8/9/2019 Destructive Sampling FH
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Destructive sampling of herbarium specimens
Museum of Evolution, Botany Section (Fytoteket), Uppsala
University(UPS)
Policy Statement and Authorization Form
This is to acknowledge your request for destructive sampling of
herbarium specimens of Uppsala University Herbaria.
We ask that you read this policy statement and complete the
agreement outlined below.
The collections of Uppsala University Herbaria (UPS) are
maintained with the goal of balancing preservation of the
integrity of herbarium specimens with utilization for scientific
research. While every effort will be made to
accomodate researchers, decisions concerning destructive
sampling of collections are made on a case-by-case
basis.
As a rule, no material may be removed from specimens without
prior consent of the Director or an appropriate
member of the curatorial staff. Permission for removal of
material follow the guidelines below:
1. Leaf material, pollen, spores, etc. may be removed from
specimens only when there is adequate material
available.
Care must be taken not to damage the specimen.
2. Material may not be removed from type collections.
3. Each specimen must be annotated indicating the material
removed, the nature of the study, the researcher’s name
and institutional affiliation, and the date. The Botanical
Museum, Uppsala University should be cited in any
resulting publication, a copy of which should be sent here.
The annotation labels should be discrete and not glued.
4. Material may not be removed from a herbarium sheet for a
second time, if the nature of the study is the same (i.c.,
pollen material for SEM, leaf material for DNA analysis,
etc.).
5. Depending on the purpose of the material removed, the
researcher must return to the Botanical Museum the
following: a duplicate permanent pollen, spore or leaf slide, a
SEM photograph etc. Such material will be housed
at UPS in a suitable place.
6. Requests for removal of material for DNA studies. An
extraction protocol must be submitted, along with anestimate of the
amount of material needed. Results (both positive and negative)
must be reported in writing;
specimens must be annotated; GenBank accession numbers must be
included; and a sample of the DNA must be
sent to the Botanical Museum (UPS). Samples obtained in this way
will be properly stored and curated, and
material may be provided to others for further study.
7. For large or complicated requests for material for DNA
extractions or other studies, researchers will be
encouraged to come to Uppsala University, using their own funds,
and select specimens for sampling themselves.
Specimens will be selected and set aside by the researcher;
removal of material will be made with supervision and
approval of appropriate staff. Not only does this reduce the
work required of the curatorial staff, but it allows the
investigator to make more precise selections based on specimen
age, material in packets, etc.
If you agree to accept the materials under the above conditions,
please sign below and return this form to the Director,
Museum of Evolution, Botany Section (Fytoteket), Evolutionary
Biology Center, Uppsala University, Norbyvägen
16, SE-752 36 Uppsala (Sweden). Upon receipt of confirmation, we
will contact you concerning the dispatch of
the material.
