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

What is it about?

By providing snapshots of past plant diversity, herbarium specimens allow us to see which species are in decline, as well as the likely causes of this decline. Importantly, new techniques are allowing us to predict which species will decline further in future due to the threat from climate change and invasive species. Not only do collected specimens hold the potential to fill gaps in systematics, range extent, and past genetic diversity, they offer material that can be used in conjunction with citizen science initiatives to foster species recovery, ecosystem restoration, and de-extinction.

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Photo by Torsten Dederichs on Unsplash

Photo by Torsten Dederichs on Unsplash