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University of Alabama Algae Collection: An Overview
Kevan Schoonover
By: Kevan Schoonover
In 2013 the National Science Foundation awarded several grants to advance digitization of biodiversity collections. One of the Thematic Collections Networks (TCN) funded was The Macroalgal Herbarium Consortium: Accessing 150 Years of Specimen Data to Understand Changes in the Marine/Aquatic Environment. Forty-nine herbaria are members of this Consortium, and the specimens cataloged are available to the public and researchers at macroalgae.org.
The University of North Carolina Herbarium (NCU) is a regional hub for the Macroalgal Consortium, and in addition to cataloging our own phycological collection, we are imaging and databasing collections belonging to six other herbaria (FLAS, LSU, TAES, UNA, USCH, and WNC). NCU received the University of Alabama (UNA) algal collection in early September, 2014, I imaged and databased each specimen, then returned the collection to Tuscaloosa in late December, 2014. My work was funded by the National Science Foundation and by the Charles T. Mohr Internship fund of the University of North Carolina Herbarium.
The University of Alabama Herbarium (UNA) collections include ca. 64,000 specimens of vascular plants, ca. 6,000 specimens of bryophytes, and 1,608 specimens of algae. The Curator of Algae at UNA is Dr. Juan Lopez-Bautista.
UNA’s algae collection is diverse for its size. Totaling 1,608 specimens (as of December 17, 2014), the collection covers 69 families and includes collections from ten countries on four continents. The collection spans 90 years, with the newest specimen being from 2009 and the oldest being from 1919. About 30 people contributed specimens to the collection, however the vast majority of specimens (972) have no collector identified, so were attributed to Anonymous in the macroalgae.org database.
Of the 69 families included in the UNA algae collection, Rhodymenaceae was the most populous with 197 specimens. Codiaceae was second with 119 specimens, and the Halimedaceae was third with 83 specimens. The total specimen counts for each family are as follows:
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University of Alabama Algae Collection: An Overview
Kevan Schoonover
1. Ahnfeltiaceae (4)
2. Anadyomenaceae (20)
3. Bangiaceae (8)
4. Batrachospermaceae (2)
5. Bonnemaisoniaceae (4)
6. Boodleaceae (11)
7. Bryopsidaceae (6)
8. Callithamniaceae (7)
9. Caulerpaceae (74)
10. Ceramiaceae (10)
11. Chaetophoraceae (1)
12. Champiaceae (21)
13. Characeae (11)
14. Chordaceae (3)
15. Chordariaceae (32)
16. Cladophoraceae (23)
17. Cladostephaceae (3)
18. Codiaceae (119)
19. Corallinaceae (28)
20. Costariaceae (1)
21. Cymodoceaceae (2)
22. Cystocloniaceae (11)
23. Dasyaceae (3)
24. Delesseriaceae (11)
25. Derbesiaceae (3)
26. Desmarestiaceae (6)
27. Dichotomosiphonaceae (22)
28. Dictyotaceae (74)
29. Dumontiaceae (9)
30. Ectocarpaceae (8)
31. Faucheaceae (12)
32. Fucaceae (5)
33. Galaxauraceae (37)
34. Gelidiaceae (6)
35. Gigartinaceae (3)
36. Gloiosiphoniaceae (2)
37. Gomontiaceae (1)
38. Gracilariaceae (41)
39. Halimedaceae (83)
40. Halymeniaceae (68)
41. Hydrocharitaceae (3)
42. Kallymeniaceae (33)
43. Klebsormidiaceae (1)
44. Laminariaceae (10)
45. Liagoraceae (8)
46. Lomentariaceae (4)
47. Oscillatoriaceae (3)
48. Peyssonneliaceae (23)
49. Phyllophoraceae (3)
50. Polyidaceae (3)
51. Prasiolaceae (1)
52. Pseudocodiaceae (35)
53. Rhodomelaceae (43)
54. Rhodymeniaceae (197)
55. Sargassaceae (68)
56. Scinaiaceae (10)
57. Scytosiphonaceae (37)
58. Siphonocladaceae (3)
59. Solieriaceae (64)
60. Sphacelariaceae (2)
61. Sporochnaceae (29)
62. Spyridiaceae (5)
63. Trentepohliaceae (69)
64. Udoteaceae (69)
65. Ulotrichaceae (2)
66. Ulvaceae (11)
67. Ulvellaceae (2)
68. Valoniaceae (57)
69. Wrangeliaceae (14)
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University of Alabama Algae Collection: An Overview
Kevan Schoonover
Unfortunately, virtually none of the specimens have been annotated, leaving many of the species in old families. Also, there are several folders of Sargassum and Codium where the specimens were labeled as n. sp. (new species) but there is no indication that they have been studied since the time of collection. As funds for the Macroalgal Consortium did not include any taxonomic/identification work, I simply used what was on the label for cataloging.
The majority of the UNA algae are from the United States, although there are some from other countries as well. The collection covers four continents: North America, South America, Africa, and Europe. The countries included are The United States (1534), Nicaragua (1), Panama (20), Brazil (1), French Guyana (21), Chile (1), Gabon (14), Italy (3), Spain (1), and Portugal (1). Of the United States specimens, most algae are from the Gulf of Mexico and the Florida Middlegrounds (a coral reef of the western coast of Florida), totaling 1,235 specimens. Another area of major collecting was Woods Hole, Massachusetts and environs, totaling 246 species.
The specimens from the Gulf of Mexico and the Florida Middlegrounds were primarily collected for the MAFLA (Mississippi-Alabama-Florida) Outer Continental Shelf Baseline Environmental Survey cruises from 1974 to 1978 by the Bureau of Land Management (the final report is here: http://invertebrates.si.edu/boem/reports/MAFLA%20final%20report.pdf). Most of these specimens do not have any collector identified. However, these specimens do contain the stations where they were collected, though some have discrepancies. I would strongly suggest going through and annotating the specimens to reflect the correct latitude and longitude according to the table provided in the MAFLA Final Report (pages 23-29). Other specimens collected from the Gulf of Mexico and the Florida Middlegrounds (which did have collectors identified) were collected for two other studies. One of the studies was the Northern Gulf of Mexico Topographic Features Study (1978-1979), for which Thomas S. “Tom” Hopkins was the main collector. The algal part of the study is included in the Final Report Volume 5 (available here: http://www.data.boem.gov/PI/PDFImages/ESPIS/3/4017.pdf). Other collectors associated with this report are Sylvia Earle, Eric H. Livingston, and Jay A. Shapiro. These collectors were also members of another project, A Preliminary Characterization of the Biotic Components of Composite Reef Transects on the Florida Middlegrounds, Northeastern Gulf of Mexico (1977) (available here: http://www.reefbase.org/resource_center/publication/icrs.aspx?icrs=ICRS3). Other collectors associated with this report are Diane E. Grimm, Charles H. Lutz, Deborah R. Blizzard, and Susan Brawley.
The other main area of collecting was Woods Hole, Massachusetts and environs. Many were collected by Walter R. Herndon in 1954, and by Jackie Edwards and Davis L. Findley in 1959. Corresponding to these collections were the summer courses provided at the Woods Hole Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL; www.mbl.org). Walter R. Herndon, while an assistant professor of Biology at the University of Alabama, was one of the instructors of the Botany course in 1959. This course was attended by Jackie Edwards and Davis L. Findley, both of whom were students at the University of Alabama at the time. In 1954, Walter R. Herndon was at Vanderbilt University and was the Laboratory Assistant for the Botany course at MBL.
About thirty people have contributed phycological specimens to UNA. The major collectors were Susan Brawley (106), Thomas S. “Tom” Hopkins (106), R. Ricker (89), Sylvia Earle (63), Davis L. Findley (56), Fabio Rindi (49), Jackie Edwards (47), and Walter R. Herndon (47). Sylvia Earle also identified many specimens, including nearly all of Susan Brawley’s collections and all of Tom Hopkins’ collections for the Topographic Features Study. I was able to find information about some of the collectors, but others have remained elusive.
Susan H. Brawley was born in Charlotte, North Carolina, on October 6, 1951. She received her Bachelor of Arts (Honors) degree from Wellesley College in Wellesley, Massachusetts, in 1973 and also attended the Marine Biological Laboratory at Woods Hole, Massachusetts that year. In 1978, she received her Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley. At the time of her collections (1975-76), she was a research assistant for the ecological/taxonomic study of the Florida Middlegrounds. Dr. Brawley is currently a tenured professor at the University of Maine. (http://www.umaine.edu/marine/people/sites/sbrawley/BrawleyCV.pdf)
Thomas S. Hopkins is professor emeritus at the University of Alabama. Most of his research was on the flora and fauna of the Gulf of Mexico, and he was a principle investigator in all of the papers mentioned earlier. He was also active through the Dauphin Island Sea Lab.
Sylvia Earle is by far UNA’s most famous collector. She was born in 1935 in Gibbstown, New Jersey, and received her bachelor’s degree from Florida State University in 1955. She received her Ph.D. from Duke University in 1966. Her primary focus has been ocean life. She was an associate and assistant researcher for the Topographic Study and the Preliminary Characterization. She has been on many studies and has published many works. She is a National Geographic Explorer in residence, has won a TED prize (http://www.ted.com/participate/ted-prize ), and has been inducted into National Women’s Hall of Fame. Currently, she is working on a project with TED called Mission Blue which aims to establish marine protected areas to preserve the many delicate ecosystems found in our oceans (http://www.ted.com/participate/ted-prize/prize-winning-wishes/mission-blue-sylvia-earle).
Davis L. Findley was a student at the University of Alabama, and attended the Botany course at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, in 1959. After receiving his Ph.D. he became a professor at the University of Tennessee as well as an assistant for the Marine Botany class at MBL.
Dr. Fabio Rindi is a postdoctoral research associate in the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa. He obtained his Ph.D. at the University of Pisa, Italy, in 1999. He has subsequently spent 6 years as postdoctoral researcher at the National University of Ireland, Galway, investigating taxonomy and ecology of terrestrial and marine algae of western Ireland in collaboration with Prof Michael Guiry. His research interests include taxonomy, phylogeny, biogeography and life histories of selected groups of marine, freshwater and terrestrial algae. Green algae of the orders Trentepohliales, Prasiolales and Klebsormidiales represent the main target groups of his research. (https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CB4QFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.researchgate.net%2Fpublication%2F227096363_The_Systematics_of_Subaerial_Algae%2Ffile%2F32bfe50e1bcebe9fc1.pdf&ei=ZHaUVKbYBoyrgwSqiYAw&usg=AFQjCNH3n5LqXs7C2bhAmMUBnfI3HIxFTQ&sig2=pCPw2lnzCrBgJoAd8S2bZQ&bvm=bv.82001339,d.eXY)
Walter R. Herndon was born in Birmingham, Alabama, ca. 1927. He served in the U.S. Navy before completing a Ph.D. degree at Vanderbilt University. During this time he also served as a laboratory assistant for the Botany course at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Massachusetts. After receiving his Ph.D., he was an assistant professor at the University of Alabama and an instructor of the Botany course at MBL. He continued to be an instructor at Woods Hole even after starting as professor and head of the botany department of the University of Tennessee - Knoxville in 1961. He served in college and university administrative roles until 1984, when he resumed teaching in the Botany Department until 1994. In his research, he identified algae and other microscopic organisms. His work intensified his reverence for life in all forms. He continued botanizing in retirement, gardening and identifying microscopic life in Stone Mountain, Georgia. He died on June 25, 2008. (http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/OBITUARIES/2008-06/1214704593)
I was unable to find much information about Jackie Edwards other than that she was a student at the University of Alabama and attended the Marine Biological Laboratory Botany course in 1959. R. Ricker also remains an enigma.
There are several curatorial issues that should be addressed by UNA staff. Many of the specimens are in poor condition, either falling apart or falling off the herbarium sheet. I have fixed many of these issues myself while the collection was on loan to NCU, but a full review of the collection would be ideal. Also, I suggest that a phycologist look through the collection to update identification and nomenclature on each specimen. Researchers should also examine the Sargassum and Codium specimens that were tentatively labeled as “new species”.