SARAH WILD: Technology helps to put new plants on the map
Sanbi, representing SA, is part of a global group aiming to create an online repository of all the world’s flora
Every year, plants are discovered that are new to science and researchers estimate that about 10% of the world’s flora are unknown. In SA, scientists stumble upon about 60 to 70 new species a year, while 2,000 new plants are discovered across the globe. "We’re not sure why this is still happening," says Dr Marianne le Roux, e-Flora co-ordinator at the South African National Biodiversity Institute (Sanbi). "Maybe it’s because of the digital environment: people can take a photo and show it to a specialist." The whole of plant taxonomy is getting a digital reboot. Less than two centuries after Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus created the classifications used to describe the natural world, a global consortium is attempting to create an online repository of all the world’s flora. The first target of the 2010 global strategy for plant conservation is an online flora repository of all known plants. The 34 partner institutions including Sanbi representing SA, aim to have this open-access trea...
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