Small and in-country herbaria are vital for accurate plant threat assessments: A case study from Peru

Abstract

Herbaria can be considered plant libraries, each holding collections of dried specimens documenting plant diversity in space and time. For many plant species, these are our only evidence of their existence and the only means of assessing their conservation status. Specimens in all herbaria, especially those in small and often under-resourced herbaria in megadiverse countries, are key to achieving accurate estimates of the conservation status of the world's plant species. They are also part of a country's shared heritage and critical contributions to knowledge of the world's diversity.