Digitising biological collections to advance National Species Inventories: A case study from the flora of Chile

Abstract

Societal Impact Statement: In response to Chile's public policy to establish a national biodiversity inventory and monitoring system, we launched the HerbarioDigital.cl portal. We have digitised over 120,000 specimens representing more than 3,900 species from two Chilean herbaria, integrating them through a curated local taxonomic index. Comparisons of this taxonomic index with global catalogues revealed discrepancies in species richness across several families, underscoring the importance of expert-curated data. This effort enabled the compilation of a preliminary national species inventory, demonstrating how digitising biological collections and strengthening local taxonomic capacity can support national strategies to address the biodiversity crisis. Summary: To develop a dynamic, multi-taxon framework for a national biodiversity inventory by integrating Chilean herbarium data, local taxonomic expertise and global datasets. Specimens from Chilean herbaria are being digitised using the i-Biodata platform, which integrates specimen data with a taxonomic index based on the Catalogue of Vascular Plants of Chile. We compared this local index with a global reference derived from the Catalogue of Life (COL), filtered for plant species with occurrences in Chile. After comparison, the locally curated catalogue of vascular plant species was integrated into a broader national biodiversity inventory, obtained from the COL framework filtered for GBIF records in Chile. We have digitised nearly 120,000 specimen records of > 3,900 species from two herbaria, integrated by a standard local taxonomic index. This is an ongoing project, with further digitisation underway. The comparison of the local taxonomic index with a global taxonomic index revealed discrepancies in species richness for several families. To serve as a new and improved comprehensive taxonomic index of Chilean biodiversity, we compiled a preliminary national species inventory by integrating the locally curated catalogue of vascular plants with a global catalogue of plant, animal and fungal taxa recorded in Chile. The integration of local catalogues with global references through the digitisation of biological collections results in a dynamic and collaborative multi-taxon framework for a national species inventory. This new taxonomic index developed for Chile is interoperable and could be useful for biodiversity research, conservation and policy-making.