No. 140 July 29, 1996

VOUCHER SPECIMENS - FROM THE DISCUSSION ON TAXACOM [BEN # 131]

Steve Boyd (RSA) wrote:

"Here at Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden Herbarium we are often hitting the graduate students with the phrase 'NO VOUCHER - NO DATA'. I first heard Brian Boom utter these words at the BRIT symposium several years ago and it really hit home. I hope that if our grad students hear these sacred words enough, the concept will sink in and they will become advocates of collections when they move on in their careers."

To further this thread, I'm pleased to say that the Editorial Committee of CASTANEA has adopted a policy of strongly recommending that any manuscripts submitted for publication, whether floristic or not, involve serious vouchering of all material involved. This will soon be a written policy.

VIRTUAL HERBARIUM PROPOSAL REJECTED [BEN # 134]

Not altogether unexpectedly, the proposal that Stephen Clyde and I submitted to NSF for initiating development of a Virtual Herbarium was rejected. We have not yet been sent the reasons why, but we would like starting on a new proposal, possibly heading to another branch of NSF or another source of funding altogether, but do so in the manner we wish to continue - as a collaborative project involving several different herbaria. Because it really helps to be able to meet and talk with collaborators, we are suggesting a Northwestern focus (Logan is in the northern portion of Utah). Both Steve and I will be presenting papers on the concept at AIBS this year - they are scheduled for Tuesday, 8.45 and 9 a.m, respectively in , Kane Hall 210, and the AIBS has also set aside a room - HUB 20.4N - for a meeting that afternoon for anyone interested in pursuing the idea. We would particularly like to meet with people from northwestern herbaria, but the meeting is open to anyone. As you may gather, we think the idea is really worth pursuing. I hope that we will have the reviewers' comments in hand before the AIBS meetings so that we know what issues have to be addressed - but in any case, we want to meet.

TABLES OF CONTENTS FOR ELSEVIER JOURNALS

Tables of Contents for Elsevier journals can be found at

http://www.elsevier.nl/ [Updated 1/6/97]

The list includes Ecological Modelling, Ecological Economics, Ecological Engineering, and Trends in Ecology and Evolution among many others.

NEW LICHENOLOGICAL KEYS FOR THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST

McCune, B. & Trevor Goward 1995.

Macrolichens of the Northern Rocky Mountains. Mad River Press, Inc. v + 208 p. ISBN 0-916422-82-8 [soft cover] Price US$24.95

This is a welcome addition to lichenological literature in the interior Pacific Northwest. Here we have a set of very usable keys which take in all of the non-crustose lichen species found in the interior Columbia River basin. The authors avoided crus- tose species but include those species which have foliose or squamulose margins. Our experience with the book in a lichen workshop this spring is that it is a very helpful and indispensable reference which will fill a void in the libraries of many naturalists.

The format of the book is reminiscent of Poelt's monumental Bestimmungsschlussel europaischer Flechten, in that the emphasis in on providing keys and not extensive remarks on each species' ecology and distribution. Most of the taxonomy is very up-to- date. The keys to several genera are original and much more useful than those which have been available to date. An excel- lent introduction explains lichen structure and biology, their chemistry, ecology, and their relation to other cryptogams. Illustrations of important characters are sprinkled liberally throughout and are conveniently located along side the keys.

Lichenologists who were wearied by the proliferation of (often `cute') common names in the authors' 1995 work (Lichens of British Columbia, Part 1) will be pleased to see that not a single common name is provided.

HIKING THE ANCIENT FORESTS OF BRITISH COLUMBIA AND WASHINGTON

Stoltmann, R. 1996.

Hiking the ancient forests of British Columbia and Washington. Lone Pine Publishing, Edmonton - Vancouver. 191 p. ISBN 1-55105-045-5 [soft cover] Price US$15.95 (CND$19.95)

Author Randy Stoltmann died in the mountaineering accident shortly after the completion of the manuscript of this book [BEN # 76]. The book describes thirty hikes through the old growth forests of British Columbia (Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island) and Northwest Washington (North Cascades, Mount Rainier, and Olympic Peninsula). The hikes range from short, easily accessible walks and dayhikes to overnight backpacking trips in remote wilderness areas. Detailed trail descriptions include record trees, status of trails, photos and maps, and notes on nature and forest ecology.

Submissions, subscriptions, etc.: aceska@freenet.victoria.bc.ca. BEN is archived on gopher freenet.victoria.bc.ca. The URL is: gopher://freenet.victoria.bc.ca:70/11/environment/Botany/ben. Also archived at http://www.ou.edu/cas/botany-micro/ben/