Botanical memory: five centuries of floristic changes revealed by a Renaissance herbarium (Ulisse Aldrovandi, 1551–1586)

Abstract

We analysed the spatially explicit floristic information available in the herbarium of Ulisse Aldrovandi (1551–1586) to track floristic changes in the surroundings of Bologna across five centuries. Aldrovandi's data were compared with the Flora della Provincia di Bologna by Girolamo Cocconi (1883) and the Floristic Database of Emilia-Romagna (1965–2021). We explored potential variations in native range and life forms composition, and habitat affinity of the species in the three floras, also contrasting between native and alien species. Native species, mainly in terms of variations of hydro-hygrophytes, chamaephytes and therophytes, provide clear signals of human disturbance and habitat loss. Signals of climate change are provided by the high-mountain species, that were comparably rare between Aldrovandi and current flora and more represented in Cocconi, probably reflecting the effect of the Little Ice Age. Our findings also indicate the increasing importance of alien species from the Renaissance onwards. In this perspective, Aldrovandi's herbarium preserves the memory of the first signs of a radical transformation of the European flora and habitats. Finally, the study warns about the risk of dismissing herbaria and herbarium specimens collection, which would cause irreparable lacunas in our botanical memory, hindering our ability to predict biodiversity trajectories.

From Dormant Collections to Repositories for the Study of Habitat Changes: The Importance of Herbaria in Modern Life Sciences

“…Among the oldest and scientifically important collections, a particular mention is related to the herbarium of the naturalist Ulisse Aldrovandi (1522-1605), containing many samples of plants from America (such as tomato, pepper, sunflower, pumpkin, prickly pear, etc. ), known as the former specimens arrived in Europe [43][44][45].…”

“…In Italy, 34 private herbaria are also present, and they consist, as a whole, of more than 156.000 specimens [45]. The richest private herbarium (20,000 samples) is the Herbarium Antonietti (conserved in Piedmont), followed by Herbarium Soldano (in Piedmont), possessing 18,100 samples, and the Herbarium Branchetti (in Emilia-Romagna), made of 13,000 samples.…”