University of Ala bama Herbarium (UNA) Algae Collection: An Overview

By: Kevan Schoonover

1University of Alabama Algae Collection: An Overview

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.

2University of Alabama Algae Collection: An Overview

Kevan Schoonover

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:

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)

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.

3University of Alabama Algae Collection: An Overview

Kevan Schoonover

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)

4University of Alabama Algae Collection: An Overview

Kevan Schoonover

(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

5University of Alabama Algae Collection: An Overview

Kevan Schoonover

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

6University of Alabama Algae Collection: An Overview

Kevan Schoonover

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=AFQjCNH3n5LqXs7C2b

hAmMUBnfI3HIxFTQ&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

7University of Alabama Algae Collection: An Overview

Kevan Schoonover

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”.