What's happened
A Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew report shows digitisation and AI are accelerating plant and fungal research, enabling faster identification, genetic analysis of century-old specimens, and broader global collaboration. While millions of digital records are online, vast gaps remain in our knowledge of biodiversity.
What's behind the headline?
Analysis
- Digitisation is expanding the reach of biodiversity knowledge beyond traditional archives, enabling global collaboration.
- AI models are improving identification of challenging taxa, potentially accelerating conservation decisions.
- The online availability of historical records reveals how climate and land-use change are altering plant phenology and species interactions.
- The data gaps remain huge (e.g., only a fraction of herbarium material digitised), which could skew priorities if not addressed.
- The shift from offline to online knowledge is driving new research pathways and policy considerations around access and funding.
How we got here
Digitisation has unlocked centuries of botanical knowledge, with institutions worldwide uploading millions of specimen images and data. Kew’s four-year project digitised 7.4 million specimens and spurred studies on flowering shifts, genetic secrets from fungi, and the impact on conservation.
Our analysis
The Guardian reports on the Kew study and digitisation impacts, with quotes from Alexandre Antonelli and regional curators highlighting accelerated research and global access. The piece contrasts the expanding digital corpus with remaining blind spots in biodiversity collections.
Go deeper
- What new plant or fungal species will be identified first thanks to AI?
- How will digitisation influence conservation funding in your region?
- Which institutions are leading in sharing biodiversity data online?