Biodiversity Collections

The study and preservation of biodiversity are important disciplines of modern biology, involving systematics, ecology, and evolution. The Biological Sciences Department has maintained biodiversity collections since its beginnings. These collections are primarily used in teaching, but several of them are important research tools, as well. Students in several classes learn the techniques of specimen preparation, and some have gone on to make careers in this field.

Amphibians and Reptiles

The collection, established in 1958, contains 2,402 specimens, representing most of the families and genera of the southwestern United States. The collection is curated by Dr. A. Kristopher Lappin

Birds

The collection of ~690 specimens was started in 1963, but its oldest specimen is a Red-eyed Vireo collected in 1900. The bulk of the collection consists of land birds from southern California, but it includes a few specimens from other areas and habitats, including tropical México. Nineteen orders and 54 families are represented. There is no individual currently curating the fish collection.

Fishes

The collection includes over 4,700 freshwater and marine fish specimens dating back to 1956. The collection is curated by Dr. Jeremy Claisse

Fungi

There is no individual currently curating the fungi collection.

Insects

The insect collection may date back to the Voorhis campus; there are specimens from the 1940s. More than ten thousand specimens, both pinned and in alcohol, represent all major orders of insects, and most of the common families. Most of the specimens are from the southwestern United States, but there are specimens from elsewhere in North and South America. The collection also houses Dr. Leong’s personal collection of insect floral visitors at the Santa Rosa Plateau Ecological Reserve, the only one of its kind. Curator in charge Dr. Joan Leong

Lichens

Over 200 specimens of lichens, mainly from California, were collected by Dr. Jack L. Erspamer and his associates in the 1970s and 1980s. These are still curated by the Department. For more information, contact Dr. Edward Bobich

Mammals

The collection, established in 1958, contains 1,005 specimens, representing most of the families and genera of the southwestern United States. There is no individual currently curating the mammal collection.

Mollusks

Contains over 1,000 ethanol-preserved specimens, primarily sea slugs, mainly from the North Eastern Pacific and tropical Indo-Pacific. It includes numerous voucher specimens. For more information, contact Dr. Ángel Valdés

Vascular Plants

The Biological Sciences Herbarium began at the Voorhis campus, and was greatly expanded duing the early years of the Kellogg campus. At its height, it contained over 7,500 vascular plants and 10,000 mosses. In 1984, the Marion Harthill Bryological Herbarium was donated to the Los Angeles County Museum, and in 2000, around 5,000 vascular plant specimens, primarily from the Pacific Northwest and California, were donated to Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden. The Herbarium currently consists of a synoptic collection of around 2500 specimens of southern California plants, a collection of vouchers of the Cal Poly Pomona native and weedy flora, and vouchers of student research. The collection is included in Index Herbariorum, with the acronym CSPU. The herbarium is curated by Dr. Edward Bobich