Unlocking the potential of herbarium collections: a case study from the digitization of Silvia Zenari’s specimens

Valentina Boscariol ¹, Elena Canadelli ²

University of Palermo, Department of Earth and Marine Sciences, Via Archirafi 22, 90123, Palermo ¹, University of Padova, Department of Historical and Geographic Sciences and the Ancient World, Via del Vescovado 6, 35141, Padova ²

Natural history collections play a key role in addressing global environmental issues, such as the conservation of biodiversity. Thanks to the vast source of information kept in the preserved collections, they have become crucial to understand how climate change and other factors are affecting biodiversity. Among these collections, herbarium specimens have been increasingly used in studying multiple aspects, ranging from taxonomy and systematics to genomics, and including ecology and evolution. These applications have been also possible due to the advancements in technological and molecular fields (e.g. use of Artificial Intelligence, High-Throughput Sequencing). In the last decades, herbarium collections have started to be digitized providing accessible metadata for exploring plant biodiversity changes over time and across spatial scales as well as making predictions about future trends. Digitization is also a fundamental step to create open access databases, promoting global studies on plant biodiversity without damaging herbarium specimens and facilitating collaboration between researchers. The italian herbarium collections are currently involved in a large-scale digitization project promoted by National Biodiversity Future Centre (NBFC), starting from the Italian Central Herbarium (HCI) in Florence. The Herbarium Patavinum (PAD), hosted in the Botanical Museum of Padova, is part of this project. It includes specimens collected by the Italian botanist Silvia Zenari who is one of the major contributors of the XX century, with a specific interest in the North-eastern Alps. In this scenario, the aim of this study is to reconstruct Zenari’s biography and to characterize her collections. As a first step, we are conducting bibliographic research in the archives of the University of Padua, including the Library of the Botanical Garden, and contacting curators from institutions connected to Zenari's life and work (e.g. Museum of Natural History in Pordenone). Regarding her specimens, we collected data filtering records retrieved from GBIF as well as getting in touch with the curators of herbaria where her specimens could be preserved (e.g. HCI, MUSE, Lund Biological Museum). We expect a final count of over 20000 specimens, of which only 10% are currently indexed on GBIF. About the specimens preserved in PAD, we also plan to autonomously digitize specimens not involved in the NBFC project described above. By conducting historical research and combining data from digitization, curators and online databases we aim to have a comprehensive overview of Zenari’s work. As a following step, her specimens will be used to explore distribution changes of conservation target species like endemics or policy species. Additionally, this work will help to understand the role of female scientists in the first half of XX century and to raise awareness about the historical and biological value of herbarium. To sum up, this project provides an example of valorisation of a herbarium collection using a multidisciplinary approach. Making this cultural heritage accessible is pivotal to 1) understand the past diversity and investigate current and ongoing changes 2) make available preserved collections data to scientists 3) disseminate the history of herbaria and their role.

Main author career stage: PhD student

Contribution type: Talk

First choice session: 6. Plants, Fungi and Society

Second choice session: 1. Systematics, phylogenetics, biogeography and evolution