Herbaria: A Key Resource for Plant Diversity Exploration

A special issue of Diversity (ISSN 1424-2818). This special issue belongs to the section "Plant Diversity".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 July 2024 | Viewed by 6615

Special Issue Editor

Department of Environmental, Biological and Pharmaceutical Sciences and Technologies, University of Campania Luigi Vanvitelli, 81100 Caserta, Italy
Interests: floristics; plant taxonomy; vegetation science; community ecology; plant biology; biogeography; fire ecology; biodeteriogenic plants on monuments and archaeological sites; plant biodiversity assessment and conservation
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Herbaria can be defined as collections of dried plant materials, mounted on sheets of paper, systematically arranged, and set up for scientific purposes. For five centuries now, herbaria preserve samples of vascular plants, bryophytes, fungi, algae, and/or lichens, and they are a fundamental source of associated metadata. Globally, there are about 3,500 active public herbaria which preserve about 400 million exsiccate. As many of these herbarium specimens comprise yet-undescribed species, herbaria can be also considered a major frontier for species discovery. Therefore, they are an extraordinary archive of biodiversity available for traditional and new botanical research. In addition to their essential role in plant taxonomy, herbaria are a research tool of considerable value in the biogeography, plant morphology and anatomy, ecology, conservation biology, ethnobotany, genetics, and palynology.

This Special Issue will focus on new interdisciplinary research and significant advances in botany, and related sciences, obtained through the use and enhancement of the herbarium collections. Authors are encouraged to submit their manuscripts on the following topics:

(1) Taxonomic revisions of critical groups (including description of new taxa);

(2) Nomenclatural insights (including typifications);

(3) Phylogenetic and evolutionary genomic studies;

(4) Biogeographic and floristic studies (e.g., comparative analysis between historical and current data);

(5) Presentation of herbaria and/or historical collections;

(6) Experiences of digitization and/or sharing of the metadata from herbarium samples;

(7) Phenological and palynological research;

(8) Evidence of global environmental change phenomena deducted from herbarium samples (e.g., pollution and biological invasions);

(9) Innovative uses of herbaria.

Dr. Adriano Stinca
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Diversity is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • algae
  • ancient DNA
  • biological collections
  • bryophytes
  • digitization
  • exsiccata
  • fungi
  • herbaria
  • historical collections
  • lichens
  • metadata
  • museological importance
  • taxonomy
  • type
  • vascular plants

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

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29 pages, 7045 KiB  
Article
The Trèmols Herbarium: A European Herbarium from the End of the 19th Century
by Laura Gavioli, Neus Nualart, Jordi López-Pujol and Neus Ibáñez
Diversity 2024, 16(2), 105; https://doi.org/10.3390/d16020105 - 06 Feb 2024
Viewed by 996
Abstract
The herbarium Trèmols, preserved in the Botanical Institute of Barcelona (IBB), was created during the second half of the 19th century by the Catalan chemist and botanist Frederic Trèmols Borrell (Cadaqués 1831–1900). He was a member of important scientific institutions, including the Real [...] Read more.
The herbarium Trèmols, preserved in the Botanical Institute of Barcelona (IBB), was created during the second half of the 19th century by the Catalan chemist and botanist Frederic Trèmols Borrell (Cadaqués 1831–1900). He was a member of important scientific institutions, including the Real Acadèmia de Ciències i Arts de Barcelona, the Societat Botànica Barcelonesa, the Société Botanique de France, and the Société Helvétique pour l’Échange des Plantes. The value of this herbarium lies in the large volume of specimens that it preserves (12,953) and the high percentage (61.9%) of material of foreign origin that it contains. The Trèmols herbarium was completely digitised in 2019 as part of a wider study that is aimed to classify, digitise, document, review, and, finally, make the IBB historical herbaria available to the scientific community. Herein, we provide a general overview of the almost 13,000 specimens of this collection, which can give valuable insight into the flora that existed more than 100 years ago. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Herbaria: A Key Resource for Plant Diversity Exploration)
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10 pages, 4226 KiB  
Communication
Herbarium Apenninicum (APP): An Archive of Vascular Plants from Central Italy
by Fabio Conti, Giacomo Cangelmi, Jamila Da Valle and Fabrizio Bartolucci
Diversity 2024, 16(2), 99; https://doi.org/10.3390/d16020099 - 02 Feb 2024
Viewed by 870
Abstract
The Herbarium Apenninicum (international code: APP), hosted in the Floristic Research Center of the Apennines (Abruzzo, central Italy), is approximately composed of about 80,000 specimens of vascular plants; 66,352 of them are mounted with data labels and entered in a database. The specimens [...] Read more.
The Herbarium Apenninicum (international code: APP), hosted in the Floristic Research Center of the Apennines (Abruzzo, central Italy), is approximately composed of about 80,000 specimens of vascular plants; 66,352 of them are mounted with data labels and entered in a database. The specimens from the Abruzzo administrative region (central Italy) correspond to more than half of the collection (57.8% of the specimens), while immediately afterwards, other neighboring provinces of central Italy follow. Outside of Italy, the most represented areas are Morocco and southern European countries. Most of the specimens were collected between 2001 and 2020; nevertheless, the herbarium also contains two historical collections from the end of the nineteenth century to the beginning of the twentieth century. The herbarium houses 146 types. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Herbaria: A Key Resource for Plant Diversity Exploration)
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15 pages, 8299 KiB  
Article
When Are Cacti Found with Flowers and Fruits? Estimation of the Reproductive Phenology of the Genus Xiquexique Based on Herbarium Data
by Alexsandro Bezerra-Silva, Sinzinando Albuquerque-Lima, Vanessa Gabrielle Nóbrega Gomes, Adelly Cardoso de Araujo Fagundes, Maria Thereza Dantas Gomes, Márjori Thays da Silva, Isabel Cristina Machado and Ligia Silveira Funch
Diversity 2024, 16(2), 79; https://doi.org/10.3390/d16020079 - 25 Jan 2024
Viewed by 897
Abstract
Plant phenology reflects the reproductive responses of plants to seasonal cycles and climate change. Herbarium collections can be valuable tools for filling in gaps in phenological studies. We investigated the seasonality of the reproductive phenology of Xiquexique species using circular statistics, estimated their [...] Read more.
Plant phenology reflects the reproductive responses of plants to seasonal cycles and climate change. Herbarium collections can be valuable tools for filling in gaps in phenological studies. We investigated the seasonality of the reproductive phenology of Xiquexique species using circular statistics, estimated their flowering and fruiting periods by interpolation via inverse distance weighting based on herbarium specimens (n = 290), and analyzed the relationships among phenophases, temperature, and precipitation using generalized linear models. Xiquexique species flowered and fruited throughout the year, with X. gounellei exhibiting peak flowering in February and peak fruiting in March, while X. tuberculatus exhibited those peaks in August–October and August, respectively, with decreased intensity during the austral winter. The maps produced through interpolation showed higher probabilities of flowering and fruiting between February and August at sites with mean annual rainfall rates between 500 and 800 mm. Temperature and precipitation were positively correlated with flowering. Xiquexique tuberculatus is important for providing continuous resources to pollinators and seed dispersers in the Caatinga. Herbarium collections and interpolation methods for filling in gaps concerning the reproductive ecology of Cactaceae can aid in better understanding altered phenological patterns resulting from environmental changes. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Herbaria: A Key Resource for Plant Diversity Exploration)
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24 pages, 12589 KiB  
Article
The Greater Midlands—A Mid-Elevation Centre of Floristic Endemism in Summer-Rainfall Eastern South Africa
by Clinton Carbutt
Diversity 2023, 15(11), 1137; https://doi.org/10.3390/d15111137 - 09 Nov 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1239
Abstract
The Midlands region of KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) Province in South Africa was hitherto a putative centre of floristic endemism (CFE) based on conjecture. The aim of this study was to empirically explore this concept by delineating unambiguous boundaries for this CFE and documenting the [...] Read more.
The Midlands region of KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) Province in South Africa was hitherto a putative centre of floristic endemism (CFE) based on conjecture. The aim of this study was to empirically explore this concept by delineating unambiguous boundaries for this CFE and documenting the endemic spermatophytes within a conservation framework. The Greater Midlands Centre of Floristic Endemism (GMCFE), a more expanded study area than the parochial Midlands region of KZN, is formally described as southern Africa’s 20th CFE. It is a mid-elevation region occupying the greater Midlands of KZN, with extensions of contiguous grasslands extending northwards into southern Mpumalanga and southwards into north-eastern Eastern Cape. This “foothills” CFE covers ca. 77,000 km2 of predominantly mesic C4 grassland, ranging in elevation from ca. 700–2200 m a.s.l. It is congruent with the “sub-escarpment ecoregion,” essentially a composite of the Sub-escarpment Grassland and Savanna Bioregions and the sub-escarpment grasslands of southern Mpumalanga and northern KZN. The GMCFE hosts at least 220 endemic spermatophytes, of which almost a fifth belong to the family Apocynaceae. Families Asteraceae, Asphodelaceae, Fabaceae, and Iridaceae also contribute significantly. Genera Ceropegia, Aloe, Dierama, Kniphofia, Helichrysum, and Streptocarpus contribute the most endemics. More than half are forbs, and almost three-quarters are confined to the Grassland Biome. Endemic radiations are attributed to geodiversity and geological complexity (especially the strong lithological influence of dolerite); physiographic heterogeneity (particularly elevation gradients and variable terrain units); strategic proximity to hyper-diverse temperate and subtropical “border floras”; and localized pollinator-driven adaptive radiations. Of alarming concern is the high number of threatened plant taxa, with ca. 60% of the endemic flora Red Listed in threat categories (CE, E, and VU) or considered “rare”. Extremely low levels of formal protection and poor ecological connectivity, coupled with high levels of land transformation and intensive utilization, render the GMCFE one of the most imperilled CFE in South Africa. Urgent conservation action is required to safeguard this unique and highly threatened “rangeland flora” and stem the biodiversity crisis gripping the region. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Herbaria: A Key Resource for Plant Diversity Exploration)
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Review

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10 pages, 233 KiB  
Review
Strengthening Partnerships to Safeguard the Future of Herbaria
by Barbara M. Thiers
Diversity 2024, 16(1), 36; https://doi.org/10.3390/d16010036 - 05 Jan 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1396
Abstract
Herbaria remain the primary means of documenting plant life on earth, and the number of herbaria worldwide and the number of specimens they hold continues to grow. Digitization of herbarium specimens, though far from complete, has increased the discoverability of herbarium holdings and [...] Read more.
Herbaria remain the primary means of documenting plant life on earth, and the number of herbaria worldwide and the number of specimens they hold continues to grow. Digitization of herbarium specimens, though far from complete, has increased the discoverability of herbarium holdings and has increased the range of studies from which data from herbarium specimens can be used. The rather large number of herbaria about which no current information is available is a source of concern, as is herbarium consolidation and removal of herbaria to offsite storage facilities. Partnerships are key to the future health of herbaria. Benefits could accrue from the reimagining of the world’s herbaria as a global resource rather than a collection of independent, often competing institutions. Herbaria can extend the reach of their specimens by joining the nascent effort to link the species occurrence data they manage to other biological and environmental data sources to deepen our ability to understand the interrelationships of earth’s biota. To assure that data held by herbaria contribute to the range of conservation-related projects for which they are relevant, herbaria should embrace the tenets of Team Science and play a more proactive role in promoting their holdings for relevant research and conservation projects. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Herbaria: A Key Resource for Plant Diversity Exploration)
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