From Dormant Collections to Repositories for the Study of Habitat Changes: The Importance of Herbaria in Modern Life Sciences

Abstract

In recent decades, the advent of new technologies for massive and automatized digitization, together with the availability of new methods for DNA sequencing, strongly increased the interest and relevance of herbarium collections for the study of plant biodiversity and evolution. These new approaches prompted new projects aimed at the creation of a large dataset of molecular and phenological data. This review discusses new challenges and opportunities for herbaria in the context of the numerous national projects that are currently ongoing, prompting the study of herbarium specimens for the understanding of biodiversity loss and habitat shifts as a consequence of climate changes and habitat destruction due to human activities. With regard to this, the National Biodiversity Future Center (active in Italy since 2022) started a large-scale digitization project of the Herbarium Centrale Italicum in Florence (Italy), which is the most important Italian botanical collection, consisting of more than 4 million samples at present.

From Galls to Cecidological Herbaria: The Role of Gall Collections in Modern Life Sciences

“…Envelopes, even if not typically used in plant herbarium collections [7], have been frequently utilized for storing cecidia, especially galls on leaves or large galls. Folded-paper envelopes are found in many cecidological herbaria as they make it easier to observe and analyse specimens [4][5][6].…”

“…This review of the main gall collections available in Europe aims to generate interest among scientists in life sciences in order to promote the digitisation and study of these collections. At this regard, several digitisation projects of herbaria are currently ongoing in different countries, such as Italy and Germany, where different pipelines and tools have been successfully employed and can be adapted for digitizing gall collections as well [7].…”

“…The availability of gall collections can support new sampling projects for comparing present and past biodiversity. This is particularly relevant in countries like Italy, where national projects are underway to study biodiversity [7]. For instance, the interest for the Italian natural history collections has been greatly stimulated in the last two years by the establishment of the National Biodiversity Future Center (NBFC, www.nbfc.it/, accessed on 22 February 2024).…”

“…For instance, the interest for the Italian natural history collections has been greatly stimulated in the last two years by the establishment of the National Biodiversity Future Center (NBFC, www.nbfc.it/, accessed on 22 February 2024). NBFC aims at conserving, restoring, monitoring and enhancing Italian and Mediterranean biodiversity [7]. One of its key activities is the large-scale digitization of the Herbarium Centrale Italicum in Florence (Italy), following international standards for data accessibility and interoperability [7].…”

“…NBFC aims at conserving, restoring, monitoring and enhancing Italian and Mediterranean biodiversity [7]. One of its key activities is the large-scale digitization of the Herbarium Centrale Italicum in Florence (Italy), following international standards for data accessibility and interoperability [7]. This large-scale digitization project will improve accessibility to herbaria and enable high-throughput workflows that can be applied to other Italian plant collections, including cecidological ones.…”