HEBERLING LAB

  • Welcome
  • People
  • Publications
  • Photos
  • Collected on this day!
  • Welcome
  • People
  • Publications
  • Photos
  • Collected on this day!

Collected on this day...

a weekly blog featuring specimens in the Carnegie Museum herbarium.
Each specimen has an important scientific and cultural story to tell.
This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation grant no. DBI 1612079 (2017-2019) and DBI 1801022 (2019-2022). Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

September 1879: 144 years ago

9/26/2023

Comments

 

Hidden cargo of ship ballast recorded in herbaria

Picture
This specimen was collected in 1879 by Isaac Martindale, who collected more than 80,000 specimens during his lifetime. The label reads it was collected in "Camden, NJ Ballast."  The specimen was identified as Galingsoga caracasana, which is now considered the same as Galingsoga quadriradiata. The species is native to Mexico, and Central/South America. A common name for the species is "shaggy soldier."  Though my favorite name for the species is "Pittsburgh weed," which it was once called due to its abundance in Pittsburgh.  But that is a different story. 

This specimen was recently used in a fascinating new study published in the American Journal of Botany by botanists by Ryan Schmidt and other botanists at Rutgers University entitled "Hidden cargo: The impact of historical shipping trade on the recent-past and contemporary non-native flora of northeastern United States."  They used herbarium specimens to assemble a dataset of species that were introduced to North America via ship ballast.  In the 1800s, ships travelling across the Atlantic (and elsewhere) filled their hulls with stones, sand, dirt, and other material to use as weight to stabalize the ship.  When then got to their destination port, they dump this extra ballast.  This ballast material often contains plant material, including seeds, thereby making ballast an important vector for the introduction of new plant species from far away.  The study of "ballast flora" has long fascinated botanists, who noticed unusual new plants growing around port cities.  Many of the species may not become established but other species would establish, spread, and become invasive.

There are a lot of fascinating things about this study.  They surveyed specimens in the Mid Atlantic and Northeastern US, many of which were recently digitized through the NSF funded Mid Atlantic Megalopolis Project (including Carnegie Museum!). Based on the labels, they assembled a dataset of species which were introduced or found in "ballast." 
The study used specimens to track introduction, establishment, and invasion of plants introduced via ballast in New Jersey.

Incredibly, they found that 48% of introductions from ballast became established to some degree!
This rate is MUCH higher than what is sometimes suggested (the "tens rule" or 10% of introduced plants become established).  

This study points to herbarium specimens as a unique source of data.  It is very difficult to measure the success of introduced species, as those species that fail to establish are rarely recorded.  


Read more about this cool study here: ​https://botany.one/2023/08/the-hidden-cargo-that-brought-hundreds-of-plant-species-to-the-garden-state/ 
Picture
Comments

    RSS Feed

      Suggest a specimen!

      Your birthday, favorite species, collected by your house, a particular collector, etc...?
      [object Object]
    Submit

    Archives

    January 2025
    October 2024
    January 2024
    September 2023
    May 2023
    October 2022
    April 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017

    Categories

    All
    Amaryllidaceae
    Anacardiaceae
    Apiaceae
    Apocynaceae
    Aquifoliaceae
    Araceae
    Araliaceae
    Asparagaceae
    Asteraceae
    Balsaminaceae
    Betulaceae
    Boraginaceae
    Brassicaceae
    Cactaceae
    Caprifoliaceae
    Caricaceae
    Caryophyllaceae
    Celastraceae
    Climate Change
    Convolvulaceae
    Cornaceae
    Cucurbitaceae
    Cultivated
    Cupressaceae
    Dioscoreaceae
    Dryopteridaceae
    Ericaceae
    Euphorbiaceae
    Fabaceae
    Fagaceae
    Geraniaceae
    Hamamelidaceae
    Holiday Posts
    Introduced Species
    Lamiaceae
    Lauraceae
    Life History Series
    Liliaceae
    Limnanthaceae
    Lycopodiaceae
    Magnoliaceae
    Malvaceae
    Melanthiaceae
    Melastomataceae
    Montiaceae
    Myristicaceae
    Oleaceae
    Onagraceae
    Orobanchaceae
    Oxalidaceae
    Papaveraceae
    Paulowniaceae
    Pinaceae
    Plantaginaceae
    Plants Of The Anthropocene
    Poaceae
    Poisonous
    Polemoniaceae
    Polygonaceae
    Primulaceae
    Pteridaceae
    Ranunculaceae
    Recollected
    Recollection
    Rhamnaceae
    Rosaceae
    Rubiaceae
    Salicaceae
    Santalaceae
    Sapindaceae
    Scrophulariaceae
    Simaroubaceae
    Solanaceae
    Staphyleaceae
    Type Specimens
    Ulmaceae
    Undetermined
    Urban Plants
    Violaceae
    Vitaceae