Destructive Sampling Policy

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HARVARD UNIVERSITY HERBARIA DESTRUCTIVE SAMPLING OF HERBARIA SPECIMENS POLICY STATEMENT AND AUTHORIZATION FORM (PDF file)

The collections of the Harvard University Herbaria 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 accommodate researchers, decisions concerning destructive sampling 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, when given, is contingent upon adherence to the following guidelines:

  1. 1. Leaf material, pollen, spores, fungal tissue, bryophyte stem segments, etc. may be removed from specimens only when there is adequate material available. Care must be taken not to damage the scientific value of the specimen.
  2. 2. Material may not be removed from type collections, from historical specimens, or from taxa represented in the herbaria by less than 3 collections, except in rare instances, and then only by an appropriate staff member.
  3. 3. Each specimen must be annotated indicating the material removed, the nature of the study, the researcher's name and institutional affiliation, the date and the identification of the specimen accepted by the researcher. The Harvard University Herbaria should be cited in any resulting publication, a copy of which should be sent here.
  4. 4. Material may not be removed from an herbarium sheet for a second time if the nature of the study is the same. Exceptions may be made when there is additional leaf material for DNA studies associated with the specimen.
  5. 5. Depending on the nature of the study, the researcher must return to the Harvard University Herbaria a duplicate permanent pollen, spore, anatomical or leaf slide, an SEM photograph, etc. Such material will be housed with like material in the Herbaria, cross-referenced to the specimen from which it was removed, and made accessible to other researchers as requested.
  6. 6. Requests for removal of material for molecular studies will be reviewed by the appropriate herbaria staff. Requests should include an estimate of the amount of material needed. Results (both positive and negative) must be reported in writing, preferably on an annotation to be attached to the specimen; specimens must be annotated with the identification of the specimen accepted by the researcher as well as with the nature of the study; and GenBank or other accession numbers must be included. Samples obtained in this way must be properly stored and curated and made available to others for further study. The researcher must provide the Harvard Herbaria with the location and storage method of any remaining sample. The storage facility must be permanent. The Harvard University Herbaria reserves the right to request DNA or sequence material originally obtained from Harvard specimens.
  7. 7. For large or complicated requests for material for DNA extractions or other studies, researchers will be encouraged to come to the Harvard University Herbaria, using their own funds, to select specimens for sampling themselves. Although specimens may be selected by the researcher, removal of material will be made with supervision and approval of the 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., and verify the identity of specimens being sampled.
  8. 8. The Harvard University Herbaria maintain no records on the history of specimen collection or treatment methods; materials are supplied with no warranty of any kind.

If you agree to accept the materials under the above conditions, please sign below and return this form to the Director of Collections and Informatics, Harvard University Herbaria, 22 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02138. Upon receipt of confirmation, we will contact you concerning dispatch of the material.

Accepted:_______________________________________________________________
[Printed Name of Institution]
 Herbarium Acronym: ______________________________________________________
Research Investigator:______________________________________________________
[Printed Name]
 ______________________________________________________
 [Signature]
 ______________________________________________________
 [Date]
 ______________________________________________________
 [Taxa to be sampled]
 ______________________________________________________
 [Material sampled: ex. leaves, seeds, pollen]
 For our records: Have you ever contributed herbarium specimens to the Harvard University Herbaria?
___Yes
___No
______________________
[Loan # assigned by Harvard]