Plant Tissue Vouchering. In 'Ecological Field Monitoring Protocols Manual using the Ecological Monitoring System Australia'

This module is one of many that form the Ecological Field Monitoring Protocols Manual using the Ecological Monitoring System Australia (EMSA), available at https://emsa.tern.org.au/documents. The Plant Tissue Vouchering Module involves the collection, rapid drying and appropriate storage of representative plant tissue (i.e. leaf) vouchers from the vascular flora species within a core monitoring plot. Plant tissue vouchers are collected to allow for various molecular analyses to be undertaken, such as DNA barcoding, population genetics, stable isotope and leaf trait analyses. Note: molecular analysis methods and techniques are not covered by this module, or any module in this manual.

This module includes two protocols to collect plant tissue vouchers from a core monitoring plot:

1. Enhanced protocol – plant tissue vouchers from a single plant collected for all species present in a plot, with at least five replicate samples collected for the dominant perennial species and species targeted in population genetics studies.
2. Standard protocol – plant tissue vouchers from a single plant collected for a subset of the species present in a plot (new, dominant perennial, unknown, important, contentious, target and threatened species; see Table 1). At least five replicate samples collected for the dominant perennial species and species targeted in population genetics studies.

The two protocols include procedures for placing the vouchers into synthetic-fibre bags, attaching voucher barcode labels, scanning voucher barcodes into the Monitor app, and maintaining the stored vouchers. Guidelines in each protocol provide further information on collection and storage techniques and materials.

The enhanced protocol is best practice and recommended, particularly for baseline surveys, periodic plot revisits (i.e. every 5–10 years), projects directly involving molecular analysis, and projects where correct species identification is critical.