant species of concern in 2008 (B. Heidel) and additional information relevant to the status of several other species has been generated in recent years. The Monument's certified plant list currently is being updated, through fieldwork and review of secondary sources. It is estimated that the known flora contains on the order of 460 species. At this time, there are 800 plant specimens in Devils Tower NM herbarium which is housed at Mount Rushmore National Memorial museum. | |||
| DETO | Devils Tower National Monument | 880 | |
| Originally established as a private fur trading fort in 1834, Fort Laramie evolved into the largest and best known military post on the Northern Plains, before its abandonment in 1890. This “grand old post” witnessed the entire sweeping saga of America’s western expansion and Indian resistance to encroachment on their territories. Fort Laramie National Historic Site was established in 1938 to protect and preserve the military post. It covers 833 acres within the northern mixed grass prairie region. The park is a mosaic of disturbed old-fields, riparian forests, and native prairie and is host to 376 plant species (Heidel 2004). Floristic inventories of the historic site were completed in 2001 (Fertig 2001) and 2004 (Heidel 2004). There are currently 487 plant specimens housed in a special collection at the Fort Laramie herbarium. | |||
| FOLA | Fort Laramie Historic Site | 487 | |
| Grand Teton National Park is located in the northwestern corner of Wyoming and was established in 1929. The park encompasses approximately 310,000 acres and is connecter to Yellowstone National Park by the John D. Rockefeller, Jr. Memorial Parkway that contains 23,700 acres. The elevation of the park ranges from 6,320 feet in the valley to 13,770 feet on the summit of the Grand Teton. A variety of floras exist from sagebrush covered valley floor to the alpine meadows and peaks. There are over a 1000 species of vascular plants that grow in Grand Teton National Park, national forests and the surrounding area - http://www.nps.gov/grte/naturescience/plants.htm. The GRTE herbarium contains specimens collected by botanist including A. A. Beetle, Richard J. Shaw, Robert D. Dorn, Erwin Evert, Wilhelm G. Solheim, Stuart Markow, and William A. Laycock. The herbarium collection is located at the Park Headquarters in Moose and contains approximately 6175 specimens that were digitized during the summers of 2005-2007. | |||
| FOUS | Fort Union Trading Post National Historic Site | 349 |  |
| This work is the basis of the thesis by David Scott entitled “A Floristic Inventory of Grand Teton National Park and the Pinyon Peak Highlands, Wyoming.” In addition, Ron Hartman and B. E. Nelson were also involved in the collection of specimens. A total of 5878 vouchers representing 906 species were obtained within the Park. | |||
| GRTE | Grand Teton National Park | 6165 | |
| Jewel Cave National Monument encompasses 1,274 acres in the southwestern Black Hills (Custer County, South Dakota). It was established in 1908 to protect Jewel Cave ecosystem and geologic features for scientific study and public enjoyment. The dominant vegetation is ponderosa pine (with a variety of understory species) interspersed with mixed-grass prairie. The 2000 Jasper Fire, which burned 83,500 acres in the Black Hills, significantly altered the park’s vegetation by burning 90% of JECA’s land area. Non-native invasive plant species have increased since the fire and are a major target of mechanical, biological, and chemical treatments (note: about one-third of JECA is designated a no-herbicide zone to protect cave resources). Building on vegetation inventory work of previous NPS staff (J. Shives, P. Knuckles, J. Roth), H. Marriott and R. Hartman’s floristic inventory of 1986 documented 393 taxa in Jewel Cave NM. The flora was noted as being surprisingly diverse considering most of the monument was forested. The current park flora includes 391 taxa, 16% of which are non-native. Work continues on updating the status of an additional 90 taxa identified as probably present or unconfirmed. There are currently 527 plant specimens in Jewel Cave NP herbarium which is housed at Mount Rushmore National Memorial museum. | |||
| GRTE-RM | Grand Teton National Park | 5878 |  |
| The Markow-Murie Herbarium at the Teton Science School, Kelly Campus contains three collections: Adolph and Olaus Murie Vascular Plant Collection, Adolph Murie’s Plants of Mount McKinley National Park and the Teaching Collection. The Adolph and Olaus Murie collection includes notable collectors from the early 1900s to the 1940s. This historic collection includes rare plants, algae and lichens, and 16 very important specimens, isotypes, duplicates of the original specimen used to represent and define the species (holotypes). The Adolph Murie collection from Mount McKinley National Park is housed in a separate cabinet containing 750 specimens. The Teaching Collection contains plants from Grand Teton National Park and the surrounding area. They include Stuart’s 1996 plant collections from Rendezvous Mountain, Teton Range-East Slope and other contributions come from TSS founder Ted Major and students. | |||
| JECA | Jewel Cave National Monument | 527 | |
| Mount Rushmore National Memorial (MORU) is located in the Black Hills, South Dakota and has a mission to preserve and protect the sculptured visages of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln, as well as the land surrounding it. While this is a relatively small area (1278 acres), MORU contains the second-largest area of old growth ponderosa pine forest in the Black Hills (Symstad and Bynum 2007). Ponderosa pine is the dominant plant throughout the park but there are 459 vascular plant species listed on the park’s certified species list (NRinfo: https://irma.nps.gov/). Plant diversity is highest in the small areas of the park that contain wetlands and deciduous canopy cover. There are ~2500 plant specimens housed in a special collection at the MORU herbarium. This includes collections from Jewel Cave and Devils Tower National Monuments. | |||
| MAMU | Teton Science School | 4223 | |
| description of NRCSPD coming soon | |||
| MORU | Mount Rushmore National Memorial | 394 | |
| description of SCWP coming soon | |||
| NRCSPD | Natural Resources Conservation Service - Pinedale Field Office | 701 | |
| This is the area of Wyoming (51mi2) immediately south of Yellowstone National Park and west of the John D. Rockefeller Jr. Memorial Parkway. It was botanized during the summer of 2007 by David Scott and Ron Hartman. It is unusual for the number of ponds and bogs, and the expanses of marshland that contain numerous species of aquatic plants. | |||
| SCWP | Sublette County Weed and Pest | 785 | |
| This area extends from Grand Teton National Forest east to the Pinyon Peak Highlands (elevation 9,705 feet). It was botanized during the summer of 2007 by David Scott while involved in master’s thesis research. It covers approximately 194 mi2. The geology consists largely of sedimentary strata and the flora is similar to that found in the lowlands of Grand Teton National Park. | |||
| THRO | Theodore Roosevelt National Park | 1744 | |
| Wind Cave National Park is located in the southern Black Hills of South Dakota. It was established in 1903 on 10,522 acres as the eighth national park and the first created to protect a cave. Wind Cave National Game Reserve was established in 1912 (administered by the U.S. Biological Survey) to create a permanent national range for bison. In 1935, Wind Cave NP assumed control of the Game Preserve. Legislation in 1946 more than doubled the size of the park to 28,060 acres. In 2011, 5,851 acres were added to attain the current park size of 33,851 acres. Park vegetation has experienced much interaction with humans from pre-settlement days to the present. However, the overall landscape diversity of vegetation within the park remains high. Vegetation is a mix of mixed-grass prairie (60%), coniferous forests/woodlands (30%), shrublands (9%), hardwood forests/woodlands (<1%), and riparian/wet meadow (<1%). Wind Cave NP developed a small herbarium collection which was sent to the Rocky Mountain Herbarium in 1997 for review and verification. Based on herbarium specimens and records from the SD Natural Heritage Program database, 407 taxa were recorded for the park. In 1998, a floristic survey was completed that focused on rare plant species determined from element occurrence information for plant species of special concern in the Wind Cave NP area (TNC/H. Marriott). This project increased the list of known taxa in the park by 22% to 495 taxa. The current certified park plant list includes 542 taxa present in Wind Cave NP. Work continues on taxa identified as probably present and unconfirmed. It is likely there will be new taxa added to the park list/herbarium as the land acquired in 2011 is inventoried. Currently, there are 1054 plant specimens housed in the herbarium collection in Wind Cave NP museum. | |||
| USFS-RM | Bridger-Teton National Forest | 1859 | |
| Description of the YELLO-RM comming soon. | |||