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Herbaria: A Key Resource for Plant Diversity Exploration

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 July 2025 | Viewed by 20480

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Dr. Adriano Stinca

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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
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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 2100 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

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Published Papers (10 papers)

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17 pages, 3120 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Reconstructing Historical Changes in the Macroalgal Vegetation of a Central Mediterranean Coastal Area Based on Herbarium Collections

by Fabio Rindi, Giulia Bellanti, Anna Annibaldi and Stefano Accoroni

Diversity 2024, 16(12), 741; https://doi.org/10.3390/d16120741 - 30 Nov 2024

Viewed by 912

Abstract

Well-conserved herbarium specimens of marine macroalgae represent a valuable resource for multiple types of investigation. When algal herbaria host specimens collected over long time spans from a certain geographic area, they have the potential to document historical changes in the benthic vegetation of that area. In this study, historical changes in the macroalgal vegetation of a central Mediterranean coast (Conero Riviera, Adriatic Sea) were assessed based on a critical re-examination of the herbarium of Irma Pierpaoli (collection period 1925–1951) and the phycological herbarium of the Polytechnic University of Marche (ANC ALG, collections made mostly in the period 1999–2024). For both herbaria, the identifications of many specimens were revised based on the current species circumscriptions. The comparison indicates that some major changes occurred between the two collection periods: a switch in the morphological functional structure of the vegetation (increase in the number of filamentous species, decrease in leathery macrophytes, and the near disappearance of calcareous articulated algae), local extinction of some species (at least 23, possibly more), and introduction of 11 species of non-indigenous seaweeds. Anthropogenic impacts (habitat destruction, increase in sediment load, and impacts of port activities and maritime traffic) are considered the main factors responsible for these changes. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Herbaria: A Key Resource for Plant Diversity Exploration)

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14 pages, 1497 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Extinct or Not? Confirming the “Extinct” Status of Hieracium tolstoii (Asteraceae) with Integrated Taxonomic Investigation

by Federico Fainelli, Giacomo Baldesi, Mattia Pallanza and Simone Orsenigo

Diversity 2024, 16(9), 591; https://doi.org/10.3390/d16090591 - 20 Sep 2024

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1251

Abstract

Hieracium is one of the largest flowering plant genera that has recently experienced a rapid evolutionary radiation. Due to the massive morphological variation among species, frequent hybridization, and polyploidization events, combined with apomictic reproduction in polyploids, the concept of species in Hieracium is widely debated, and species identification is incredibly challenging. Taxonomic investigation can lead to changes in conservation status or, in some cases, to de-extinctions of species. Taxa with doubtful classification are particularly sensitive to this kind of problem. Hieracium tolstoii was a narrow Italian endemic species that is nowadays considered extinct. Described as a morphological intermediate form between two other species, no further investigations were conducted after its first description. To clarify H. tolstoii’s origin and ensure the validity of its current conservation status, we conducted a taxonomic investigation on herbaria specimens of the early XX century. Specimens were studied using a morphometric analysis that compared H. tolstoii with other closely related taxa. Moreover, we performed phylogenetic investigations using three plastid intergenic spacers to evaluate the relationship between species. Plastid markers revealed the presence of indels and SNPs in H. tolstoii sequences that differ from sequences of the supposed parental species. Morphometry revealed differences among species that led us to confirm the validity of H. tolstoii as an independent apomictic species and, therefore, unfortunately, its extinction. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Herbaria: A Key Resource for Plant Diversity Exploration)

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17 pages, 9468 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Marine Macroalgae Collection from Herbarium João de Carvalho e Vasconcellos (LISI)—140 Years of History

by João Canilho Santos, Paula Paes, Pedro Arsénio, Rui Figueira, José Carlos Costa, Margarida Dionísio Lopes, Helena Cotrim and Dalila Espírito-Santo

Diversity 2024, 16(8), 478; https://doi.org/10.3390/d16080478 - 7 Aug 2024

Viewed by 1199

Abstract

Herbaria phycological collections have approximately one million 700 thousand specimens preserved in European herbaria, a significantly lower number when compared to vascular plants, due to factors such as greater sampling difficulty and fewer specialists. Several studies report that coastal systems have undergone dramatic ecological changes in the last 150 years, with macroalgae being a particularly affected group. Thus, macroalgal herbaria are essential sources for the study and conservation of this biodiversity, as well as a pillar that responds to several ecological questions. Despite having a large coastline, Portugal’s phycological collections are scarce, poorly developed, and practically inaccessible digitally. In 2021/2022, all the phycological specimens present at LISI were the focus of this exploratory project whose objective was to catalog them, taxonomically review the specimens and place them at the service of the scientific community through the incorporation of digitized vouchers into online databases. Three marine collections were constituted and studied, accounting for a total of 852 vouchers and more than 1800 specimens, being the Portuguese Marine Macroalgae Collection, the oldest digitized phycological collection available in Portugal. This project provides an opportunity for other educational institutions to embrace their long-neglected collections as well. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Herbaria: A Key Resource for Plant Diversity Exploration)

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21 pages, 13159 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Pollen and Seed Morphology as Taxonomic Markers in Verbascum Taxa Based on Herbarium Specimens of MARIUM

by Fatma Mungan Kılıç

Diversity 2024, 16(8), 443; https://doi.org/10.3390/d16080443 - 26 Jul 2024

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1060

Abstract

Herbaria are vital resources of biodiversity education and conservation. They contain significant dried collections and botanical data of plant species that are useful for taxonomy, systematics, and plant-based applied research applications. Verbascum L. is the largest genus within the Scrophulariaceae family globally. However, the high morphological diversity within the genus poses significant challenges for accurate species delimitation. This study investigated the pollen and seed morphology of seven distinct Verbascum groups (comprising 10 taxa, including three endemics) from southeastern Anatolia using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). SEM analyses revealed that all examined taxa possessed tricolporate pollen apertures, with pollen shapes varying between prolate spheroidal and oblate spheroidal. Seeds exhibited a light brown to dark brown color, with a prismatic oblong shape and alveolate surface. The seed coat ornamentation consisted of irregular polygonal cells, densely covered with distinct vesicles. Findings demonstrate significant morphological distinctions in both pollen and seed characteristics, suggesting their utility in taxonomic discrimination within Verbascum groups. Notably, the detailed micromorphology revealed by SEM proved to be particularly valuable for classifying these taxa. These results contribute the understanding of the taxonomic diversity within Verbascum and highlight the crucial role of SEM in uncovering microstructural details for accurate species identification. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Herbaria: A Key Resource for Plant Diversity Exploration)

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12 pages, 6785 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Bryophytes Collection of the University of Brasilia Herbarium, Brazil

by Mel C. Camelo, Allan L. A. Faria, Daniela Cemin, Paulo E. A. S. Câmara and Micheline Carvalho-Silva

Diversity 2024, 16(6), 342; https://doi.org/10.3390/d16060342 - 13 Jun 2024

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1321

Abstract

The UB Herbarium, located in the Department of Botany at the University of Brasilia (Brasilia, Brazil), was established in 1963. It is the third-largest herbarium in Brazil, housing approximately 277,000 samples. This study presents a quantitative description of the bryophytes collection at the UB Herbarium, which is the second-largest bryophytes collection in Brazil. It contains 31,099 samples, including specimens from all continents and 79 countries, with a focus on specimens from Brazil, Papua New Guinea, Malaysia, the United States, Chile, Indonesia, South Africa, Ireland, Argentina, and Sweden, as well as various islands and archipelagos. The collection has grown significantly since its creation in 1963, when it initially held 869 specimens; it now contains 31,099 specimens, which is a 59.3% increase. The herbarium holds 95 types of bryophytes. These results were gathered from consultations in the UB Herbarium online database and compiled into an Excel spreadsheet. These findings highlight the importance of our collection, making it a valuable resource for students and researchers interested in exploring and studying a diverse array of specimens. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Herbaria: A Key Resource for Plant Diversity Exploration)

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29 pages, 7045 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

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 - 6 Feb 2024

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2369

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 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

Open AccessCommunication

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 - 2 Feb 2024

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1698

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 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

Open AccessArticle

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

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1924

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 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

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

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 - 9 Nov 2023

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2608

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 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

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceReview

Strengthening Partnerships to Safeguard the Future of Herbaria

by Barbara M. Thiers

Diversity 2024, 16(1), 36; https://doi.org/10.3390/d16010036 - 5 Jan 2024

Cited by 11 | Viewed by 3382

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 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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