The colonial legacy of herbaria

Daniel S Park^#^{1

2}, Xiao Feng^#³, Shinobu Akiyama⁴, Marlina Ardiyani⁵, Neida Avendaño^{6

7}, Zoltan Barina⁸, Blandine Bärtschi⁹, Manuel Belgrano¹⁰, Julio Betancur¹¹, Roxali Bijmoer¹², Ann Bogaerts¹³, Asunción Cano¹⁴, Jiří Danihelka^{15

16}, Arti Garg¹⁷, David E Giblin¹⁸, Rajib Gogoi¹⁹, Alessia Guggisberg²⁰, Marko Hyvärinen²¹, Shelley A James²², Ramagwai J Sebola^{23

24}, Tomoyuki Katagiri^{25

26}, Jonathan A Kennedy²⁷, Tojibaev Sh Komil²⁸, Byoungyoon Lee²⁹, Serena M L Lee³⁰, Donatella Magri³¹, Rossella Marcucci³², Siro Masinde³³, Denis Melnikov³⁴, Patrik Mráz³⁵, Wieslaw Mulenko³⁶, Paul Musili³³, Geoffrey Mwachala³³, Burrell E Nelson³⁷, Christine Niezgoda³⁸, Carla Novoa Sepúlveda³⁹, Sylvia Orli⁴⁰, Alan Paton⁴¹, Serge Payette⁴², Kent D Perkins⁴³, Maria Jimena Ponce⁴⁴, Heimo Rainer^{45

46}, L Rasingam⁴⁷, Himmah Rustiami⁵, Natalia M Shiyan⁴⁸, Charlotte Sletten Bjorå⁴⁹, James Solomon⁵⁰, Fred Stauffer⁵¹, Alex Sumadijaya^{5

52}, Mélanie Thiébaut⁹, Barbara M Thiers⁵³, Hiromi Tsubota^{54

55}, Alison Vaughan⁵⁶, Risto Virtanen^{57

58}, Timothy J S Whitfeld⁵⁹, Dianxiang Zhang⁶⁰, Fernando O Zuloaga¹⁰, Charles C Davis⁶¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Biological Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA. danielpark@purdue.edu.
² Purdue Center for Plant Biology, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA. danielpark@purdue.edu.
³ Department of Geography, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL, USA.
⁴ Department of Botany, National Museum of Nature and Science, Tsukuba, Japan.
⁵ Herbarium Bogoriense, Research Center for Biosystematics and Evolution, National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), Cibinong, Indonesia.
⁶ Instituto Experimental Jardin Botánico 'Dr. Tobías Lasser', Avenida Salvador Allende, Ciudad Universitaria, Caracas, Venezuela.
⁷ Universidad Central de Venezuela, Caracas, Venezuela.
⁸ Hungarian Natural History Museum, Budapest, Hungary.
⁹ Herbier LY, FR-BioEEnVis, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, Lyon, France.
¹⁰ Instituto de Botánica Darwinion, San Isidro, Argentina.
¹¹ Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogotá, Colombia.
¹² Botany Section, Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Leiden, the Netherlands.
¹³ Meise Botanic Garden, Meise, Belgium.
¹⁴ Herbario San Marcos, Museo de Historia Natural, Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Lima, Peru.
¹⁵ Department of Botany and Zoology, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic.
¹⁶ Institute of Botany of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Průhonice, Czech Republic.
¹⁷ Central Regional Centre, Botanical Survey of India, Allahabad, India.
¹⁸ University of Washington Herbarium, Burke Museum, Seattle, WA, USA.
¹⁹ Sikkim Himalayan Regional Centre, Botanical Survey of India, Gangtok, India.
²⁰ Institute of Integrative Biology, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
²¹ Botany Unit, Finnish Museum of Natural History, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
²² Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions, Western Australian Herbarium, Kensington, Western Australia, Australia.
²³ South African National Biodiversity Institute, Pretoria, South Africa.
²⁴ School of Animal, Plant and Environmental Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.
²⁵ Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science and Technology, Kochi University, Kochi, Japan.
²⁶ Hattori Botanical Laboratory, Nichinan, Japan.
²⁷ Harvard University Herbaria, Cambridge, MA, USA.
²⁸ Institute of Botany, Uzbekistan Academy of Sciences, Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
²⁹ National Institute of Ecology, Seocheon, South Korea.
³⁰ National Parks Board, Singapore Botanic Gardens, Singapore, Singapore.
³¹ Department of Environmental Biology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy.
³² Herbarium Patavinum, University of Padua, Padua, Italy.
³³ East African Herbarium, National Museums of Kenya, Nairobi, Kenya.
³⁴ Komarov Botanical Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation.
³⁵ Herbarium Collections & Department of Botany, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic.
³⁶ Institute of Biological Sciences, Maria Curie-Skłodowska University, Lublin, Poland.
³⁷ Rocky Mountain Herbarium, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY, USA.
³⁸ Field Museum, Chicago, IL, USA.
³⁹ Staatliche Naturwissenschaftliche Sammlungen Bayerns, Botanische Staatssammlung München, München, Germany.
⁴⁰ Department of Botany, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, USA.
⁴¹ Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Surrey, UK.
⁴² Herbier Louis-Marie, Université Laval, Québec City, Québec, Canada.
⁴³ University of Florida Herbarium, Florida Museum, Gainesville, FL, USA.
⁴⁴ Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal (UNC-CONICET), Córdoba, Argentina.
⁴⁵ Naturhistorisches Museum Wien, Vienna, Austria.
⁴⁶ Department of Botany and Biodiversity Research, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
⁴⁷ Deccan Regional Centre, Botanical Survey of India, Hyderabad, India.
⁴⁸ National Herbarium of Ukraine, M.G. Kholodny Institute of Botany, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Kyiv, Ukraine.
⁴⁹ Natural History Museum, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
⁵⁰ Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, MO, USA.
⁵¹ Conservatory and Botanic Gardens of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland.
⁵² Department of Plant Sciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
⁵³ New York Botanical Garden, Bronx, NY, USA.
⁵⁴ Graduate School of Integrated Sciences for Life, Hiroshima University, Hiroshima, Japan.
⁵⁵ Miyajima Natural Botanical Garden, Hiroshima University, Hiroshima, Japan.
⁵⁶ Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
⁵⁷ Ecology and Genetics Research Unit, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland.
⁵⁸ University of Oulu Botanical Museum, Oulu, Finland.
⁵⁹ Bell Museum, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN, USA.
⁶⁰ South China Botanical Garden Herbarium, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, China.
⁶¹ Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University Herbaria, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA. cdavis@oeb.harvard.edu.

^# Contributed equally.

PMID: 37308536
DOI: 10.1038/s41562-023-01616-7

The colonial legacy of herbaria

Daniel S Park et al. Nat Hum Behav. 2023 Jul.

. 2023 Jul;7(7):1059-1068.

doi: 10.1038/s41562-023-01616-7. Epub 2023 Jun 12.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Biological Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA. danielpark@purdue.edu.
² Purdue Center for Plant Biology, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA. danielpark@purdue.edu.
³ Department of Geography, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL, USA.
⁴ Department of Botany, National Museum of Nature and Science, Tsukuba, Japan.
⁵ Herbarium Bogoriense, Research Center for Biosystematics and Evolution, National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), Cibinong, Indonesia.
⁶ Instituto Experimental Jardin Botánico 'Dr. Tobías Lasser', Avenida Salvador Allende, Ciudad Universitaria, Caracas, Venezuela.
⁷ Universidad Central de Venezuela, Caracas, Venezuela.
⁸ Hungarian Natural History Museum, Budapest, Hungary.
⁹ Herbier LY, FR-BioEEnVis, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, Lyon, France.
¹⁰ Instituto de Botánica Darwinion, San Isidro, Argentina.
¹¹ Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogotá, Colombia.
¹² Botany Section, Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Leiden, the Netherlands.
¹³ Meise Botanic Garden, Meise, Belgium.
¹⁴ Herbario San Marcos, Museo de Historia Natural, Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Lima, Peru.
¹⁵ Department of Botany and Zoology, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic.
¹⁶ Institute of Botany of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Průhonice, Czech Republic.
¹⁷ Central Regional Centre, Botanical Survey of India, Allahabad, India.
¹⁸ University of Washington Herbarium, Burke Museum, Seattle, WA, USA.
¹⁹ Sikkim Himalayan Regional Centre, Botanical Survey of India, Gangtok, India.
²⁰ Institute of Integrative Biology, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
²¹ Botany Unit, Finnish Museum of Natural History, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
²² Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions, Western Australian Herbarium, Kensington, Western Australia, Australia.
²³ South African National Biodiversity Institute, Pretoria, South Africa.
²⁴ School of Animal, Plant and Environmental Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.
²⁵ Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science and Technology, Kochi University, Kochi, Japan.
²⁶ Hattori Botanical Laboratory, Nichinan, Japan.
²⁷ Harvard University Herbaria, Cambridge, MA, USA.
²⁸ Institute of Botany, Uzbekistan Academy of Sciences, Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
²⁹ National Institute of Ecology, Seocheon, South Korea.
³⁰ National Parks Board, Singapore Botanic Gardens, Singapore, Singapore.
³¹ Department of Environmental Biology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy.
³² Herbarium Patavinum, University of Padua, Padua, Italy.
³³ East African Herbarium, National Museums of Kenya, Nairobi, Kenya.
³⁴ Komarov Botanical Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation.
³⁵ Herbarium Collections & Department of Botany, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic.
³⁶ Institute of Biological Sciences, Maria Curie-Skłodowska University, Lublin, Poland.
³⁷ Rocky Mountain Herbarium, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY, USA.
³⁸ Field Museum, Chicago, IL, USA.
³⁹ Staatliche Naturwissenschaftliche Sammlungen Bayerns, Botanische Staatssammlung München, München, Germany.
⁴⁰ Department of Botany, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, USA.
⁴¹ Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Surrey, UK.
⁴² Herbier Louis-Marie, Université Laval, Québec City, Québec, Canada.
⁴³ University of Florida Herbarium, Florida Museum, Gainesville, FL, USA.
⁴⁴ Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal (UNC-CONICET), Córdoba, Argentina.
⁴⁵ Naturhistorisches Museum Wien, Vienna, Austria.
⁴⁶ Department of Botany and Biodiversity Research, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
⁴⁷ Deccan Regional Centre, Botanical Survey of India, Hyderabad, India.
⁴⁸ National Herbarium of Ukraine, M.G. Kholodny Institute of Botany, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Kyiv, Ukraine.
⁴⁹ Natural History Museum, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
⁵⁰ Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, MO, USA.
⁵¹ Conservatory and Botanic Gardens of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland.
⁵² Department of Plant Sciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
⁵³ New York Botanical Garden, Bronx, NY, USA.
⁵⁴ Graduate School of Integrated Sciences for Life, Hiroshima University, Hiroshima, Japan.
⁵⁵ Miyajima Natural Botanical Garden, Hiroshima University, Hiroshima, Japan.
⁵⁶ Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
⁵⁷ Ecology and Genetics Research Unit, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland.
⁵⁸ University of Oulu Botanical Museum, Oulu, Finland.
⁵⁹ Bell Museum, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN, USA.
⁶⁰ South China Botanical Garden Herbarium, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, China.
⁶¹ Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University Herbaria, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA. cdavis@oeb.harvard.edu.

^# Contributed equally.

PMID: 37308536
DOI: 10.1038/s41562-023-01616-7

Abstract

Herbarium collections shape our understanding of Earth's flora and are crucial for addressing global change issues. Their formation, however, is not free from sociopolitical issues of immediate relevance. Despite increasing efforts addressing issues of representation and colonialism in natural history collections, herbaria have received comparatively less attention. While it has been noted that the majority of plant specimens are housed in the Global North, the extent and magnitude of this disparity have not been quantified. Here we examine the colonial legacy of botanical collections, analysing 85,621,930 specimen records and assessing survey responses from 92 herbarium collections across 39 countries. We find an inverse relationship between where plant diversity exists in nature and where it is housed in herbaria. Such disparities persist across physical and digital realms despite overt colonialism ending over half a century ago. We emphasize the need for acknowledging the colonial history of herbarium collections and implementing a more equitable global paradigm for their collection, curation and use.

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Comment in

The past is a foreign country.
Knapp S. Knapp S. Nat Hum Behav. 2023 Jul;7(7):1042-1043. doi: 10.1038/s41562-023-01622-9. Nat Hum Behav. 2023. PMID: 37308537 No abstract available.

References

1. Thiers, B. M. The World’s Herbaria 2020: A Summary Report Based on Data from Index Herbariorum Issue 5.0 (NYBG Steere Herbarium, 2021).
1. Willis, C. G. et al. Old plants, new tricks: phenological research using herbarium specimens. Trends Ecol. Evol. 32, 531–546 (2017). - DOI - PubMed
1. Heberling, J. M., Miller, J. T., Noesgaard, D., Weingart, S. B. & Schigel, D. Data integration enables global biodiversity synthesis. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 118, e2018093118 (2021). - DOI - PubMed - PMC
1. Hedrick, B. et al. Digitization and the future of natural history collections. Bioscience 70, 243–251 (2020). - DOI
1. Funk, V. A. 100 uses for an herbarium: well at least 72. Am. Soc. Plant Taxon. Newsl. 7, 17–19 (2003).

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The colonial legacy of herbaria

Affiliations

The colonial legacy of herbaria

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