National Botanical Symposium

Lúcia Lohmann
Missouri Botanical Garden
"Biodiversity and innovation: Bringing herbaria to their full potential"

Abstract
Coming soon

Born in Brazil, Lúcia Lohmann earned her undergraduate degree in biology from the University of São Paulo, where she documented the biodiversity of the Amazon Basin. She later earned a master’s and Ph.D. degrees in Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics from the University of Missouri-St. Louis, where she studied the biogeography and evolutionary history of the trumpet-creeper plant family. After receiving her Ph.D., Lohmann worked as a postdoctoral fellow at the Missouri Botanical Garden’s Center for Conservation and Sustainable Development (CCSD) where she used specimens from the Garden’s globally renowned Herbarium and geospatial tools to address evolutionary, ecological, and conservation questions. Before her most recent tenure as Director of the University and Jepson Herbaria and Professor in the Department of Integrative Biology at the University of California, Berkeley, Lohmann held a faculty position in the Department of Botany of the University of São Paulo, where she remains as an Adjunct Professor. Her research focuses on neotropical biodiversity, with a special focus on the Amazon basin. Lohmann is now the 8th President and Director of the Missouri Botanical Garden, and a George Engelmann Professor of Botany at Washington University in St. Louis. Lohmann is deeply involved in efforts to study and conserve biodiversity worldwide. In this context, she also serves as Executive Director of the Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation (ATBC) and President of the International Association for Plant Taxonomy (IAPT).

Emily Coffey
Atlanta Botanical Garden
"The crucial role of botanical gardens in plant conservation"

Abstract
The growing loss of plant biodiversity highlights the critical role of botanical gardens in conservation, research, and education. Beyond their traditional aesthetic purpose, botanical gardens are essential to global plant conservation efforts. They serve as living repositories for rare and endangered species, preserving genetic diversity vital for ecosystem resilience and restoration. By cultivating plants that are rare or extinct in the wild, botanical gardens safeguard genetic resources necessary for ecological restoration and the study of plant biology. These efforts support the development of effective conservation strategies. Additionally, their controlled environments facilitate research on plant growth, reproduction, and responses to environmental changes, offering insights that are difficult to obtain in natural settings. Botanical gardens also play a key role in raising public awareness about biodiversity. Through educational programs and interactive exhibits, they inspire understanding and support for plant conservation while encouraging public involvement in preserving biodiversity. Botanical gardens are more than beautiful landscapes; they are indispensable centers of biodiversity conservation, research, and education. Their contributions to safeguarding species, advancing scientific knowledge, and fostering environmental awareness make them vital in combating global biodiversity loss.

Emily E.D. Coffey is Vice President of Conservation and Research at the Atlanta Botanical Garden, where she leads efforts to protect biodiversity through cutting-edge conservation programs. Since 2017, she has transformed the Southeastern Center for Conservation into a national leader, establishing advanced genetics, micropropagation, cryopreservation labs, and a state-of-the-art seed bank. Under her leadership, the Garden has expanded its focus to include innovative conservation horticulture initiatives and restoration ecology research, bridging the gap between ex-situ plant conservation and ecosystem restoration. Dr. Coffey earned her M.Sc. and Ph.D. from the University of Oxford, where she focused on island biogeography and the conservation ecology of rare plants. Her research continues to inform strategies for restoring ecosystems and safeguarding imperiled plant species. She holds leadership roles with organizations such as Botanic Gardens Conservation International US, the Global Conservation Consortium for Magnolia, and co-founded the Southeastern Plant Conservation Alliance, advancing collaborative efforts to address biodiversity loss across the southeastern United States.

Emily Meineke
University of California Davis
"Herbivory through the ages: Applying paleoecological methods to herbaria to investigate modern global change"

Abstract
Global anthropogenic change is reshaping biological communities, driving decline of some species and success of others. Tracking how species interactions shift presents significant challenges, particularly for taxa with sparse or no long-term data. Herbarium specimens offer a powerful tool for reconstructing historical ecological dynamics imprinted in preserved plants, such as herbivory, seed set, pollination, and disease. While herbarium specimens have been increasingly used to document changes in species interactions over time, we lack a clear framework to assess the accuracy of the resulting data. This study advances that framework through re-analyses of existing data and a field study that compares abundance and diversity of insect damage on herbarium specimens against expert assessments in the field. Our results show that herbarium specimens provide reliable estimates of the relative strength of herbivory across plant individuals and species, with trends in expert-derived measurements closely aligning with those extracted from the specimens. Historical plant specimens are now poised to provide unprecedented insights into historical ecological processes how they shift in response to environmental change.

Emily Meineke is an Assistant Professor at UC Davis in the Department of Entomology and Nematology. The Meineke Lab investigates how human activities affect plant-insect interactions, focusing on species that are of cultural importance, such as street trees, crops, crop wild relatives, and plants that support rare insect species. In addition to leading her research group, Meineke heads the Art-Science Fusion program at UC Davis, where she collaborates with over a hundred undergraduate students, graduate students, and community volunteers each year to create large-scale public art depicting local ecology. 

Richard Primack
Boston University
"The promise of digital herbarium specimens in large-scale phenology and climate change research"

Abstract
Richard B. Primack, Natalie Iwanycki Ahlstrand, Matthew W. Austin, Zoe A. Panchen, Christine Römermann, and Abraham J. Miller-Rushing.

The online mobilization of herbaria has made tens of millions of specimens digitally available, revolutionizing investigations of phenology and plant responses to climate change. We will discuss two main themes associated with this growing body of research, and highlight a series of recent publications exemplifying them: (1) investigating phenology at large spatial and temporal scales, including cross-continental comparisons, and in understudied locations, and (2) testing longstanding theories and novel questions in ecology and evolution that were not previously answerable, such as the differing sensitivities of species and phenological stages to a warming climate. We will then explore strengths and limitations of using digitized herbarium specimens in phenology research, including issues of sampling. (Is it always better to have larger sample sizes?); reliability, transferability, and biases (How might biases in specimen collection, sampling intensity, or digitization affect results?); and ethical and social justice considerations (How can access to digitized herbarium specimens be as fair as possible?). This field will see further breakthroughs as herbaria around the globe continue to mobilize and digitally interlink their collections. New developments will likely come from advances in technology and international collaborations, and including understudied regions such as the Arctic and the tropics. 

Richard Primack is a Professor of Plant Ecology at Boston University with interests in plant ecology, conservation biology, and climate change. He served as President of the Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation and was Editor-in-Chief of the journal Biological Conservation. He has as two written widely used textbooks, Essentials of Conservation Biology and A Primer of Conservation Biology, which include 38 foreign language editions with local co-authors adding in examples from their countries. For the past 24 years, Prof. Primack and his team have investigated the effects of a warming climate on the plants and birds of Massachusetts, continuing the observations made by the philosopher Henry David Thoreau and often using herbarium specimens and botanical gardens. Prof. Primack has spread the word about the effects of climate change through public talks and popular writing, including the book Walden Warming: Climate Change Comes to Thoreau’s Woods.

Rebecca Dikow
Yale University
"Connecting the dots: people, data, and natural history collections "

Abstract
Natural history collections are extraordinarily valuable resources for taxonomy, systematics, and ecological and climate change research. As data-intensive research methods proliferate, the aggregation of billions of digitized records from natural history collections across the world can become input for machine learning models that evaluate broad biological patterns among specimens representing diverse species and their associated metadata at a scale that was previously impossible. These data can also provide the basis for the development of predictive tools and summarization techniques, enabling researchers to forecast biodiversity trends, assess conservation statuses, and conduct climate change impact assessments. A less commonly reported importance of collections is their significance recording in the scientific process and evidence of science as a community endeavor. People are involved in every aspect of these collections, as collectors, preparators, identifiers, and species authors. These contributions are not always consistently or accurately identified on specimen labels or in the digitized metadata, however, which impacts downstream analyses. Significant barriers to accurate specimen attribution remain, which disproportionately affect how the contributions of women researchers are recognized. This presentation addresses both strategies for improving data accuracy and consistency as well as the benefits of centering the people in collections-based research. 

Rebecca Dikow is the Director of Computational Methods and Data at Yale Library. The Computational Methods and Data department was created to unite digital humanities, research data management, statistical support, and geospatial support services. Computational Methods and Data aims to enhance the computational, data, and digital research services the library provides to faculty, staff, and students and to accelerate scholarship institution-wide. Dr. Dikow previously led the Data Science Lab in the Office of the CIO at the Smithsonian Institution. The Data Science Lab, now within the Office of Digital Transformation, conducts collaborative research on digitized museum collections and archives data using genomics and machine learning tools and coordinates training in data science, bioinformatics, and high-performance computing. She has a B.S. from Cornell University and a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago.

Herbarium specimens as a tool to study highly diverse groups: New World Cissus as an ideal example

Authors: Alberto J. Coello¹, Gabe Johnson¹, and Jun Wen¹
Affiliations: ¹Department of Botany, National Museum of Natural History, Washington, DC, USA.

Abstract
Cissus L. is recognized as the largest genus of the grape family (Vitaceae), with c. 300 species widely distributed across the tropical and subtropical areas of both hemispheres. Previous phylogenetic studies showed that Africa, Asia and Australasia underwent multiple species interchanges during the biogeographic history of Cissus. However, the Americas displayed a different pattern. According to the fossil evidence, Cissus arrived in the New World only once during the Eocene and produced a huge diversity (more than 70 species) with main lineages diversified during the Oligocene. Previous phylogenetic studies about this genus were published before the extensive use of next-generation sequencing techniques, including only a limited number of loci and resulting in unresolved relationships. Also, they were based on limited species (less than 50%) and geographic sampling. In this study, we used both silica gel-dried and herbarium specimens to sample about 70% of the New World clade of Cissus. The use of herbarium material provided the opportunity to perform the most complete phylogenetic reconstruction for the American Cissus. Our results provided new insights on the biogeographic history of this group, highlighting the importance of herbarium collections in the study the evolutionary history of highly diverse groups.

The importance of small herbaria for revealing tropical biodiversity patterns

Authors: Deniz Ertem^1,2 and Peter Moonlight²
Affiliations: ¹University of Maryland; ²Trinity College Dublin

Abstract
Herbaria are present in many research institutions around the world. Herbarium specimens often include collection location, species name, and collection date. But the largest and best-known herbaria are at Western institutions, such as Kew Gardens (UK) and the New York Botanic Gardens (US). This “size and prestige” disparity accompanies a disparity in the number of specimens from specific geographic regions. A use of herbarium specimens is the creation of species distribution models (SDMs); specimens often include coordinates, which enable researchers to map a particular species’ range. Large herbaria may be able to take more collecting trips to a particular country and are likely to have samples from all over the world. Conversely, smaller herbaria are likely to have more local samples due to a limited travel radius. This project aimed to test two hypotheses: 1) there will be notable differences between Begonia SDMs constructed using only data from Brazilian herbaria, using only data from non-Brazilian herbaria, and using all data, and 2) there will be notable differences between Begonia SDMs if herbaria are excluded in descending order. Models were constructed with R’s Maxent package; SDMs were compared using the Continuous Boyce Index (CBI) and the I statistic. The results indicate that, for 1), there is a difference between the models, but the answer to 2) is more complex. These findings imply that smaller herbaria must be used in SDM creation to obtain accurate models.

Herbariomics contribute to species delimitation in Dendropanax (Araliaceae)

Authors: Angélica Gallego-Narbón¹, Gabriel Johnson¹, Pedro Fiaschi², Pedro Acevedo-Rodríguez¹, and Jun Wen¹
Affiliations: ¹Department of Botany, National Museum of Natural History, Washington, DC, USA; ²Depto. de Botânica, Campus Universitário, UFSC, 88040-900, Florianópolis, SC, Brasil

Abstract
Dendropanax Decne. & Planch. constitutes one of the most species-rich genera of the angiosperm family Araliaceae. The genus exhibits an amphi-Pacific tropical disjunction. Previous phylogenetic research sequencing 33% of the species with the Sanger methodology confirmed the monophyly of the genus and delimited two main geographic clades (Asian and Neotropical Dendropanax), with most of the species in the Neotropical clade. However, this study revealed that the widespread Neotropical species Dendropanax arboreus (L.) Decne. & Planch. was polyphyletic. Here, we sampled 55% of Dendropanax species, combining silica gel-dried material with herbarium collections to accurately represent the geographic distribution of the genus. Hyb-Seq sequencing was performed and the data provided highlyresolved nuclear and plastid phylogenies. The polyphyly of D. arboreus was confirmed, and at least two different lineages in the Caribbean and Central America have been supported. A pattern of polyphyly was also found in the species D. alaris (Schltdl.) Decne. & Planch., with different lineages in Mexico and Central America. Our study highlights taxonomic problems of species delimitation in the Neotropical Dendropanax clade. Several morphologically similar lineages may have experienced convergences and multiple species remain to be described in Dendropanax.

New perspective and observations of Amorphophallus titanum 

Authors: S.M. Jones¹ and T. Hatzenbuhler²
Affiliations: ¹United States Botanic Garden, Washington, DC, USA, ²Architect of Capitol, DC, USA

Abstract
Collections horticulture is an eternal well of botanical research potential. Given the rarest plants in the world and limited instructions, horticulturists are challenged to determine precisely what makes a plant tick and exact numerous controlled inputs to see out a plant’s potential. As a natural result of this work, collections horticulturists are uniquely suited to observe, record and share observations that can unlock botanical knowledge and understanding. This striking poster is one such example that shows the iconic Amorphophallus titanum in a new light. The 2.59m plant is shown at full scale and in high resolution including the exposed stem and roots. The spathe, spadix and peduncle are bisected to reveal the inner structure of the world’s largest known unbranched inflorescence. Two notable observations clear in this image are the unexpected size of the stem relative to the inflorescence and the limited rooting that occurs during reproductive growth from the apex only. Much remains to be understood about this endangered species, and with limited in-situ observational data, collections horticulturists have much to contribute.

Bryophytes and lichens of liberty: Baseline survey of the cryptogam community in the brownfields of Liberty State Park before park redevelopment

Authors: Patricia Kaishian¹, Jason Hafstad², James C. Lendemer², Elizabeth De Cicco³, Christiane Fashek³, Frank Gallagher³, Claus Holzapfel⁴, Dorothy Smullen⁵, Scarlett Simpson⁶, Dennis Waters⁶, Blair Young⁷, and Natalie M. Howe^8*
Affiliations: ¹Department of Mycology, Research & Collections, The New York State Museum; ²Department of Botany, Research & Collections, The New York State Museum; ³Department of Landscape Architecture, Rutgers The State University of New Jersey; ⁴Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Rutgers The State University of New Jersey; ⁵New Jersey Audubon’s Scherman Hoffman Wildlife Sanctuary; ⁶Chrysler Herbarium, Rutgers The State University of New Jersey; ⁷Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Natural Resources, Rutgers The State University of New Jersey; ⁸Department of Environmental Science and Policy, George Mason University College of Science
*Presenter

Abstract
We conducted a baseline survey of the lichens and bryophytes of the brownfields of Liberty State Park in Jersey City, NJ, in 2023 to support land management decision-making during a large-scale site restoration. The 1200-acre park was a former tidal marsh that had been filled in the mid-1800s with dredge, construction and demolition materials and used as an industrial complex and railyard. After 1967, large parts of the park were capped and remediated as public parkland. However, within the park, a 235-acre brownfield with areas of metal-contaminated soil was fenced off and has been mostly undisturbed for ~50 years. During that period, a biodiverse novel community of early-to-mid-successional plants and fungi, many of them pollution-tolerant, established spontaneously. We conducted two days of surveys there, collecting and identifying voucher specimens of bryophytes, lichens, and allies. We found 61 species: 12 mosses, a liverwort, 46 lichens, a lichen parasite, and a fungus. Many of the species we found were common to urban areas of the Mid-Atlantic, but two of the lichens (Canoparmelia texana and Micarea synotheoides) were the first records of their species from NJ, and the fungus (Synnemasporella aculeans) was last reported from New Jersey 126 years ago. As these observations add to our understanding of the local biodiversity, they also inform decisions about the site’s redevelopment and effective conservation strategies for the area. 

The role of herbarium collections in assessing extinction risk: the case of the fern genus Elaphoglossum (Dryopteridaceae) in Mexico

Authors: Ana Gabriela Martínez-Becerril¹, Alejandra Vasco², and Eric Schuettpelz¹
Affiliations: ¹Department of Botany, National Museum of Natural History, Washington, DC, USA; ² Botanical Research Institute of Texas, Fort Worth, Texas, USA

Abstract
Biodiversity loss is accelerating worldwide, particularly in developing countries. Despite the great biodiversity in many of these places, limited scientific funding and high rates of violence have often restricted the fieldwork necessary to conduct species’ conservation assessments. Biological collections and open-access repositories have thus become essential tools for evaluating extinction risk. Ferns are particularly sensitive to environmental changes, making them good indicators of ecological decline that require widespread assessment. The hyperdiverse genus Elaphoglossum includes about 600 mostly tropical American species, of which 71 grow in Mexico. To improve conservation knowledge of these Mexican Elaphoglossum species, we conducted IUCN Red List evaluations using specimens at the MEXU herbarium and analyzing over 7000 records from online databases. After removing synonyms, duplicates, and misidentified records, we found that 25 species are Endangered (EN), 32 are Least Concern (LC), and 14 are Data Deficient (DD). Detailed taxonomic work significantly impacted the risk categories of several species. Most records of Mexican Elaphoglossum are from collections outside of protected areas, which suggests habitat loss from human activities may be a primary contributor to extinction risk. This study highlights the importance of well-curated herbarium records and provides a baseline for future conservation efforts for ferns in Mexico.

Conservation genetic analysis of Ozark milkvetch (Astragalus distortus; Fabaceae)

Authors: Emily Poindexter¹, Madeleine Gagliano¹, Ashley Morris², and Andrea Weeks¹
Affiliations: ¹George Mason University, Fairfax, VA; ²Furman University, Greenville, SC

Abstract
Ozark Milkvetch (Astragalus distortus Torrey & A. Gray; Fabaceae) is a small, herbaceous perennial that is native to the south-central United States and Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia. Across the south-central U.S. it is commonly found in sunny glades and grasslands, whereas in the mid-Atlantic states it grows exclusively on shale barrens and is Imperiled (Maryland, West Virginia) and Critically Imperiled (Virginia). Presently, two taxonomic varieties are recognized. A. distortus var. engelmannii can be found in Texas, Louisiana, and Arkansas, overlapping with A. distortus var. distortus, which spans the species’ entire range. These two varieties’ circumscriptions have been called into question and the mid-Atlantic meta-population hypothesized to warrant separate taxonomic recognition. Utilizing herbarium data, collection archives, Natural Heritage data, and community outreach, we located imperiled populations throughout the mid-Atlantic to test against populations of both varieties from the south-central US. A multiplex of 16 microsatellite loci was used to genetically fingerprint over 330 individuals of A. distortus from 20 populations across its US range. Here we report results from that study and outline future work that will evaluate the reproductive biology and morphology of A. distortus from across the species’ geographic distribution. These combined studies will resolve the taxonomy of the A. distortus species complex and inform future conservation actions.

Using dry plants & DNA to unravel the story ferns have to tell

Authors: Lucía Vargas^1,2 and Alejandra Vasco²
Affiliations: ¹Texas Christian University, Fort Worth, TX, USA; ²Botanical Research Institute of Texas, Fort Worth, TX, USA

Abstract
Understanding and documenting the diversity and distribution of species on Earth is crucial, especially in the face of habitat loss and species extinction. Without this knowledge, we risk losing valuable understanding of the natural world, including species with ecological, medicinal, or economic significance. Ferns, one of the oldest lineages of land plants, still hold many scientific mysteries, particularly in tropical regions where diversity is high and underexplored. Herbarium specimens—dried plants collected and preserved over centuries—serve as critical windows into the past, allowing botanists to study plant diversity across time and space. When combined with modern tools such as imaging and DNA analyses, these collections become powerful data sources for unraveling evolutionary relationships, discovering new species, and improving our understanding of biodiversity. Our research focuses on Elaphoglossum, one of the most diverse and taxonomically challenging fern genera. Using herbarium specimens, powerful microscopes, and molecular phylogenetic studies, we are conducting a systematic review of the Elaphoglossum dendricola clade, a group of Andean ferns.  Our aims are to clarify species boundaries, uncover undescribed species, reconstruct evolutionary relationships, and evaluate the conservation status of these ferns. This poster presents preliminary results and outlines future directions of our research in tropical ferns, highlighting the importance of integrating collections-based taxonomy and molecular phylogenetics to explore and preserve tropical fern diversity.

A Flora for all: how the Flora of the Southeastern United States (FSUS) project and NCU Herbarium are enhancing regional knowledge of southeastern plants

Authors: Scott Ward^1,2, Alan Weakley^1,2, Carol Ann McCormick^1,2, Shanna Oberreiter^1,2, Derick Poindexter^1,2, Michael Lee^1,2, Chris Ludwig³, and Katie Gibson⁴
Affiliations: ¹North Carolina Botanical Garden, Chapel Hill, NC; ²UNC-Chapel Hill Herbarium (NCU), Chapel Hill, NC; ³Seedbox Consulting, Maidens, VA; ⁴High Country Apps LLC, Bozeman, MT

Abstract
Home to the Flora of the Southeastern United States (FSUS) Project, the UNC-Chapel Hill Herbarium (NCU) is “reinventing the conventional flora.” In addition to our herbarium associates and the many citizen scientists providing feedback, we have compiled one of the most crowd-sourced floras to date, now encompassing 11,000+ plant taxa across 25 states. Developed from a central database, Flora Manager, we can maintain updated synonymies, ID notes, habitat descriptions, and other useful botanical information to iteratively publish the flora via three digital formats: PDF, FSUS website, and FloraQuest phone app. As an entity of the UNC Chapel-Hill Herbarium (NCU), the FSUS project has access to 750,000+ curated vascular plant specimens, which are paramount to the numerous research interests and initiatives of our team. These specimens, preserved in perpetuity, have helped our team elucidate complex species relationships spanning multiple phylogenetic lineages (e.g., Carex, Eryngium, Trichostema), with species descriptions, taxonomies, and systematics all being untangled from the study of both live and preserved plant specimens. Our collections similarly enhance our understanding of plant species morphometrics, phenology, historical occurrences, and current county-level distributions. Through our varied research, we hope to demystify the many technical aspects of herbarium research and floristic studies and enhance botanical understanding across the biodiverse southeast. 

2001    Linnaean Taxonomy in the 21st Century
2002    The Convention on Biological Diversity
2003    Botanical Frontiers in Southeast Asia
2004    Botanical Progress, Horticultural Innovations, and Cultural Changes
2005    The Future of Floras: New Frameworks, New Technologies, New Uses
2006    Island Archipelagos: Cauldrons of Evolution
2008    Partners in Evolution: Interactions, Adaptations, and Speciation
2009    Genes, Genomics and Genome Evolution in Plants
2010    Food for Thought: 21st Century Perspectives on Ethnobotany
2012    Transforming 21st Century Comparative Biology using Evolutionary Trees
2013    Avoiding Extinction: Contemporary Approaches to Conservation Science
2014    Location, Location, Location...New Advances in the Science of Biogeography
2015    Next Generation Pteridology: An International Conference on Lycophyte & Fern Research
2016    Bats, Bees, Birds, Butterflies and Bouquets: New Research in Pollination Biology
2017    Exploring the Natural World: Plants, People and Places
2018    Plants in the Past: Fossils and the Future
2019    What Darwin Couldn't Know: Modern Perspectives on Crop Plant Origins
2021    Plant Symbiosis: The Good, the Bad, and the Complicated
2022    Life on the Edge: Exceptional Plants in Exceptional Place
2023    New Horizons in the Study of Neotropical Floras
2024    Advancing Plant Conservation Through Horticulture