Biodiversity science is improved when silent herbaria speak

Daniel A Zhigila, Ryan J Schmidt, Barbara M Thiers, Suleiman D Abdul, Salisu Abdullahi, Abdullahi A AbdulRahaman, Emmanuel I Aigbokhan, Gabriel A Ajibade, Linus B Ajikah, Ferdinand A Akomaye, Abiodun E Ayodele, Joseph J Azila, Aliyu Babale, Abubakar Bello, Emmanuel C Chukwuma, Abubakar M Dadile, Chimezie Ekeke, Iroka C Finian, Abayomi E Folorunso, Akanni T Gbenga, Mohammed R Haruna, Jemilat A Ibrahim, Opeyemi S Kolawole, Abubakar M Liman, Ferdinand M Mbagwu, Sanusi Namadi, Victor S Njom, George I Nodza, Felix I Nwafor, Caleb D Obadiah, Bamigboye S Oloruntoba, Fatima BJ Sawa, Yohanna C Tumba, Umar Musa, Elizabeth N Usen, Maryam M Wabili, Charles Davis 

Herbaria represent a global biodiversity heritage essential for botanical research and conservation assessments. Despite their importance, herbaria in many parts of the world—especially in under-resourced regions such as much of Africa—are “silent”. These silent collections are poorly integrated into global research networks and hence underused and especially vulnerable to neglect. Here, we illustrate these problems through a detailed case-study of Nigerian herbaria and demonstrate that biodiversity assessments can be dramatically improved when silent herbaria are empowered to speak. Nearly 80% of Nigerian herbaria are unrecognized in key international registries, making them nearly invisible and inaccessible to the global research community. More than 90% of these collections remain undigitized and thus are inaccessible online. Because these collections capture critical temporal and spatial gaps not represented in herbaria outside of Nigeria, their absence from global databases reduces the accuracy of large-scale biodiversity models. Despite these many challenges, the number of silent herbaria in Nigeria has increased at a rate faster than the global average owing to commitments by Nigerian biodiversity scholars to prioritize herbaria for research and education. However, severely limited funding and inadequate infrastructure to effectively house these collections threaten their continued use, growth, sustainability, and online mobilization. Integration into global networks, increased investment, and digitization efforts are crucial for giving voice to silent herbaria in Africa. Large benefits to biodiversity science will accrue rapidly from such investment and integration.