Biodiversity Data Journal : Data Paper (Biosciences)
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Data Paper (Biosciences)
Comprehensive leaf size traits dataset for seven plant species from digitised herbarium specimen images covering more than two centuries
expand article infoVamsi Krishna Kommineni‡,§, Susanne Tautenhahn‡, Pramod Baddam‡,§, Jitendra Gaikwad|,, Barbara Wieczorek§, Abdelaziz Triki#, Jens Kattge‡,|
‡ Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry, Jena, Germany
§ Ernst-Abbe-Hochschule Jena, Jena, Germany
| German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany
¶ Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Jena, Germany
# University of Sfax, Sfax, Tunisia
Corresponding author: Vamsi Krishna Kommineni (vamsi.krishna.kommineni@uni-jena.de), Susanne Tautenhahn (staut@bgc-jena.mpg.de)
Academic editor: Alexander Sennikov
Received: 07 Jun 2021 | Accepted: 30 Jun 2021 | Published: 13 Jul 2021
© 2021 Vamsi Krishna Kommineni, Susanne Tautenhahn, Pramod Baddam, Jitendra Gaikwad, Barbara Wieczorek, Abdelaziz Triki, Jens Kattge
This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Citation: Kommineni VK, Tautenhahn S, Baddam P, Gaikwad J, Wieczorek B, Triki A, Kattge J (2021) Comprehensive leaf size traits dataset for seven plant species from digitised herbarium specimen images covering more than two centuries . Biodiversity Data Journal 9: e69806. https://doi.org/10.3897/BDJ.9.e69806
 Open Access

Abstract

Background

Morphological leaf traits are frequently used to quantify, understand and predict plant and vegetation functional diversity and ecology, including environmental and climate change responses. Although morphological leaf traits are easy to measure, their coverage for characterising variation within species and across temporal scales is limited. At the same time, there are about 3100 herbaria worldwide, containing approximately 390 million plant specimens dating from the 16th to 21st century, which can potentially be used to extract morphological leaf traits. Globally, plant specimens are rapidly being digitised and images are made openly available via various biodiversity data platforms, such as iDigBio and GBIF. Based on a pilot study to identify the availability and appropriateness of herbarium specimen images for comprehensive trait data extraction, we developed a spatio-temporal dataset on intraspecific trait variability containing 128,036 morphological leaf trait measurements for seven selected species.

New information

After scrutinising the metadata of digitised herbarium specimen images available from iDigBio and GBIF (21.9 million and 31.6 million images for Tracheophyta; accessed date December 2020), we identified approximately 10 million images potentially appropriate for our study. From the 10 million images, we selected seven species (Salix bebbiana Sarg., Alnus incana (L.) Moench, Viola canina L., Salix glauca L., Chenopodium album L., Impatiens capensis Meerb. and Solanum dulcamara L.) , which have a simple leaf shape, are well represented in space and time and have high availability of specimens per species. We downloaded 17,383 images. Out of these, we discarded 5779 images due to quality issues. We used the remaining 11,604 images to measure the area, length, width and perimeter on 32,009 individual leaf blades using the semi-automated tool TraitEx. The resulting dataset contains 128,036 trait records.

We demonstrate its comparability to trait data measured in natural environments following standard protocols by comparing trait values from the TRY database. We conclude that the herbarium specimens provide valuable information on leaf sizes. The dataset created in our study, by extracting leaf traits from the digitised herbarium specimen images of seven selected species, is a promising opportunity to improve ecological knowledge about the adaptation of size-related leaf traits to environmental changes in space and time.

Keywords

morphological leaf traits, leaf size, leaf length, leaf width, digital herbarium specimen, TraitEx, iDigBio, GBIF, TRY trait database, Salix bebbiana Sarg., Alnus incana (L.) Moench, Viola canina L., Salix glauca L., Chenopodium album L., Impatiens capensis Meerb. and Solanum dulcamara L.

Introduction

Plant traits - the morphological, anatomical, physiological, biochemical and phenological characteristics of plants measurable at the individual plant level (Violle et al. 2007) - are vital to quantify, understand and predict plant and vegetation functional diversity and ecology (Grime 1974, McGill et al. 2006). Leaf attributes are amongst the most important traits as they provide relevant information about plant and ecosystem function (Funk et al. 2017, Poorter and Bongers 2006). Leaf area (the one-sided projected area of a leaf) is key to understanding the leaf energy balance, which affects photosynthesis and respiration rates (Wright et al. 2017). Leaf area is amongst the commonly sampled quantitative plant attributes and has more than 200,000 records in the TRY plant trait database (Kattge et al. 2020). Nevertheless, coverage is still limited, especially for characterising variation within species across geographical space and longer time-scales (Kattge et al. 2020). The paucity of data and representative nature limits the scientific community's ability to understand and predict species and ecosystem responses to environmental and climate change (König et al. 2019, Tautenhahn et al. 2020).

Approximately 390 million plant specimens are stored in 3100 herbaria worldwide (Thiers 2019). These specimens provide good biogeographical and temporal coverage - dating back to the 16th century and offering a "window into the past" (Meineke et al. 2018, Lang et al. 2019). However, useful observations earlier than the year 1850 are very few in numbers (Groom 2015). Globally, many herbaria are undertaking digitisation campaigns and are making digitised specimen images openly accessible via various biodiversity data platforms, such as the Global Plants Database (2.6 million images), Natural History Museum Paris (8 million images) (Kirchhoff et al. 2018), iDigBio (35.2 million images) and most of them are published through the GBIF network (41 million images; accessed date December 2020) with considerable overlap. Due to the increasing availability of digitised herbarium specimens, efforts, such as extracting species' phenological and trait information using machine learning approaches from these images, have increased (Carranza-Rojas et al. 2017, Willis et al. 2008, Younis et al. 2018, Weaver et al. 2020, Younis et al. 2020).

To characterise the variation of leaf size within species across time and space, we need specimen images with consistent information about sampling location and date. This information allows characterising the environment in which the specimens had grown using external data, for example, from gridded climate or soil databases (Fick and Hijmans 2017, Hengl et al. 2017, Taylor et al. 2012). Georeference and sampling date are often available with the digital images of the herbarium specimens - 9.1 million out of 35.2 million images from iDigBio and 11.1 million out of 41 million images from GBIF provide georeference and sampling date. Given the significant number of herbarium specimens and the increasing numbers of digitised herbarium specimen images, including metadata information, we here evaluate the potential to use this information to overcome data limitations for size-related leaf traits in space and time.

First, we identified the relevant biodiversity data platforms and analysed their metadata for images of Tracheophyta species with suitable leaves and sufficient additional information, i.e. sampling date and georeference. We selected seven species that were well represented in space and time. We downloaded the pertinent images and tested the applicability of a semi-automated tool, TraitEx (Gaikwad et al. 2019), to extract the leaf size traits: length, width, perimeter and area of individual leaf blades. This article describes the workflow to identify, select and download appropriate herbarium specimen metadata and images and extract leaf traits using the TraitEx software. We provide a comprehensive dataset of leaf size traits for seven species as an outcome of this approach. Finally, we compare the extracted measurements with data from the global plant trait database TRY.

Sampling methods

Description: 

Apart from the biodiversity data platforms mentioned earlier, there are several other institutions, libraries and herbaria, such as the Utah Valley State College Digital Herbarium, Moscow university herbarium, vPlants A Virtual Herbarium of the Chicago Region, The Virtual Herbarium of The New York Botanical Garden, WTU Herbarium Image Collection, OSU Type Specimen Images and Original Descriptions, which store digital herbarium specimen images. We assessed the publicly available metadata from these resources and it revealed that iDigBio and GBIF harvest the data from several institutions, libraries and herbaria worldwide to make the data openly available to the scientific community and society through their respective data platforms. Therefore, we decided to focus on extracting metadata information for the digital herbarium specimen images from iDigBio and GBIF (21.9 million and 31.6 million images only for Tracheophyta, respectively; accessed date December 2020).

Sampling description: 

Downloading a large number of available herbarium specimen images from the repositories takes a substantial amount of time. As a consequence, the images for trait extraction were selected in five steps (Figs 1, 2): (1) identification of specimens from GBIF and iDigBio with sufficient metadata information; (2) harmonising names to species level, based on the GBIF backbone taxonomy; (3) selecting appropriate species for our study; (4) acquisition of image URLs and exclusion of duplicates; (5) download of images and final selection for trait measurements.

Figure 1.  

Flowchart for processing the metadata from iDigBio and GBIF on digitised herbarium specimens (Apart from the identification of data sources, all steps are automated using Python scripts).

Figure 2.  

Workflow for downloading the images and measuring traits using TraitEx (Except for the leaf measuring process using TraitEx, all steps are automated using Python scripts).

The workflows for metadata extraction, downloading digital herbarium specimens and trait measurements using TraitEx are shown in Fig. 1 and Fig. 2.

Identification of specimens from GBIF and iDigBio with sufficient metadata information: We extracted the metadata for potentially applicable specimens from iDigBio and GBIF using the idigbio and pyGBIF libraries of the programming language Python for the years 1600 to 2019. For iDigBio, we used the following predefined search parameters (from idigbio API): ‘PreservedSpecimen’ for ‘basisofrecord’, ‘true’ for ‘has image’, ‘plantae’ for ‘kingdom’, {‘type’: ‘exists’} for ‘scientificname’ and {‘type’: ‘exists’} for ‘geopoint’. For GBIF, we used the following predefined search parameters (from pyGBIF API): 6 for ‘kingdomkey’ (kingdomkey 6 is Plantae), 7707728 for ‘phylumkey’ (phylumkey 7707728 is Tracheophyta), ‘StillImage’ for ‘mediatype’, True for ‘hasCoordinate’ and ‘PRESERVED_SPECIMEN’ for ‘basisOfRecord’. The following metadata: 'Source', 'Institutioncode', 'Catalognumber', 'UUID' and 'GBIFID' characterise specimen identity; 'Scientific Names', 'Family', 'Order', 'Class', 'Phylum' characterise specimen taxonomy; 'Latitude (from iDigBio and GBIF)', 'Longitude (from iDigBio and GBIF)' and 'Sampling date' characterise specimen georeference and sampling date. Missing metadata were replaced with the string ‘NA’ (Not Available). See section "Data resources" for a description of the metadata attributes. Records with missing information for latitude, longitude or sampling date were excluded.

Records from the taxonomic groups Polypodiopsida, Poales, Marattiopsida, Pinopsida, Lycopodiopsida and Equisetopsida were excluded after the download of metadata information because their leaf sizes or shapes were considered problematic for trait measurements.

This search resulted in 9,998,299 specimen images for 182,409 species (2,426,902 images from iDigBio and 7,571,397 images from GBIF). The spatial coverage of preselected images is global across all continents. However, the geo-points located in the oceans indicate problems with georeferences (Fig. 3). The temporal domain of the images mainly covers from 1900 to 2019, with few specimens collected before 1900 (Fig. 4).

Figure 3.  

Spatial distribution of metadata for 9,998,299 digital herbarium specimen images from iDigBio and GBIF for Tracheophyta (excluding Polypodiopsida, Poales, Marattiopsida, Pinopsida, Lycopodiopsida and Equisetopsida) with georeference and sampling date available (for more details, refer to section 'Sampling methods').

Figure 4.  

Temporal distribution of metadata for 9,998,299 digital herbarium specimen images from iDigBio and GBIF for Tracheophyta (excluding Polypodiopsida, Poales, Marattiopsida, Pinopsida, Lycopodiopsida and Equisetopsida) with georeference and sampling date available (for more details, refer to section 'Sampling methods').

Harmonising names to species level, based on the GBIF backbone taxonomy: We consolidated the scientific names of species (given by authors of the specimen; see columns 'iDigBio scientificName (given)' and 'GBIF scientificName (given)'), as well as the corresponding accepted scientific names (see columns 'iDigBio scientificName (accepted)' and 'GBIF scientificName (accepted)' in "Digital Herbarium Specimen data", refer to section 'Data resources') provided by iDigBio and GBIF, respectively.

Since scientific names, provided by iDigBio and GBIF for the same specimen, sometimes differ, we additionally provide the corresponding scientific name of the GBIF backbone taxonomy for both, the given scientific names of iDigBio and of GBIF (see columns 'GBIF Backbone Taxonomy scientific name for iDigBio records' and 'GBIF Backbone Taxonomy scientific name for GBIF records').

In order to allow for grouping specimen images per species, we further simplified the scientific names from GBIF backbone taxonomy to binominal names including only genus and species information and ignoring, for example, varieties or subspecies (see column 'Binomial species name for aggregation'). We excluded images for which no species name according to GBIF backbone taxonomy could be identified or where only genus or even broader information was available.

Selecting appropriate species for our study: The distribution of images per species has the characteristics of a long-tail distribution: few species with many images, but many species with few images. However, for about 400 of the 182,409 preselected species, iDigBio and GBIF provide more than 2000 images (Fig. 5).

Figure 5.  

Number of digital herbarium specimen images per species available from iDigBio and GBIF (based on the 9,998,299 images for Tracheophyta (excluding Polypodiopsida, Poales, Marattiopsida, Pinopsida, Lycopodiopsida and Equisetopsida) with georeference and sampling date available (for more details, refer to section 'Sampling methods').

We selected the most promising species for trait data extraction, based on the number of preselected records per species, also considering that sampling sites and dates should be well spread across the species distribution range and in the temporal domain. In addition, the species should have a leaf size and a visible petiole to be easily measurable on the specimen images. Based on these conditions, we selected Salix bebbiana Sarg., Alnus incana (L.) Moench, Viola canina L., Salix glauca L., Chenopodium album L., Impatiens capensis Meerb. and Solanum dulcamara L. Table 1 provides the attribution of species and subspecies names received from iDigBio and GBIF to the accepted names in the GBIF taxonomic backbone for the selected species. Table 2 contains the list of datasets downloaded from the GBIF and used in this study.

Table 1.
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Attribution of (given) scientific names to accepted species names, based on the GBIF backbone taxonomy for the seven species of interest: Salix bebbiana Sarg., Alnus incana (L.) Moench, Viola canina L., Salix glauca L., Chenopodium album L., Impatiens capensis Meerb. and Solanum dulcamara L.

Given scientificName (from iDigBio or GBIF) Accepted scientificName (from iDigBio or GBIF) Scientific name according to GBIF Backbone Taxonomy Binomial species name for aggregation
salix bebbiana Salix bebbiana Salix bebbiana Sarg. Salix bebbiana
salix eriocephala var. ligulifolia Salix eriocephala var. ligulifolia Salix eriocephala var. ligulifolia (C.R.Ball) Dorn Salix bebbiana
salix planifolia Salix planifolia Salix planifolia Pursh Salix bebbiana
salix monticola Salix monticola Salix monticola Bebb Salix bebbiana
salix scoulerana Salix scoulerana Salix scoulerana Barratt ex Hook. Salix bebbiana
salix bebbiana sarg. Salix bebbiana Sarg. Salix bebbiana Sarg. Salix bebbiana
salix bebbiana var. bebbiana Salix bebbiana var. bebbiana Salix bebbiana var. bebbiana Salix bebbiana
salix livida var. occidentalis (andersson) a. gray Salix livida var. occidentalis (Andersson) A. Gray Salix livida var. occidentalis (Andersson) A.Gray Salix bebbiana
salix bebbiana var. perrostrata (rydb.) c.k.schneid. Salix bebbiana var. perrostrata (Rydb.) C.K.Schneid. Salix bebbiana var. perrostrata (Rydb.) C.K.Schneid. Salix bebbiana
salix perrostrata rydb. Salix perrostrata Rydb. Salix perrostrata Rydb. Salix bebbiana
salix rostrata richardson Salix rostrata Richardson Salix rostrata Richardson Salix bebbiana
salix bebbiana var. depilis raup Salix bebbiana var. depilis Raup Salix bebbiana var. depilis Raup Salix bebbiana
alnus incana subsp. rugosa (du roi) r.t.clausen Alnus incana subsp. rugosa (Du Roi) R.T.Clausen Alnus incana subsp. rugosa (Du Roi) R.T.Clausen Alnus incana
alnus incana subsp. rugosa (du roi) clausen Alnus incana subsp. rugosa (Du Roi) Clausen Alnus incana subsp. rugosa (Du Roi) R.T.Clausen Alnus incana
alnus incana subsp. rugosa Alnus incana subsp. rugosa Alnus incana subsp. rugosa (Du Roi) R.T.Clausen Alnus incana
alnus incana ssp. rugosa Alnus incana ssp. rugosa Alnus incana subsp. rugosa (Du Roi) R.T.Clausen Alnus incana
alnus incana (l.) moench subsp. rugosa (du roi) r.t.clausen Alnus incana (L.) Moench subsp. rugosa (Du Roi) R.T.Clausen Alnus incana subsp. rugosa (Du Roi) R.T.Clausen Alnus incana
alnus incana subsp. tenuifolia (nutt.) breitung Alnus incana subsp. tenuifolia (Nutt.) Breitung Alnus incana subsp. tenuifolia (Nutt.) Breitung Alnus incana
alnus incana subsp. tenuifolia Alnus incana subsp. tenuifolia Alnus incana subsp. tenuifolia (Nutt.) Breitung Alnus incana
alnus incana (l.) moench subsp. tenuifolia (nutt.) breitung Alnus incana (L.) Moench subsp. tenuifolia (Nutt.) Breitung Alnus incana subsp. tenuifolia (Nutt.) Breitung Alnus incana
alnus incana ssp. kolaënsis Alnus incana ssp. kolaënsis Alnus incana subsp. kolaensis (Orlova) Á.Löve & D.Löve Alnus incana
alnus incana (l.) moench Alnus incana (L.) Moench Alnus incana (L.) Moench Alnus incana
alnus incana Alnus incana Alnus incana (L.) Moench Alnus incana
alnus incana subsp. crispa [ined.] Alnus incana subsp. Crispa [ined.] Alnus incana (L.) Moench Alnus incana
alnus rugosa Alnus rugosa Alnus rugosa hort. ex Regel, 1868 Alnus incana
alnus rugosa (du roi) spreng. Alnus rugosa (Du Roi) Spreng. Alnus rugosa hort. ex Regel, 1868 Alnus incana
alnus incana ssp. incana Alnus incana ssp. incana Alnus incana subsp. incana Alnus incana
alnus incana var. occidentalis (dippel) c.l.hitchc. Alnus incana var. occidentalis (Dippel) C.L.Hitchc. Alnus incana var. occidentalis (Dippel) Hitchc. Alnus incana
alnus incana var. occidentalis Alnus incana var. occidentalis Alnus incana var. occidentalis (Dippel) Hitchc. Alnus incana
alnus incana subsp. rugosa var. occidentalis (dippel) c.l.hitchc. Alnus incana subsp. rugosa var. occidentalis (Dippel) C.L.Hitchc. Alnus incana var. occidentalis (Dippel) Hitchc. Alnus incana
alnus tenuifolia nutt. Alnus tenuifolia Nutt. Alnus tenuifolia Nutt. Alnus incana
alnus tenuifolia Alnus tenuifolia Alnus tenuifolia Nutt. Alnus incana
alnus incana (l.) moench ssp. rugosa (du roi) clausen Alnus incana (L.) Moench ssp. rugosa (Du Roi) Clausen Alnus incana subsp. rugosa (Du Roi) R.T.Clausen Alnus incana
alnus incana ssp. tenuifolia Alnus incana ssp. tenuifolia Alnus incana subsp. tenuifolia (Nutt.) Breitung Alnus incana
alnus incana var. virescens Alnus incana var. virescens Alnus incana var. virescens S.Watson Alnus incana
alnus incana (l.) moench ssp. tenuifolia (nutt.) breitung Alnus incana (L.) Moench ssp. tenuifolia (Nutt.) Breitung Alnus incana subsp. tenuifolia (Nutt.) Breitung Alnus incana
alnus rugosa var. americana Alnus rugosa var. americana Alnus rugosa var. americana (Regel) Fernald Alnus incana
alnus incana (l.) moench subsp. incana Alnus incana (L.) Moench subsp. incana Alnus incana subsp. incana Alnus incana
viola canina Viola canina Viola canina L. Viola canina
viola canina l. Viola canina L. Viola canina L. Viola canina
viola canina l. 'white butterfly' Viola canina L. 'White Butterfly' Viola canina L. Viola canina
viola canina ssp. montana Viola canina ssp. montana Viola canina subsp. montana (L.) Lange Viola canina
viola canina ssp. canina Viola canina ssp. canina Viola canina subsp. canina Viola canina
viola canina l. subsp. montana (l.) hartm. Viola canina L. subsp. montana (L.) Hartm. Viola canina subsp. montana (L.) Lange Viola canina
viola nummularifolia all. Viola nummularifolia All. Viola nummularifolia F.W.Schmidt Viola canina
viola longipes nutt. Viola longipes Nutt. Viola longipes Nutt. Viola canina
salix glauca Salix glauca Salix glauca L. Salix glauca
salix glauca ssp. stipulifera Salix glauca ssp. stipulifera Salix glauca subsp. stipulifera (Flod. ex Häyrén) Hiitonen Salix glauca
salix glauca l. Salix glauca L. Salix glauca L. Salix glauca
salix glauca var. Salix glauca var. Salix glauca L. Salix glauca
salix glauca/brachycarpa Salix glauca/brachycarpa Salix glauca L. Salix glauca
salix pseudolapponum seemen Salix pseudolapponum Seemen Salix pseudolapponum Seem. Salix glauca
salix glauca var. acutifolia (hook.) c. k. schneid. Salix glauca var. acutifolia (Hook.) C. K. Schneid. Salix glauca var. acutifolia (Hook.) C.K.Schneid. Salix glauca
salix glauca var. acutifolia Salix glauca var. acutifolia Salix glauca var. acutifolia (Hook.) C.K.Schneid. Salix glauca
salix glauca subsp. glauca var. acutifolia Salix glauca subsp. glauca var. acutifolia Salix glauca var. acutifolia (Hook.) C.K.Schneid. Salix glauca
salix glauca ssp. glauca Salix glauca ssp. glauca Salix glauca subsp. glauca Salix glauca
salix glauca l. subsp. glauca Salix glauca L. subsp. glauca Salix glauca subsp. glauca Salix glauca
salix glauca var. cordifolia (pursh) dorn Salix glauca var. cordifolia (Pursh) Dorn Salix glauca var. cordifolia (Pursh) Dorn Salix glauca
salix glauca var. cordifolia Salix glauca var. cordifolia Salix glauca var. cordifolia (Pursh) Dorn Salix glauca
salix labradorica Salix labradorica Salix labradorica Rydb. Salix glauca
salix glauca subsp. callicarpaea Salix glauca subsp. callicarpaea Salix glauca subsp. callicarpaea (Trautv.) Böcher Salix glauca
salix glauca subsp. callicarpaea (trautv.) böcher Salix glauca subsp. callicarpaea (Trautv.) Böcher Salix glauca subsp. callicarpaea (Trautv.) Böcher Salix glauca
salix anamesa c. k. schneid. Salix anamesa C. K. Schneid. Salix anamesa C.K.Schneid. Salix glauca
salix glauca var. villosa andersson Salix glauca var. villosa Andersson Salix glauca var. villosa (Hook.) Andersson Salix glauca
salix glauca subsp. villosa Salix glauca subsp. villosa Salix glauca subsp. villosa (Hook.) A.E.Murray Salix glauca
salix glauca var. villosa Salix glauca var. villosa Salix glauca var. villosa (Hook.) Andersson Salix glauca
salix glauca subsp. glauca var. villosa Salix glauca subsp. glauca var. villosa Salix glauca var. villosa (Hook.) Andersson Salix glauca
salix glauca var. villosa (hook.) andersson Salix glauca var. villosa (Hook.) Andersson Salix glauca var. villosa (Hook.) Andersson Salix glauca
salix glaucops andersson Salix glaucops Andersson Salix glaucops Andersson Salix glauca
salix desertorum richardson Salix desertorum Richardson Salix desertorum Richardson Salix glauca
salix wyomingensis rydb. Salix wyomingensis Rydb. Salix wyomingensis Rydb. Salix glauca
salix glauca var. glauca Salix glauca var. glauca Salix glauca var. glauca Salix glauca
salix glauca l. f. appendiculata Salix glauca L. f. appendiculata Salix glauca var. appendiculata (Vahl) Wahlenb. Salix glauca
salix glauca var. macounii (rydb.) b.boivin Salix glauca var. macounii (Rydb.) B.Boivin Salix glauca var. macounii (Rydb.) B.Boivin Salix glauca
salix glauca var. glabrescens c.k.schneid. Salix glauca var. glabrescens C.K.Schneid. Salix glauca var. glabrescens (Andersson) C.K.Schneid. Salix glauca
salix glauca var. glabrescens Salix glauca var. glabrescens C.K.Schneid. Salix glauca var. glabrescens (Andersson) C.K.Schneid. Salix glauca
salix cordifolia pursh Salix cordifolia Pursh Salix cordifolia Banks ex Pursh Salix glauca
salix glauca var. aliceae Salix glauca var. aliceae Salix glauca var. aliceae C.R.Ball Salix glauca
salix glauca var. stenolepis Salix glauca var. stenolepis Salix glauca var. stenolepis (Flod.) Polunin Salix glauca
salix callicarpaea trautv. Salix callicarpaea Trautv. Salix callicarpaea Trautv. Salix glauca
salix glauca subsp. acutifolia Salix glauca subsp. acutifolia Salix glauca subsp. acutifolia (Hook.) Hultén Salix glauca
salix glauca var. perstipula raup Salix glauca var. perstipula Raup Salix glauca var. perstipula Raup Salix glauca
salix glauca var. perstipula Salix glauca var. perstipula Salix glauca var. perstipula Raup Salix glauca
salix cordifolia pursh var. callicarpea Salix cordifolia Pursh var. callicarpea Salix cordifolia var. callicarpaea (Trautv.) Fernald Salix glauca
salix cordifolia var. callicarpaea (trautv.) fernald Salix cordifolia var. callicarpaea (Trautv.) Fernald Salix cordifolia var. callicarpaea (Trautv.) Fernald Salix glauca
salix glauca var. stipulata Salix glauca var. stipulata Salix glauca var. stipulata Floderus Salix glauca
salix glauca subsp. desertorum Salix glauca subsp. desertorum Salix glauca subsp. desertorum (Richardson) Hultén Salix glauca
salix glauca var. callicarpaea Salix glauca var. callicarpaea Salix glauca var. callicarpaea (Pursh) Dorn Salix glauca
salix glauca var. acutifolia (hook.) c.k. schneid. Salix glauca var. acutifolia (Hook.) C.K. Schneid. Salix glauca var. acutifolia (Hook.) C.K.Schneid. Salix glauca
chenopodium album Chenopodium album Chenopodium album L. Chenopodium album
chenopodium album l. Chenopodium album L. Chenopodium album L. Chenopodium album
chenopodium cf. album Chenopodium cf. album Chenopodium album L. Chenopodium album
chenopodium album zz auct. var. striatum krašan Chenopodium album ZZ auct. var. striatum Krašan Chenopodium album L. Chenopodium album
chenopodium missouriense aellen Chenopodium missouriense Aellen Chenopodium missouriense Aellen Chenopodium album
chenopodium missouriense Chenopodium missouriense Chenopodium missouriense Aellen Chenopodium album
chenopodium cf. missouriense Chenopodium cf. Missouriense Chenopodium missouriense Aellen Chenopodium album
chenopodium lanceolatum Chenopodium lanceolatum Chenopodium lanceolatum Muhl. ex Willd. Chenopodium album
chenopodium lanceolatum muhl. ex willd. Chenopodium lanceolatum Muhl. ex Willd. Chenopodium lanceolatum Muhl. ex Willd. Chenopodium album
chenopodium album var. album Chenopodium album var. album Chenopodium album var. album Chenopodium album
chenopodium paganum Chenopodium paganum Chenopodium paganum Rchb. Chenopodium album
chenopodium paganum rchb. Chenopodium paganum Rchb. Chenopodium paganum Rchb. Chenopodium album
chenopodium album var. missouriense Chenopodium album var. missouriense Chenopodium album var. missouriense (Aellen) Bassett & Crompton Chenopodium album
chenopodium viride l. Chenopodium viride L. Chenopodium viride L. Chenopodium album
chenopodium album l. subsp. album Chenopodium album L. subsp. album Chenopodium album subsp. album Chenopodium album
chenopodium suecicum Chenopodium suecicum Chenopodium suecicum Murr Chenopodium album
chenopodium album var. lanceolatum Chenopodium album var. lanceolatum Chenopodium album var. lanceolatum (Muhl.) Coss. & Germ. Chenopodium album
chenopodium paganum auct. non reichenb. Chenopodium paganum auct. Non Reichenb. Chenopodium paganum Rchb. Chenopodium album
chenopodium album var. viride Chenopodium album var. viride Chenopodium album var. viride (L.) Moq. Chenopodium album
chenopodium album l. var. integerrimum s. f. gray Chenopodium album L. var. integerrimum S. F. Gray Chenopodium album L. Chenopodium album
chenopodium album var. album l. Chenopodium album var. album L. Chenopodium album var. album Chenopodium album
chenopodium album var. stevensii Chenopodium album var. stevensii Chenopodium album var. stevensii Aellen Chenopodium album
solanum dulcamara Solanum dulcamara Solanum dulcamara L. Solanum dulcamara
solanum dulcamara l. Solanum dulcamara L. Solanum dulcamara L. Solanum dulcamara
solanum dulcamara var. dulcamara Solanum dulcamara var. dulcamara Solanum dulcamara var. dulcamara Solanum dulcamara
impatiens capensis Impatiens capensis Impatiens capensis Meerb. Impatiens capensis
Salix bebbiana Sarg. Salix bebbiana Sarg. Salix bebbiana Sarg. Salix bebbiana
Salix eriocephala var. ligulifolia (C.R.Ball) R.D.Dorn Salix ligulifolia C.R.Ball ex C.K.Schneid. Salix eriocephala var. ligulifolia (C.R.Ball) Dorn Salix bebbiana
Salix planifolia Pursh Salix planifolia Pursh Salix planifolia Pursh Salix bebbiana
Salix monticola Bebb Salix monticola Bebb Salix monticola Bebb Salix bebbiana
Salix scoulerana Barratt ex Hook. Salix scouleriana Barratt ex Hook. Salix scoulerana Barratt ex Hook. Salix bebbiana
Salix bebbiana var. bebbiana Salix bebbiana Sarg. Salix bebbiana var. bebbiana Salix bebbiana
Salix livida var. occidentalis (Andersson) A.Gray Salix bebbiana Sarg. Salix livida var. occidentalis (Andersson) A.Gray Salix bebbiana
Salix bebbiana var. perrostrata (Rydb.) C.K.Schneid. Salix bebbiana Sarg. Salix bebbiana var. perrostrata (Rydb.) C.K.Schneid. Salix bebbiana
Salix perrostrata Rydb. Salix bebbiana Sarg. Salix perrostrata Rydb. Salix bebbiana
Salix rostrata Richards. Salix bebbiana Sarg. Salix rostrata Richardson Salix bebbiana
Salix bebbiana var. depilis Raup Salix bebbiana Sarg. Salix bebbiana var. depilis Raup Salix bebbiana
Alnus incana subsp. rugosa (Du Roi) R.T.Clausen Alnus incana subsp. rugosa (Du Roi) R.T.Clausen Alnus incana subsp. rugosa (Du Roi) R.T.Clausen Alnus incana
Alnus incana subsp. tenuifolia (Nutt.) Breitung Alnus incana subsp. tenuifolia (Nutt.) Breitung Alnus incana subsp. tenuifolia (Nutt.) Breitung Alnus incana
Alnus incana subsp. kolaensis (Orlova) Á.Löve & D.Löve Alnus incana subsp. kolaensis (Orlova) Á.Löve & D.Löve Alnus incana subsp. kolaensis (Orlova) Á.Löve & D.Löve Alnus incana
Alnus incana (L.) Moench Alnus incana (L.) Moench Alnus incana (L.) Moench Alnus incana
Alnus rugosa (Du Roi) Spreng. Alnus incana subsp. rugosa (Du Roi) R.T.Clausen Alnus rugosa (Du Roi) Spreng. Alnus incana
Alnus incana subsp. incana Alnus incana subsp. incana Alnus incana subsp. incana Alnus incana
Alnus incana var. occidentalis (Dippel) Hitchc. Alnus incana subsp. tenuifolia (Nutt.) Breitung Alnus incana var. occidentalis (Dippel) Hitchc. Alnus incana
Alnus tenuifolia Nutt. Alnus incana subsp. tenuifolia (Nutt.) Breitung Alnus tenuifolia Nutt. Alnus incana
Alnus rugosa var. americana (Regel) Fernald Alnus incana subsp. rugosa (Du Roi) R.T.Clausen Alnus rugosa var. americana (Regel) Fernald Alnus incana
Alnus kolaensis Orlova Alnus incana subsp. kolaensis (Orlova) Á.Löve & D.Löve Alnus kolaensis Orlova Alnus incana
Alnus incana f. acuminata (Regel) Regel Alnus incana subsp. incana Alnus incana f. acuminata (Regel) Regel Alnus incana
Alnus incana var. virescens S.Watson Alnus incana subsp. tenuifolia (Nutt.) Breitung Alnus incana var. virescens S.Watson Alnus incana
Viola canina L. Viola canina L. Viola canina L. Viola canina
Viola canina var. montana (L.) Lange Viola canina subsp. ruppii (All.) Schübl. & Martens Viola canina var. montana (L.) Lange Viola canina
Viola canina subsp. canina Viola canina subsp. canina Viola canina subsp. canina Viola canina
Viola montana L. Viola canina subsp. ruppii (All.) Schübl. & Martens Viola montana L. Viola canina
Viola canina subsp. montana (L.) Hartman Viola canina subsp. ruppii (All.) Schübl. & Martens Viola canina subsp. montana (L.) Hartm. Viola canina
Viola nummulariifolia All. Viola argenteria Moraldo & G.Forneris Viola nummulariifolia All. Viola canina
Viola longipes Nutt. Viola adunca Sm. Viola longipes Nutt. Viola canina
Salix glauca L. Salix glauca L. Salix glauca L. Salix glauca
Salix glauca subsp. stipulifera (Flod. ex Hayren) Hiitonen Salix glauca subsp. stipulifera (Flod. ex Hayren) Hiitonen Salix glauca subsp. stipulifera (Flod. ex Häyrén) Hiitonen Salix glauca
Salix pseudolapponum Seem. Salix glauca var. villosa Andersson Salix pseudolapponum Seem. Salix glauca
Salix glauca var. acutifolia (Hook.) C.K.Schneid. Salix glauca var. acutifolia (Hook.) C.K.Schneid. Salix glauca var. acutifolia (Hook.) C.K.Schneid. Salix glauca
Salix glauca subsp. glauca Salix glauca subsp. glauca Salix glauca subsp. Glauca Salix glauca
Salix glauca var. cordifolia (Pursh) Dorn Salix glauca subsp. callicarpaea (Trautv.) Böcher Salix glauca var. cordifolia (Pursh) Dorn Salix glauca
Salix labradorica Rydb. Salix glauca subsp. callicarpaea (Trautv.) Böcher Salix labradorica Rydb. Salix glauca
Salix glauca subsp. callicarpaea (Trautv.) Böcher Salix glauca subsp. callicarpaea (Trautv.) Böcher Salix glauca subsp. callicarpaea (Trautv.) Böcher Salix glauca
Salix anamesa Schneid. Salix glauca subsp. callicarpaea (Trautv.) Böcher Salix anamesa C.K.Schneid. Salix glauca
Salix glauca var. villosa Andersson Salix glauca var. villosa Andersson Salix glauca var. villosa (Hook.) Andersson Salix glauca
Salix glaucops Anderss. Salix glauca var. villosa Andersson Salix glaucops Andersson Salix glauca
Salix desertorum Richards. Salix glauca var. villosa Andersson Salix desertorum Richardson Salix glauca
Salix wyomingensis Rydb. Salix glauca var. villosa Andersson Salix wyomingensis Rydb. Salix glauca
Salix glauca var. glauca Salix glauca var. glauca Salix glauca var. glauca Salix glauca
Salix glauca var. appendiculata (Vahl) Wahlenb. Salix glauca subsp. glauca Salix glauca var. appendiculata (Vahl) Wahlenb. Salix glauca
Salix glauca var. macounii (Rydb.) B.Boivin Salix glauca subsp. callicarpaea (Trautv.) Böcher Salix glauca var. macounii (Rydb.) B.Boivin Salix glauca
Salix glauca var. glabrescens (Andersson) C.K.Schneid. Salix glauca var. villosa Andersson Salix glauca var. glabrescens (Andersson) C.K.Schneid. Salix glauca
Salix cordifolia Banks ex Pursh Salix glauca subsp. callicarpaea (Trautv.) Böcher Salix cordifolia Banks ex Pursh Salix glauca
Salix glauca var. aliceae C.R.Ball Salix glauca var. acutifolia (Hook.) C.K.Schneid. Salix glauca var. aliceae C.R.Ball Salix glauca
Salix glauca var. stenolepis (Flod.) Polunin Salix glauca subsp. callicarpaea (Trautv.) Böcher Salix glauca var. stenolepis (Flod.) Polunin Salix glauca
Salix callicarpaea Trautv. Salix glauca subsp. callicarpaea (Trautv.) Böcher Salix callicarpaea Trautv. Salix glauca
Salix glauca subsp. acutifolia (Hook.) Hultén Salix glauca var. acutifolia (Hook.) C.K.Schneid. Salix glauca subsp. acutifolia (Hook.) Hultén Salix glauca
Salix glauca var. perstipula Raup Salix glauca var. acutifolia (Hook.) C.K.Schneid. Salix glauca var. perstipula Raup Salix glauca
Salix cordifolia var. callicarpaea (Trautv.) Fernald Salix glauca subsp. callicarpaea (Trautv.) Böcher Salix cordifolia var. callicarpaea (Trautv.) Fernald Salix glauca
Salix glauca var. stipulata Flod. Salix glauca subsp. stipulifera (Flod. ex Hayren) Hiitonen Salix glauca var. stipulata Floderus Salix glauca
Salix glauca subsp. desertorum (Richardson) Hultén Salix glauca var. villosa Andersson Salix glauca subsp. desertorum (Richardson) Hultén Salix glauca
Salix glauca var. callicarpaea (Pursh) Dorn Salix glauca var. callicarpaea (Pursh) Dorn Salix glauca var. callicarpaea (Pursh) Dorn Salix glauca
Chenopodium album L. Chenopodium album L. Chenopodium album L. Chenopodium album
Chenopodium missouriense Aellen Chenopodium album var. missouriense (Aellen) Bassett & Crompton Chenopodium missouriense Aellen Chenopodium album
Chenopodium lanceolatum Muhl. ex Willd. Chenopodium album var. lanceolatum (Muhl.) Coss. & Germ. Chenopodium lanceolatum Muhl. ex Willd. Chenopodium album
Chenopodium album var. album Chenopodium album var. album Chenopodium album var. album Chenopodium album
Chenopodium paganum Rchb. Chenopodium album L. Chenopodium paganum Rchb. Chenopodium album
Chenopodium album var. reticulatum (Aellen) P.Uotila Chenopodium album L. Chenopodium album var. reticulatum (Aellen) Uotila Chenopodium album
Chenopodium album var. missouriense (Aellen) Bassett & Crompton Chenopodium album var. missouriense (Aellen) Bassett & Crompton Chenopodium album var. missouriense (Aellen) Bassett & Crompton Chenopodium album
Chenopodium viride L. Chenopodium album L. Chenopodium viride L. Chenopodium album
Chenopodium album subsp. pedunculare (Bertol.) Arcang. Chenopodium album L. Chenopodium album subsp. pedunculare (Bertol.) Arcang. Chenopodium album
Chenopodium album var. lanceolatum (Muhl.) Coss. & Germ. Chenopodium album var. lanceolatum (Muhl.) Coss. & Germ. Chenopodium album var. lanceolatum (Muhl.) Coss. & Germ. Chenopodium album
Chenopodium album subsp. album Chenopodium album L. Chenopodium album subsp. album Chenopodium album
Chenopodium pedunculare Bertol. Chenopodium album L. Chenopodium pedunculare Bertol. Chenopodium album
Chenopodium suecicum Murr. Chenopodium suecicum Murr. Chenopodium suecicum Murr Chenopodium album
Solanum dulcamara L. Solanum dulcamara L. Solanum dulcamara L. Solanum dulcamara
Solanum dulcamara var. dulcamara Solanum dulcamara var. dulcamara Solanum dulcamara var. dulcamara Solanum dulcamara
Impatiens capensis Meerb. Impatiens capensis Meerb. Impatiens capensis Meerb. Impatiens capensis
Table 2.
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List of datasets downloaded from the GBIF for the selected species.

Dataset key Dataset title Record count Citation
e45c7d91-81c6-4455-86e3-2965a5739b1f Vascular Plant Herbarium, Oslo (O), Natural History Museum, University of Oslo 3080 University of Oslo 2021
902c8fe7-8f38-45b0-854e-c324fed36303 Moscow University Herbarium (MW) 1339 Seregin 2021
d29d79fd-2dc4-4ef5-89b8-cdf66994de0d Vascular plant herbarium TRH, NTNU University Museum 1275 Norwegian University of Science and Technology. 2021
90c853e6-56bd-480b-8e8f-6285c3f8d42b Field Museum of Natural History (Botany) Seed Plant Collection 1254 Grant and Niezgoda 2020
d415c253-4d61-4459-9d25-4015b9084fb0 The New York Botanical Garden Herbarium (NY) 832 Ramirez et al. 2021
1e61b812-b2ec-43d0-bdbb-8534a761f74c Canadian Museum of Nature Herbarium 772 Doubt and Torgersen 2021
5c1fdaf6-4a18-4c5d-a84b-a4ba41f077c9 UAM Herbarium (ALA) 619 Ickert-Bond 2021
834c9918-f762-11e1-a439-00145eb45e9a CSIC-Real Jardín Botánico-Colección de Plantas Vasculares (MA) 179 CSIC-Real Jardín Botánico 2021
95c938a8-f762-11e1-a439-00145eb45e9a R. L. McGregor Herbarium Vascular Plants Collection 162 Bentley and Morse 2021
07fd0d79-4883-435f-bba1-58fef110cd13 University of British Columbia Herbarium (UBC) - Vascular Plant Collection 160 Jennings 2019
963f12d0-f762-11e1-a439-00145eb45e9a Botany Division, Yale Peabody Museum 156 Gall 2021
7bd65a7a-f762-11e1-a439-00145eb45e9a Tropicos Specimen Data 129 Solomon and Stimmel 2021
89c53edb-0fac-4118-bdc0-d70ca50953dc Kathryn Kalmbach Herbarium 111 Kathryn Kalmbach Herbarium (Denver Botanic Gardens) 2021
4db619a6-9429-4bef-90c9-06cc90c39552 Vascular Plant Herbarium 93 University of Bergen 2021
7e380070-f762-11e1-a439-00145eb45e9a Natural History Museum (London) Collection Specimens 57 Natural History Museum 2021
b5cdf794-8fa4-4a85-8b26-755d087bf531 The vascular plants collection (P) at the Herbarium of the Muséum national d'Histoire Naturelle (MNHN - Paris) 55 MNHN and Chagnoux 2021a
cc09386c-43a4-4a12-8ae4-d25610645250 University of New Mexico Herbarium 51 University of New Mexico Herbarium (UNM) 2021
0348540a-e644-4496-89d3-c257da9ad776 Marie-Victorin Herbarium (MT) - Plantes vasculaires 36 Brouillet and Sinou 2021
27b4ff4b-29c3-4017-9c48-3750861392f7 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Herbarium 27 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Herbarium (NCU) 2020
966426ce-f762-11e1-a439-00145eb45e9a Herbarium Senckenbergianum (FR) 25 Senckenberg. 2021
af1b4db0-c8ce-4a95-b700-8a6a02bed9d6 University of South Florida Herbarium (USF) 25 Franck and Bornhorst 2021
1984c441-b52a-4ced-ba2f-9a2c4fa1898b Central Michigan University 24 Central Michigan University Herbarium 2020
cd6e21c8-9e8a-493a-8a76-fbf7862069e5 Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew - Herbarium Specimens 24 Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew 2021
821cc27a-e3bb-4bc5-ac34-89ada245069d NMNH Extant Specimen Records 22 Orrell and Informatics Office 2021
040c5662-da76-4782-a48e-cdea1892d14c International Barcode of Life project (iBOL) 21 The International Barcode of Life Consortium 2016
7827f68d-c981-4023-bace-288a03434044 Intermountain Herbarium (Vascular plants & algae) 21 Utah State University 2021
2fd02649-fc08-4957-9ac5-2830e072c097 Herbier Louis-Marie (QFA) - Collection de plantes vasculaires 17 Damboise 2020
858d51e0-f762-11e1-a439-00145eb45e9a The Erysiphales Collection at the Botanische Staatssammlung München 17 Staatliche Naturwissenschaftliche Sammlungen Bayerns. 2021a
3c59bd42-7bfd-421b-8da4-275780390e4c Desert Botanical Garden Herbarium 16 Desert Botanical Garden Herbarium 2021
8278e7bc-f762-11e1-a439-00145eb45e9a The Fungal Collection of Helga Große-Brauckmann at the Botanische Staatssammlung München 16 Staatliche Naturwissenschaftliche Sammlungen Bayerns. 2021b
83ae84cf-88e4-4b5c-80b2-271a15a3e0fc Auckland Museum Botany Collection 15 Cameron and Auckland Museum A M 2021
5733a11d-9286-469c-a9f1-9b21c1e57caa Estonian Museum of Natural History 10 of Natural History E M and Abarenkov 2021
b89d52a2-861d-4388-adad-c0da3d55fc78 University of Florida Herbarium (FLAS) 10 Perkins 2021
85714c48-f762-11e1-a439-00145eb45e9a Herbarium Berolinense, Berlin (B) 9 Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum Berlin 2017
65bdd8e3-a27b-4b88-998d-dfb27d528206 Flora of the Korean Peninsula 6 Chang and Kim 2021
858c1c6c-f762-11e1-a439-00145eb45e9a The Collection of Lichenicolous Fungi at the Botanische Staatssammlung München 4 Staatliche Naturwissenschaftliche Sammlungen Bayerns. 2021c
bf2a4bf0-5f31-11de-b67e-b8a03c50a862 Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh Herbarium (E) 4 Cubey 2018
5d26c04c-d269-4e1a-9c54-0fc678fae56a Estonian University of Life Sciences 3 Life Sciences E U O and Abarenkov 2021
646858f7-8620-4124-9405-279539aec76c Herbarium specimens of Société des Sciences Naturelles et Mathématiques de Cherbourg (CHE) 3 MNHN and Chagnoux 2021b
7ba35058-f762-11e1-a439-00145eb45e9a The Exsiccatal Series "Triebel, Microfungi exsiccati" 3 Staatliche Naturwissenschaftliche Sammlungen Bayerns. 2021d
a92de2e1-647c-43f2-a8b7-ab1c1a6453dd University of South Carolina, A. C. Moore Herbarium 3 University of South Carolina 2021
4300f8d5-1ae5-49e5-a101-63894b005868 RB - Rio de Janeiro Botanical Garden Herbarium Collection 2 Forzza et al. 2021
707e1918-0999-4f2f-9ad1-22c0be104861 North Carolina State University Vascular Plant Herbarium 2 North Carolina State University Vascular Plant Herbarium (NCSC) 2020
861e6afe-f762-11e1-a439-00145eb45e9a Harvard University Herbaria: All Records 2 Kennedy 2021
a1480b53-ae89-4997-ab2a-73b3981ca244 University of Balochistan Herbarium 1 University of Balochistan 2020

Acquisition of image URLs and exclusion of duplicates: For the selected species, we extracted the Uniform Resource Locators (URLs) from iDigBio and GBIF, under which the herbarium specimen images are stored. Based on the institution code, catalogue number and URL of the specimen images, we identified duplicates within species and excluded them.

Download of images and final selection for trait measurements: Each herbarium specimen has a unique combination of institution code and catalogue number to track the specific specimen in different herbaria. We used these two codes to create a unique ID for each specimen (see column 'SpecimenID' in "Digital Herbarium Specimen data", refer to section 'Data resources'). Additionally, we enumerated the SpecimenIDs by image to provide unique ImageIDs in case multiple images were provided for the same specimen. These ImageIDs served as unique image names while downloading the digital herbarium specimen images. As the ImageIDs are based on institution code and catalogue number, they are also helpful for tracking the specific digital herbarium specimen images in the future.

We downloaded 17,383 digital herbarium specimen images for the seven species of interest, based on their URLs using automated Python routines. For each species, it took approximately 4 to 8 hours to download the images. The specific details of the downloaded digital herbarium specimen images are provided in Suppl. material 2 and column descriptions in Table 3.

Table 3.
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Description of the columns provided in the file Suppl. material 2, which explains the problems that caused us to discard several specimen images.

Column label Column description
RowID Each entry in the data file.
ImageID Unique identity for each digital herbarium specimen (In case of multiple entries, measurements made on different leaves within the same digital herbarium specimen).
Image If there were no image in the digital herbarium specimen, then the column ‘Image’ was updated as ‘No’ and all other possibilities updated as string ‘NA’.
Number of leaves measured Contains the number of measured leaves in each digital herbarium specimen and, if not measured, updated as ‘NA’.
Remarks_1 Contains remarks: ‘Juvenile leaves’, ‘Saplings’; all other possibilities updated as ‘NA’. The plant produces juvenile leaves in its earlier years (ordinarily small compared to adult leaves). Sapling is a young tree. We excluded juveniles and saplings to avoid bias in the data.
Remarks_2

Remarks_2 contains the remarks: ‘No leaves’, ‘No measurable leaves’, ‘No measurable leaves tape’ and ‘photograph’. No leaves: When digital herbarium specimen has no leaves (only stem). No measurable leaves: When the digital herbarium specimen has no measurable leaves, for example, only overlapping leaves are not measurable with TraitEx. No measurable leaves tape: When the digital herbarium specimen has no measurable leaves, leaves are covered with tape. Photograph: When the downloaded image is a photograph and not a herbarium specimen, all other possibilities were updated as ‘NA’.
Ruler If there was no or no appropriate ruler (ruler less than 10 cm and pixelated rulers), then the column ‘Ruler’ was updated as ‘No’ and all other possibilities updated as ‘NA’.
Binomial species name for aggregation

Binomial name for aggregating the scientific names on genus level (Based on the columns 'GBIF Backbone Taxonomy scientific name for GBIF records' and 'GBIF Backbone Taxonomy scientific name for iDigBio records').

In addition to removing duplicates from the metadata, based on the institution code, catalogue number and URLs, we found 65 duplicates in the downloaded images (for example, if the digital image of the herbarium specimen were stored in the same or different repositories with different catalogue numbers or institution codes). To systematically identify duplicates, we used the image processing tool fslint, which compares various digital signatures like md5sum and sha1sum (also checks the file size and then checks to ensure they are not hard-linked) and excludes the duplicates.

Some of the remaining images had other problems, such as containing only juvenile leaves (Fig. 6a), incomplete leaf (Fig. 6b), no ruler (Fig. 6c), presence of specimen as a sapling (Fig. 6d), only overlapping leaves (Fig. 6e), no petiole (Fig. 6e) or live photographs (Fig. 6f). In addition to these problematic images, we identified digital herbarium specimens with contorted shapes, as shown in Fig. 7. These images were considered not suitable for measuring leaf traits and discarded (Fig. 2).

a
b
c
d
e
f
Figure 6.

Six examples from the 5779 discarded digital herbarium specimen images:

a: Only juvenile leaves: only small leaves along with small flowers.  
b: Incomplete leaf: no complete leaf on the specimen.  
c: Missing ruler  
d: Sapling (juvenile plant)  
e: All leaves are overlapping  
f: Live photograph: this is not a digitised herbarium specimen.  
a
b
Figure 7.

An additional example for discarded digital herbarium specimens: potentially contorted images (showing one example of good horizontal and contorted vertical images and we repeated the similar process as discussed below if there is a horizontal contorted image and good vertical image).

a: Horizontal orientation of the digital herbarium specimen: we considered only images with horizontal orientation for trait measurements.  
b: Vertical orientation of the digital herbarium specimen: the image represents the same specimen and image, but in a different orientation with contorted shapes. We removed all images with the vertical orientation of herbarium specimens because the images were potentially contorted by the resize process while downloading.  

In total, we discarded 5779 (around 1/3) of the 17,383 downloaded images and retained 11,604 images (around 2/3) for leaf trait extraction (Fig. 8).

Figure 8.  

Numbers of images downloaded per species (‘total number of images’) and finally used for trait measurements (‘leaf trait extracted images’) for the seven species of interest.

The specific details of 17383 digital herbarium specimen images are provided in the file Suppl. material 2 and column description in Table 3.

Trait measurements: For the measurement of the quantitative leaf traits - area, perimeter, length and width of individual leaf blades (all provided in "Digital Herbarium Specimen data", refer section 'Data resources'), the TraitEx software (Gaikwad et al. 2019) was used, a semi-automated tool to measure size-related traits on digitised herbarium specimen images. We first uploaded each image into TraitEx and calibrated the length ruler of TraitEx against the ruler bar on the image (Fig. 9, lower-left corner of the specimen image) since the unit length of the ruler will vary from image to image, depending on the image resolution. After calibrating the ruler, the leaf to be measured was selected and an approximate boundary line was drawn 'by hand' around the selected leaf (Fig. 9). The measurement of the exact values of the different traits for the selected leaf within the determined boundary is then done automatically. TraitEx identifies the exact mask of the identified leaf (Fig. 10) and measures the size-related traits on this mask. The results are displayed on the screen (Fig. 9) and saved as a CSV file. The cropped image (inside the boundary line in Fig. 9) and the exact mask of the measured leaf (Fig. 10) is saved for reproducibility. Masks of the leaves contain information on the location of leaves on the digital image and vector data on the boundary lines drawn around the leaf are also saved. Data on masks could be used as training data for leaf segmentation in the future and are available from the corresponding authors upon request.

Figure 9.  

A typical herbarium specimen image in TraitEx. A boundary line (red) has been drawn ‘by hand’ to identify the leaf of interest (‘cropped leaf’). The morphological trait values of that leaf as measured by TraitEx are provided in the upper right corner.

Figure 10.  

The exact mask of the measured leaf in Fig. 9 from TraitEx workflow.

This measurement process was repeated for each leaf to be measured on a specimen image. We measured the traits on 1 - 5 well-developed leaves per image, depending on the suitability of leaves. On average, it took 10 minutes to measure five leaves on an individual specimen image. It includes the time to import the specimen image into TraitEx, mark up and measure the leaves of interest and visually check the measurements. TraitEx saves the measured leaf trait records as individual CSV files in the folder where the herbarium specimen image is stored. The CSVs files were concatenated after all measurements were finished for a specific species. A detailed description of TraitEx and the measurement process is provided on the TraitEx website.

Finally, we combined the measured leaf trait values with the metadata downloaded from iDigBio and GBIF, based on their ImageIDs (see Suppl. material 1 and section ' Data resources').

Uncertainties of trait measurements: Leaf trait measurements from herbarium specimens are associated with uncertainties due to: i) the shrinking of leaves in the preservation process, ii) imaging the herbarium specimen, iii) manual digitisation within the semi-automated workflow of TraitEx and iv) the automated trait measurement of TraitEx.

The uncertainty due to shrinkage during drying is about 3.5 - 15.2 % (Tomaszewski and Górzkowska 2016, Kozlov et al. 2021). To provide estimates for the uncertainties associated with the workflow of processes (ii) scanning and (iv) automated trait extraction with TraitEx, "The authors of the TraitEx software (Triki et al. 2021) selected 20 herbarium specimens of 19 species. As a reference measurement, they measured two leaves per specimen on average using the vernier scale and measured the same leaves with TraitEx on the corresponding digitised herbarium specimens images. The authors then compared the leaf trait values between TraitEx and the manual measurements. The correlation between manual trait measurements and TraitEx measurements was very high (0.998 for leaf length and 0.997 for leaf width) and did not show a bias towards smaller or larger values. However, the uncertainty scales with the reference trait values heteroscedastic of in-situ measurements. The standard error ratio of TraitEx to reference measurements is approximately 1% (leaf length 1.02% and leaf width 0.75%). To estimate uncertainties associated specifically with (iii), the manual digitisation within TraitEx, we measured a single leaf 10 times in a herbarium specimen and repeated the same process on seven different digital herbarium specimens using TraitEx covering all leaf sizes. The uncertainties here have been very small (Table 4).

Table 4.
Download as
CSV
XLSX

The standard error for leaf area, leaf length, leaf width and leaf perimeter of a single leaf measured on the same herbarium specimen 10 times and repeated the same process for seven different digital herbarium specimens with TraitEx.

Trait

Standard error

Leaf area

0.039663 cm2

Leaf length

0.012555 cm

Leaf width

0.005268 cm

Leaf perimeter

0.035444 cm

Therefore, we rounded trait values ("Digital Herbarium Specimen data", refer to section 'Data resources') for leaf width, leaf length and leaf perimeter to a precision of 0.1 cm and leaf area to a precision of 0.1 cm2, which corresponds to uncertainties of approximately 1% for leaf length and width for the trait values of seven species we are providing here.

Geographic coverage

Description: 

Fig. 11 shows the spatial distribution of specimens sampling sites for measured images for the seven species of interest (green dots). We plotted the sampling sites for respective leaf trait measurements in the TRY database (red dots) for comparison. The Latitudes and Longitudes are provided by iDigBio and GBIF; any errors are not the author's responsibility.

Figure 11.  

Spatial distributions of measured leaf trait information for Salix bebbiana Sarg., Alnus incana (L.) Moench, Viola canina L., Salix glauca L., Chenopodium album L., Impatiens capensis Meerb. and Solanum dulcamara L. from Digital Herbarium Specimen data (green) and the TRY database (red).

Temporal coverage

Data range: 
1762-8-03 - 2018-9-12.
Notes: 

Fig. 12 shows the distribution of specimen sampling years in time for the seven species of interest. Specimen sampling dates back into the 18th century.

Figure 12.  

Temporal distributions of measured leaf trait information for Salix bebbiana Sarg., Alnus incana (L.) Moench, Viola canina L., Salix glauca L., Chenopodium album L., Impatiens capensis Meerb. and Solanum dulcamara L.

Usage licence

Usage licence: 
Other
IP rights notes: 

Creative Commons Attribution Waiver (CC-BY) (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0)

Data resources

Data package title: 
Digital Herbarium Specimen data
Resource link: 
http://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4818530
Alternative identifiers: 
https://www.try-db.org/TryWeb/Data.php#77
Number of data sets: 
1
Data set name: 
Digital Herbar Specimen data
Data format: 
comma-separated values
Description: 

The data package contains 128,036 trait records for leaf-blade area, length, width and perimeter from 32,009 leaves on 11,604 specimen images for the species Salix bebbiana Sarg., Alnus incana (L.) Moench, Viola canina L., Salix glauca L., Chenopodium album L., Impatiens capensis Meerb. and Solanum dulcamara L., including the respective metadata.

In supplementary materials, we provide additional information for each of the 17383 downloaded images: (1) the number of leaves measured on each image or the reason(s) for exclusion of the image from trait measurements (Suppl. material 2); (2) the metadata received from iDigBio and GBIF for each image (Suppl. material 1). For images received via GBIF, we also provide a Table with the references (Table 2).

Column label Column description
RowID Unique identifier for each entry in the data file.
Leaf length in cm Leaf length of specific entry in cm.
Leaf width in cm Leaf width of specific entry in cm.
Leaf area in cm2 Leaf area of specific entry in cm2.
Leaf perimeter in cm Leaf perimeter of specific entry in cm.
ImageID Unique identity for each digital herbarium specimen (In the case of multiple entries, measurements are made on different leaves within the same digital herbarium specimen). The binomial name for aggregation is added at the end of the ImageID to ensure each ImageID is unique across the species.
SpecimenID Provides unique id for each sample (a combination of Institutioncode and Catalognumber), to avoid multiple SpecimenIDs, ImageID is created by enumerating the SpecimenID (occurrence of multiple SpecimenIDs is possible if herbarium specimens are collected from the same sample).
Institutioncode Code for which Institution the specimen came from.
Catalognumber Unique identifier of specific specimen in the respective herbarium.
Phylum Phylum of the species.
Class Class of the species.
Order Order of the species.
Family Family of the species.
iDigBio scientificName (given) Scientific name extracted from iDigBio metadata.
iDigBio scientificName (accepted) Accepted scientific name extracted from iDigBio metadata.
GBIF Backbone Taxonomy scientific name for iDigBio records Scientific name according to the "GBIF Backbone Taxonomy" for iDigBio records.
GBIF scientificName (given) Scientific name extracted from GBIF metadata.
GBIF scientificName (accepted) Accepted scientific name extracted from GBIF metadata.
GBIF Backbone Taxonomy scientific name for GBIF records Scientific name according to the "GBIF Backbone Taxonomy" for GBIF records.
Binomial species name for aggregation The binomial name for aggregating the scientific names on genus level (Based on the columns 'GBIF Backbone Taxonomy scientific name for GBIF records' and 'GBIF Backbone Taxonomy scientific name for iDigBio records').
Latitude (from iDigBio and GBIF) Latitude of the collected specimen (extracted from iDigBio and GBIF metadata).
Longitude (from iDigBio and GBIF) Longitude of the collected specimen (extracted from iDigBio and GBIF metadata).
Sampling date Sampling date of the collected specimen (extracted from iDigBio and GBIF metadata).
Source From where the digital herbarium specimen was extracted (iDigBio or GBIF or iDigBio and GBIF). If the source is only iDigBio, the metadata is coming from only IDigBio which means corresponding GBIF entries are updated with the string 'NA' and vice versa.
UUID Universally Unique IDentifier (UUID) is a unique identifier in iDigBio (this id can be used in the future to request the same data from iDigBio).
GBIFID GBIFID is a unique identifier in GBIF (this id can be used in the future to request the same data from GBIF)
AccessURL Link where the digital herbarium specimen is stored.

Additional information

Comparison to trait records from plants in natural environments

To test the suitability of leaf trait measurements from digital herbarium specimens, we compared the density distributions of four traits (leaf blade area, length, width and perimeter) measured on the herbarium specimen images against records based on standard measurement protocols from the TRY database on plant traits (Kattge et al. 2020, Kattge et al. 2011). In this context, leaf area is defined as the projected area of an individual leaf (Pérez-Harguindeguy et al. 2013), which matches the measurements on the specimen images. However, the standard measurement protocol recommends measuring about ten mature leaves from the sunlit part of the canopy for each site in the natural environment and during the full flowering period (Pérez-Harguindeguy et al. 2013). In the case of a herbarium specimen, this selection cannot be guaranteed. There might be various sampling biases:

  • Herbarium specimens are often collected near roadsides, populated areas or universities
  • They are collected during campaigns that might be outside the flowering period
  • They might be taken from parts of the canopy which are not in full sunlight.

The sampled individual also might not be representative of the species. In the TRY database, sometimes all measurements are reported, sometimes only the average per individual and sometimes the average per species and site. We here compare the averages per specimen image (on average, three leaves measured per image) to trait records derived from the TRY database (Kattge et al. 2020, Kattge et al. 2011) in case of TRY not distinguishing individual measurements from average values.

We retrieved 573 trait records for the four traits and the seven species of interest from the TRY database - compared to 46,416 mean trait values from 11,604 specimen images. For several species-trait combinations, the TRY database contained zero records (see Figs 13, 14, 15, 16). The spatial distribution of the records from the TRY database was minimal compared to the spatial range of the measured herbarium specimens (see Fig. 11). The density distributions of trait records, based on herbarium specimens, follow an approximately normal distribution (after log-transformation) for all measured leaf traits and species. The range of trait values from the TRY database (if there are some) is overlapping the range of trait values from the herbarium specimen images for all trait-species combinations (see Figs 13, 14, 15, 16). However, if the number of trait records derived from the TRY database were sufficient for a more detailed comparison, the density distributions, based on specimen images, show a small, but consistent bias to smaller values (e.g. leaf area, one of the best covered continuous traits in the TRY database). We tend to explain this by the differences in the measurement protocols: the standard protocol recommends selecting ten mature leaves from the sunlit canopy, while we selected up to five leaves from a specimen image. Selecting several leaves from a specimen image includes a higher risk of sampling smaller, not fully mature leaves and leaf sizes might become smaller in the drying process while making digital herbarium specimens (Tomaszewski and Górzkowska 2016). However, this small, but rather consistent bias still needs to be addressed, based on comprehensive sampling across more species.

Figure 13.  

Comparison of the density distributions of leaf blade area (mm2, log-transformed) from herbarium specimen images to trait records, derived from the TRY database (representing trait measurements from life individuals by standard protocols) for the seven species of interest.

Figure 14.  

Comparison of the density distributions of leaf blade length (mm, log-transformed) from herbarium specimen images to trait records, derived from the TRY database (representing trait measurements from life individuals by standard protocols) for the seven species of interest.

Figure 15.  

Comparison of the density distributions of leaf blade width (mm, log-transformed) from herbarium specimen images to trait records, derived from the TRY database (representing trait measurements from life individuals by standard protocols) for the seven species of interest.

Figure 16.  

Comparison of the density distributions of leaf blade perimeter (mm, log-transformed) from herbarium specimen images to trait records, derived from the TRY database (representing trait measurements from life individuals by standard protocols) for the seven species of interest.

Discussion

Millions of digitised herbarium specimen images have become available during recent years and the numbers are expected to rise. Based on the metadata provided via the iDigBio and GBIF data portals, we were able to filter the images along with taxonomy and required additional information - georeference and sampling date. This enabled us to constrain the 21.9 million and 31.6 million herbarium specimen images available via iDigBio and GBIF (accessed date December 2020) for plants in the Phylum Tracheophyta to about 10 million images with sufficient additional information. Based on this pre-selection, we identified seven species most promising for data extraction and analysis in the context of this pilot study. We finally downloaded 17,383 images. We had to discard 5779 of the downloaded images (about 1/3) because of duplications or other problems not visible in the metadata. Nevertheless, we finally retained about 900 to 2500 images per species, covering broad species distribution ranges and dating back to the 19th century. Extracting trait values on average about three leaves per image, the final trait dataset contains 128,036 records for leaf area, length, width and perimeter from 32,009 leaves. Separate uncertainty analyses and the comparison to leaf traits measured in natural environments following standard protocols indicate the validity of the trait values extracted from the herbarium specimen images. The dataset provided here increases the number of trait records for the seven selected species compared to other available trait data by up to three orders of magnitude and justifies hope for substantially improved analyses of trait variation within species and across space and time.

However, this pilot study also identified two bottlenecks towards extracting trait records for a more comprehensive number of species. The first bottleneck is the time needed to download the digitised herbarium specimen images. Even though this process was automated using Python scripts, it took approximately 5 hours for 2000 images. This was acceptable for our pilot study, based on seven species, but may be a problem for measurement campaigns across a more comprehensive number of species and images. Every improvement to better select the images appropriate for measurements, without downloading the images or/and speed up the download for individual images, will therefore substantially improve the opportunity for comprehensive trait data extraction from millions of herbarium specimen images. The other bottleneck is the time and the human input needed to measure trait values using the TraitEx software. TraitEx is a semi-automated tool and it takes about 10 minutes to extract, check and save the trait measurements per specimen image. This was manageable for our use case with a constrained number of 17,383 images suitable for trait measurements. However, for comprehensive measurement campaigns across all appropriate images, potentially covering millions of images, a fully automated tool is needed, which seamlessly combines robust automated detection of suitable leaves with the precise measurement of size-related traits.

Acknowledgements

We are grateful for the fertile working atmosphere at Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry and Ernst Abbe Hochschule in Jena. Sujan Koirala and Jacob Nelson helped with Python scripts implementations. We thank the reviewers for their valuable suggestions, which improved the manuscript and the dataset. Susanne Tautenhahn was supported by the German Research Foundation (DFG) for the project "Mobilization of trait data from digital image files by deep learning approaches" (DFG Project No. 316452578). Jitendra Gaikwad and Abdelaziz Triki acknowledge the funding provided by the BMBF for the project MAMUDS: Management of Multimedia Data for Science (BMBF Project No. 01D16009) under which the TraitEx software was developed and further updated. The study has been supported by the TRY initiative on plant traits (http://www.try-db.org). The TRY initiative and database is hosted, developed and maintained at the Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry, Jena, Germany. TRY is currently supported by DIVERSITAS/Future Earth and the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig.

Author contributions

Susanne Tautenhahn conceived the concept and implemented the automated download of metadata and selection of species. Vamsi Krishna Kommineni implemented the batch download of images, scrutinised and removed duplicates. Vamsi Krishna Kommineni and Pramod Baddam extracted leaf traits using TraitEx. Vamsi Krishna Kommineni and Susanne Tautenhahn analysed and validated the data. Vamsi Krishna Kommineni provided all the figures, tables and statistics in the manuscript. Jitendra Gaikwad and Abdelaziz Triki updated the TraitEx tool as per the project requirement. Vamsi Krishna Kommineni, Jens Kattge, Susanne Tautenhahn and Jitendra Gaikwad wrote, reviewed and edited the manuscript. Barbara Wieczorek provided intellectual input and contributed substantially to revisions.

References

Supplementary materials

Suppl. material 1: Metadata from iDigBio and GBIF 
Authors:  Vamsi Krishna Kommineni, Susanne Tautenhahn, Pramod Baddam, Jitendra Gaikwad, Barbara Wieczorek, Abdelaziz Triki, Jens Kattge
Data type:  comma-separated values
Brief description: 

This file contains the metadata of the 17383 digital herbarium specimen images from iDigBio and GBIF for selected seven species.

Download file (6.97 MB)
Suppl. material 2: Information of digital herbarium specimen images with different kinds of problems 
Authors:  Vamsi Krishna Kommineni, Susanne Tautenhahn, Pramod Baddam, Jitendra Gaikwad, Barbara Wieczorek, Abdelaziz Triki, Jens Kattge
Data type:  comma-separated values (csv)
Brief description: 

The columns in the data file 'Image', 'Number of leaves measured', 'Remarks_1', 'Remarks_2', and 'Ruler' explains different kinds of information about the corresponding digital herbarium specimen record. For more information about the data columns, please refer to Table 2. Only 17249 herbarium specimen images data are available in this file; the remaining 134 data points were discarded while dropping the duplicates.

If all the columns 'Image', 'Number of leaves measured', 'Remarks_1', 'Remarks_2' and 'Ruler' contain string 'NA', meaning AccessURL of the corresponding record is not responded or not reachable while downloading the images.

If 'Number of leaves measured' column is 'NA', then one of the columns 'Image', 'Remarks_1', 'Remarks_2', and 'Ruler' are updated accordingly, meaning the trait measurement is not possible.

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