Implications of the Decline in Plant Collecting for Systematic and Floristic Research

Abstract

In a companion paper in this issue, we have shown that plant collecting in the U.S. is in decline (Prather et al. 2004). We focused on the U.S. only because it was relatively easy for us to measure collecting there, but we are concerned that the decline in collecting may be pervasive worldwide. Because specimens are the fun damental records of biodiversity, we believe that this has serious ramifications in many arenas, particularly in systematic and floristic research, but also in conser vation biology, land management, and education, to name only the most obvious. Here we elaborate on the importance of collecting, even in the United States where the flora is relatively well-known. We further discuss some of the many causes of the decline, and encourage the systematics community to advocate con tinued plant collecting. Curators of collections and floristic researchers are