Biodiversity science is improved when silent herbaria speak

Abstract

Societal Impact Statement Herbaria in the Global South are critical yet underutilized resources for biodiversity science and are often absent from international databases and research networks. We highlight the phenomenon of “silent herbaria” using Nigeria as a case study and quantify how these collections fill important gaps in global biodiversity knowledge. By integrating these collections into international systems, we can strengthen ecological models, promote research equity, and support global efforts to democratize science and build more inclusive biodiversity infrastructures. Summary Herbaria represent a global biodiversity heritage essential for botanical research and conservation assessments. Despite their importance, herbaria around the world—especially in under‐resourced regions, including much of Africa—are “silent.” Silent collections are relatively unknown, underused, and underappreciated by the global botanical community. 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. We identified that new herbaria in Africa are being established at a faster rate than suggested by international registries. Over 70% 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 striking 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 and administrators 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. Silent herbaria are critical for improving biodiversity science at regional and global levels. 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.