Locating herbarium specimens in online digital repositories to be used in future retrospective analysis of metal pollutants from pre- and post-1960s in the most polluted city in the United States, Chattanooga, Tennessee

Here we find and analyze herbarium specimens collected throughout the last 100 years from the greater Chattanooga area to future screen them for the presence and concentration of metals. Chattanooga was declared the most polluted city in America in 1969 from the years 1961-1965 due to unchecked industrial emissions. Factories, railroads, coal furnaces, and iron making were only a few of many industrial operations releasing metal particulates and toxicants into the atmosphere. Metals can be deposited atop plant surfaces or soil when they find a sink there. Living plants have been used to assess metal pollution concentrations, though assessing historical pollution concentrations with herbarium specimens has recently been shown to be a valuable tool to science as well. The aim of this study is to use online digital repositories (SERNEC portal link) of herbarium specimens to identify candidate specimens that may be used in the future to chronicle airborne metal concentrations in the greater Chattanooga area: Hamilton County, Tennessee (TN) as well as Walker, Dade, and Catoosa Counties, Georgia (GA). To be useful to a potential study of this kind, these specimens must meet the following parameters: there must be multiple specimens of each species from pre-, during, and post- 1960s; each specimen must have enough biological plant material to remove some without destroying the integrity of the specimen; and the species must be one with metal-accumulating properties or morphological characteristics that increase the chances of deposition upon the leaf surface.

Grantor dc:publisher

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga

Author dc:creator

• Stepaniuk, Megon

Contributors dc:contributor

• Shaw, Joey
• Richards, Sean; Barbosa, Jose
• College of Arts and Sciences

• Botanical specimens
• Digital libraries
• Pollution--Chattanooga (Tenn.)

Licence

• http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Language dc:language

English, eng

Repository record dc:identifier

https://scholar.utc.edu/theses/719

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:scholar.utc.edu:theses-1887