Abstract Detail

Biodiversity Informatics & Herbarium Digitization

How digitization of collections at small, local herbaria contributes to plant biodiversity knowledge. .

Herbarium records contain a wealth of information about the ecological past of both extinct and extant species while offering efficient pragmatic means of documenting plant diversity. With digitization efforts, herbarium data is increasingly being mobilized online via major data hubs such as the Global Biodiversity Information Facility or Integrated Digitized Biocollections. However, most collections, especially those in smaller herbaria, are still locked away and unavailable to the global community for research and education. With the cost to undertake a digitization project and the number of small collections, we ask: what impact will the digitization of small herbaria have on approaches to the study of global plant biodiversity? In this study, we assess the scientific contributions of collections at different herbaria types through an investigation of digitized collections available in major online databases.
Using the Index Herbariorum, an online database of global herbaria, we quantify the importance of herbaria in the conterminous United States on the basis of their collection sizes and type. Our preliminary findings suggest that herbaria in the United States can be categorized into 9 types: Small University, Medium University, Large University, Small Research, Medium Research, Large Research, Small National, Medium National, and Large National. Within each category, we discuss the factors underlying their importance and current presence in online databases. We hope to discover how herbaria of different type contribute to overall plant biodiversity and how accessibility to this data will affect research. We predict that while larger herbaria contain a larger quantity of specimens over time smaller herbaria will provide more in-depth data on the local regions they cater to.

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Keywords:
Herbarium
Digitization
Biodiversity Registers .

Presentation Type: Oral Paper
Session: BIHD1, Biodiversity Informatics & Herbarium Digitization I
Location: Virtual/Virtual
Date: Wednesday, July 29th, 2020
Time: 3:30 PM
Number: BIHD1003
Abstract ID:155
Candidate for Awards:None