Biodiversity at the global scale: the synthesis continues

Abstract

Traditionally, the generation and use of biodiversity data and their associated specimen objects have been primarily the purview of individuals and small research groups. While deposition of data and specimens in herbaria and other repositories has long been the norm, throughout most of their history, these resources have been accessible only to a small community of specialists. Through recent concerted efforts, primarily at the level of national and international governmental agencies over the last two decades, the pace of biodiversity data accumulation has accelerated, and a wider array of biodiversity scientists has gained access to this massive accumulation of resources, applying them to an ever‐widening compass of research pursuits. We review how these new resources and increasing access to them are affecting the landscape of biodiversity research in plants today, focusing on new applications across evolution, ecology, and other fields that have been enabled specifically by the availability of these data and the global scope that was previously beyond the reach of individual investigators. We give an overview of recent advances organized along three lines: broad‐scale analyses of distributional data and spatial information, phylogenetic research circumscribing large clades with comprehensive taxon sampling, and data sets derived from improved accessibility of biodiversity literature. We also review synergies between large data resources and more traditional data collection paradigms, describe shortfalls and how to overcome them, and reflect on the future of plant biodiversity analyses in light of increasing linkages between data types and scientists in our field.

phylogatR: Phylogeographic data aggregation and repurposing

“…Existing macrogenetic studies demonstrate the need for global analyses of genetic data. Large‐scale biodiversity data enhances conservation efforts (Pelletier et al, 2018; Thompson et al, 2021) and mapping the tree of life (Folk & Siniscalchi, 2021). There is a strong push for making data publicly available (Marden et al, 2021) and repurposing these data increases their value (Heberling et al, 2021; Whitlock et al, 2010).…”

Spiny but photogenic: amateur sightings complement herbarium specimens to reveal the bioregions of cacti

“…Nevertheless, our results support that, for spatial studies, publicly available human observation records, curated both scientifically and by citizens, represent a relevant tool to complement the occurrence data obtained only from preserved specimens. It is important to note, however, that such specimens are the basis of taxonomic research, providing information and material for many other applications, such as species description, morphological studies, DNA extraction, studies on herbivory and other ecological relationships, and biochemical studies (Folk and Siniscalchi, 2021). As discussed in Troudet et al (2018), visual observations cannot be used as a basis for these types of studies and therefore should not be seen as a substitute for preserved specimens.…”

“…Most studies of spatial biogeography in plants, including cacti, use as primary evidence point records from preserved herbarium specimens (Funk and Richardson, 2002; Folk and Siniscalchi, 2021). However, the exclusive use of data based on preserved specimens to estimate the geographic distribution of cacti is problematic due to a known collection deficit associated with the difficult handling and preservation of specimens.…”

Spiny but photogenic: Amateur sightings complement herbarium specimens to reveal the bioregions of cacti

“…Most studies of spatial biogeography in plants, including cacti, use preserved herbarium specimens’ point records as primary evidence (Funk and Richardson, 2002; Folk and Siniscalchi, 2021). However, this is problematic for cacti, due to a known collection deficit associated with the difficulty of handling and preserving specimens.…”