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IMAGE: Scientists can use DNA preserved in herbarium specimens, like this red trillium (
Trillium erectum) collected almost 100 years ago in Tennessee, to unravel the genetic structure of populations long since. view more
Credit: Photo courtesy of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Herbarium
A network of over 100 herbaria spread out across the southeastern United States recently completed the herculean task of fully digitizing more than three million specimens collected by botanists and naturalists over a span of 200 years. The project, which was funded by the National Science Foundation, is part of a larger, ongoing effort by natural history institutions worldwide to make their biological collections easily accessible to researchers studying broad patterns of evolution, extinction, range shifts, and climate change.