This presentation is about the miantenence nad importnace of herbarium.If not maintained ,a herbarium won't be useful in the future

1. Sobhitha Mathew
Roll no;15
UTILITY AND MAINTENANCE
OF HERBARIUM

2. UTILITY OF HERBARIUM
• Herbaria, dried pressed plant specimens and their associated
collections data and library materials, are remarkable and
irreplaceable sources of information about plants and the world they
inhabit.
• They provide the comparative material that is essential for studies in
taxonomy, systematics, ecology, anatomy, morphology, conservation
biology, biodiversity, ethnobotany, and paleobiology, as well as being
used for teaching and by the public.

3. •Herbaria can be used to:
• Discover or confirm the identity of a plant or determine that it is new to science
(taxonomy)
• Provide locality data for planning field trips (taxonomy, systematics, teaching);
• Provide data for floristic studies
• Serve as a repository of new collections (taxonomy and systematics)
• Provide data for revisions and monographs (systematics)
• Verify Latin plant names (nomenclature)
• Serve as a secure repository for “type” specimens
• Facilitate and promote the exchange of new material among institutions
• Allow for the documentation of flowering and fruiting times and juvenile forms
of plants (taxonomy, systematics, ecology, phenology)

4. • Provide the basis for an illustration of a plant
• Provide pollen for taxonomic, systematic, and pollination studies as well as
allergy studies
• Provide samples for the identification of plants eaten by animals
• Document which plants grew where through time
• Document what plants grew with what other plants
• Document the morphology and anatomy of individuals of a particular
species in different locations
• Provide material for microscopic observations
• Provide material for DNA analysis .
• Provide material for chemical analysis (pollution documentation; bio-
prospecting, for coralline algae – determining past ocean temperatures
and chemical concentration)

5. • Provide material for teaching (botany, taxonomy, field botany, plant
communities)
• Serve as a reference library for the identification of parts of plants found in
archeology digs (paleoethnobotany)
• Provide information on common names and local uses of plants
(ethnobotany, economic botany)
• Provide samples for the identification of plants that may be significant to
criminal investigations (forensics)
• Serve as an educational tool for the public

6. The tags of herbarium carry all the information about habitat, habit
local name, flower colour and other characters of the plant, use of
plant, frequency and abundance of species etc. It also includes the
morphological description, range of distribution, variation and uses
In this way it provides data for botanical, ethnobotanical and
phytogeographical studies etc.
It aids in assessment and cataloguing of all species of
economic potential, as commercial species, medicinal herbs,
food plants etc.

8. The herbarium collections of plant material are the working stock for the taxonomists and
other scientists who can make use of them. They are also the repository of basic botanical
knowledge for the country
Clearly they need careful curation and maintenance
The main collections are of dried, vascular plants, mounted on thick-grade archival paper and
placed in species folders within genera, and arranged by plant family within vacuum-sealed
metal cabinets.
The room temperature is maintained at 23oC to prevent the deterioration of the plant
material by pests and diseases.
There are subsidiary collections of lower plants – fungi and algae, also kept in similar
conditions. Small collections of wood, seeds, and fruit are also maintained by the herbarium.
The method of storage must allow for almost indefinite storage of the specimens, some of
which are more than 150 years old. Dried plant material is very delicate, and so must be
handled with great care, and as seldom as possible.
The damage caused by fungi and bacteria is actually less important than that done by insects,
so it is important to disinfest the new plant material before it is mounted on the herbarium
sheets and placed in the main collection.
It is also necessary to continually protect the main collection from the build-up of insect
populations in the cabinets. This is done on a continuous basis by placing the herbarium
folders in an industrial freezer at -30oC for at least two hours and then replacing them on the
shelves. The entire collection is fumigated biennially using the recommended fumigant.

9. Maintenanc
e of
herbarium

10. • The Maintenance and restoration of herbaria includes the preventive
care, repair, and restoration of herbarium specimens
• .Collections of dried plant specimens are collected from their native
habitats, identified by experts, pressed, and mounted onto archival
paper. Care is taken to make sure major morphological characteristics
are visible.
• Herbaria documentation provides a record of botanical diversity.
• Professionals who make decisions about the conservation-restoration of
botanical specimens include registrars, curators, and conservators who
work on herbarium collections in universities and museums
• Herbarium specimens may be susceptible to water damage, mold,
pests, unattached specimens, dust, dirt, and damage from improper
storage conditions. Preventive conservation can prevent much of the
damage that could occur.

11. Preservation and storage of Herbarium
• Herbarium specimens will last for hundreds of years if properly cared for.
• The best conditions for storage include low temperature F), low humidity, low
light, and infrequent handling. Roaches and certain beetles will destroy plant
specimens.
• kill insects in dried plant specimens by freezing them for three or four days, and
keep them pest-free in a tightly-sealed plastic bag.
• There are various ways to achieve these conditions. In a herbarium, plants are
stored in folders within airtight cabinets.
• Any dried plant material is frozen before entering the herbarium, and the space is
periodically treated with a pyrethrin spray (an organic insecticide made from
chrysanthemums).
• In the BRIT herbarium, plants are organized alphabetically by the plant family to
which they belong, then by the genus, then by geographic area and the species to
which they belong. This organization facilitates the use of the herbarium by
researchers and the public.

12. Agents of Deterioration And maintenance
• Physical Forces-Proper storage in secure and stable shelving
• Water damage resulting from flooding can result in shrinking,
distortion, or staining of plant materials.Damaged of waterlogged
specimens are frozen to delay deterioration and prevent a fungal
attack.
• Common herbarium pests include: silverfish, book lice (psocids),
cigarette or tobacco beetles (Lasioderma), dermestids, drugstore
beetles (Stegobium paniceum)[4] A reoccurring threat to the
longevity of herbarium specimens is insects, a number of which find
dried plants palatable. Historically, various methods have been used
to kill insects, which either come in with the plants when they are
collected or are in the building where the plants are stored.

13. Pests are commonly treated with two different methods
Freezing: Using a clear polyester bag, excess air is pushed out and heat
sealed with the specimen inside or the specimen can be placed inside
polythene bags and sealed with parcel tape. Then it is placed into a
normal domestic freezer for at least 14 days at a temperature of −18 °C,
or for 72 hours if freezing at -30 °C.
Anoxia: Small anoxic environments starve the pests of oxygen and are
created using sealed barrier films and placing oxygen scavengers and
RH buffers inside before sealing.
An integrated pest management program is cost-effective over time
and the best preventive measure against pests.

14. • Fungal attack
• primary risk factor for fungal attack is incomplete drying of specimens,
caused either during the specimen preparation process or afterward, or
in collections that become wet later through flood, other water damage
or improper storage conditions
• . Properly dried plant specimens will not suffer from fungal attack if
stored in the correct conditions. During the drying process specimens
are particularly at risk if they dry slowly. This happens through poor
drying conditions or specimens being wet before being pressed or
having water-retaining or succulent parts.
• Specimens with sugary exudations or large quantities of nectar are also
particularly attractive to fungi and need special care during drying to
ensure that they dry fast enough to prevent mold growth. If fungal
growth occurs on specimens, it can be brushed with
95% ethanol or methylated spirits (denatured alcohol)

15. • Light
Herbarium specimens are sensitive to visible light and ultraviolet radiation,
which can cause fading of biological pigments (fading or shifts in color)
and/or damage to chemical bonds .
• Theft
theft is prevented by maintaining limited access to where collections are
stored. In the event of a specimen leaving the site through outgoing loans,
records are kept which gather letters of request, the transmission of names,
and other supporting documentation.[
• Pollutants
Storage in metal cabinets is the best material to maintain herbaria
collections. Metal cabinets do not release volatile organic compounds as
wooden cabinets do. The metal shelves can be easily cleaned and a well-
sealed cabinet will provide a stable microclimate for the specimen

16. • Disassociation
Ensuring that every specimen has an individual accession number will reduce the
risk of disassociation. The accession number relates that number to an
identifiable object and the object can only be moved if its location is updated,
ensuring the object is never disassociated from its data.
Specimen sheets are stacked in groups by the species to which they belong and
placed into a large lightweight folder that is labeled on the bottom edge.
Groups of species folders are then placed together into larger folders by genus.
The genus folders are then sorted by taxonomic family according to the standard
system selected for use by the herbarium and placed into pigeonholes in
herbarium cabinets
Modern herbaria often maintain electronic databases of their collections. Many
herbaria have initiatives to digitize specimens to produce a virtual herbarium.
These records and images are made publicly accessible via the Internet when
possible.

17. Repair and
restoration🍁

18. • Cleaning
Dust and dirt are removed from herbarium sheets by using a smoke
sponge.
Conservators gently rub the place where the dirt is and then softly remove
any excess with a fine brush.
Care must be taken by conservators when dealing with older prepared
specimens that may have traces of toxic chemicals.
Making use of personal protective equipment by professionals can reduce
risk of exposure or harm due to dangerous materials.
Broken specimens
Broken specimens are reattached to the herbaria sheet using thinly cut
strips of archival pre-gummed linen tape.
Detached materials such as seeds or leaves are placed in an acid-free card
fragment packet, which is secured onto the sheet with the original
specimen.

19. • Removal from mounting sheet
Unattached specimens are removed from the herbaria sheet by
humidifying it to make them pliable and removing the plant with a
paper lifter (smooth wooden spatula).
They are then placed to dry and flatten along with the original
mounting sheet and written documentation (label and annotations).
The specimen and original documents are then remounted to a new
sheet using the original sheet as reference.

20. REFERENCE🍂
• https://www.nps.gov/museum/publications/conserveogram/11-12.pdf
• http://www.natsca.org/sites/default/files/publications/books/Pests.pdf
• http://collectionforum.org/doi/pdf/10.14351/0831-0005-
28.1.8?code=pnhc-site
• https://www.freshlypressed.ch/blog/2017/7/2/herbarium-how-to-1-ythsk
• https://www.biologydiscussion.com/angiosperm/taxonomy-
angiosperm/herbarium-functions-kinds-and-importance-systematic-
botany/34711
• https://nmnh.typepad.com/the_plant_press/2002/07/plant-press-2002-
vol-5-issue-3-1.html