The End of Botany

Crisci, Jorge V.; Katinas, Liliana; Apodaca, María José; Hoch, Peter C.

doi:10.1016/j.tplants.2020.09.012

Cited by 43 publications

(39 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…On one hand, herbaria, especially when digitized, are an irreplaceable tool for further data mining allowing the re-evaluation of old records in the light of the progress of phylogenetic hypotheses and taxonomy, and should be therefore sustained and implemented with new records (see e.g. Crisci et al 2020 ). On the other hand, professional floristics should gain more consideration in the scientific community, acknowledging its fundamental role in providing and updating occurrence and distributional data, which are the basis for new biogeographic hypotheses, taxonomic and ecological research, and biodiversity conservation.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Refining the picture: new records to the lichen biota of Italy

Nascimbene¹,

Gheza²,

Hafellner³

et al. 2021

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Based on the analysis of both historical and recent collections, this paper reports an annotated list of taxa which are new to the lichen biota of Italy or of its administrative regions. Specimens were identified using a dissecting and a compound microscope; routine chemical spot tests and standardized thin-layer chromatography (TLC or HPTLC). The list includes 225 records of 153 taxa. Twenty taxa are new to Italy, the others are new to one or more administrative regions, with 15 second records and 5 third records for Italy. Some of the species belong to recently-described taxa, others are poorly known, sterile or ephemeral lichens which were largely overlooked in Italy. Several species are actually rare, either because of the rarity of their habitats (e.g. old-growth forests), or because in Italy they are at the margins of their bioclimatic distribution. The picture of the lichen biota of Italy has now new pixels, but its grain is still coarse. Further analysis of historical collections, increased efforts in the exploration of some areas, and the taxonomic revision of critical groups are still necessary to provide more complete distributional data for new biogeographic hypotheses, taxonomic and ecological research, and biodiversity conservation.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Refining the picture: new records to the lichen biota of Italy

Nascimbene¹,

Gheza²,

Hafellner³

et al. 2021

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The essence of the AFLIBER database lies in taxonomic botany, a discipline that is slowly disappearing from academic curricula (Crisci et al., 2020). This ongoing crisis in botany is attributable, in part, to the bibliometrics that are used to judge the impact of scientific research, which often undermine plant taxonomy despite it being the basis of many downstream disciplines, such as ecology, biogeography and conservation biology (Crisci et al., 2020; Woodland, 2007). Nonetheless, professional and amateur Iberian botanists continue to generate priceless floristic and taxonomic data, and the recently constituted Spanish Botanical Society will take up the challenge of maintaining taxonomic botany alive as a foundational task, including data curation of the AFLIBER database and the incorporation of the two last volumes of Flora iberica (Poaceae) and other relevant essays in due course.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Atlas of the vascular flora of the Iberian Peninsula biodiversity hotspot (AFLIBER)

Ramos-Gutierrez

Lima

Pajarón

et al. 2021

Global Ecol Biogeogr

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Motivation We accessed published and unpublished floristic sources to compile a comprehensive species list of the Iberian–Balearic terrestrial vascular flora and generate AFLIBER, an accurate floristic database of georeferenced plant occurrence records. Main type of variable contained Species distribution data totalling 1,824,549 plant occurrence records corresponding to 6,456 species and subspecies. Spatial location and grain The western Mediterranean, including inland territories of Spain, Portugal and Andorra and the adjacent archipelagos of Berlengas, Columbretes and the Balearic Islands, covered by 6,316 UTM quadrangular grid cells of 10 km resolution. Time period All distributional trustable records were considered to create the AFLIBER database, most of them dating from the 1960s onwards. Major taxa and level of measurement Terrestrial vascular plant species and subspecies. Software format Data are supplied as comma‐separated text (csv) files.

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“…In various prioritization exercises, a heightened risk of extinction is forefront in the discussion of high‐priority species, yet the resolution of conflicts over which species are deemed ‘more important’ than others remains a challenge (Raymond et al ., 2018). Prioritization of conservation that includes the societal or cultural valuation of a species has been increasingly explored (Stepp & Thomas, 2005; Pfeiffer & Voeks, 2008; Martín et al ., 2010) and could engage a wider audience (Crisci et al ., 2020).…”

Section: Importance Of Herbaria In Raising Awareness and Gaining Momentum For Conservation Actionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reversing extinction trends: new uses of (old) herbarium specimens to accelerate conservation action on threatened species

et al. 2021

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Summary Although often not collected specifically for the purposes of conservation, herbarium specimens offer sufficient information to reconstruct parameters that are needed to designate a species as ‘at‐risk’ of extinction. While such designations should prompt quick and efficient legal action towards species recovery, such action often lags far behind and is mired in bureaucratic procedure. The increase in online digitization of natural history collections has now led to a surge in the number new studies on the uses of machine learning. These repositories of species occurrences are now equipped with advances that allow for the identification of rare species. The increase in attention devoted to estimating the scope and severity of the threats that lead to the decline of such species will increase our ability to mitigate these threats and reverse the declines, overcoming a current barrier to the recovery of many threatened plant species. Thus far, collected specimens have been used to fill gaps in systematics, range extent, and past genetic diversity. We find that they also offer material with which it is possible to foster species recovery, ecosystem restoration, and de‐extinction, and these elements should be used in conjunction with machine learning and citizen science initiatives to mobilize as large a force as possible to counter current extinction trends.

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The End of Botany

Cited by 43 publications

References 7 publications

Refining the picture: new records to the lichen biota of Italy

Refining the picture: new records to the lichen biota of Italy

Atlas of the vascular flora of the Iberian Peninsula biodiversity hotspot (AFLIBER)

Reversing extinction trends: new uses of (old) herbarium specimens to accelerate conservation action on threatened species

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