NETWORKING FOR DIVERSITY Annual Report 2017 – 2019 2017 – BGBM BGBM Annual Report 2017 – 2019 Cover image: Research into global biodiversity and its significance for humanity is impossible without networks. The topic of networking can be understood in different ways: in the natural world, with the life processes within an organism – visible in the network of the veins of a leaf or in the genetic diversity in populations of plants – networking takes place by means of pollen, via pollinators or the wind. In the world of research, individual objects, such as a particular plant, are networked with the data obtained from them. Networking is also crucial if this data is to be effective as a knowledge base for solving global issues of the future: collaboration between scientific experts within and across disciplines and with stakeholders at regional, national and international level. Contents Foreword 5 Organisation 56 A network for plants 6 Facts and figures 57 Staff, visiting scientists, doctoral students 57 Key events of 2017 – 2019 10 Affiliated and unsalaried scientists, volunteers 58 BGBM publications 59 When diversity goes online 16 Species newly described by BGBM authors 78 Families and genera newly described by BGBM authors 82 On the quest for diversity 20 Online resources and databases 83 Externally funded projects 87 Invisible diversity 24 Hosted scientific events 2017 – 2019 92 Collections 93 Humboldt 2.0 30 Library 96 BGBM Press: publications 97 Between East and West 36 Botanical Museum 99 Press and public relations 101 At the service of science 40 Visitor numbers 102 Budget 103 A research museum 44 Publication information 104 Hands-on science 50 Our symbol, the corncockle 52 4 5 Foreword BGBM Annual Report 2017 – 2019 We are facing vital challenges. Climate change has been on everyone’s lips for some time, but now – at least since the media debate on the re- port published in spring 2019 by the World Biodiversity Council (IPBES) – the biodiversity crisis and the global extinction of species have also been attracting the attention of society at large. Recently, a global pan- demic has shown us the dramatic health, social and economic impact that emerging diseases can have in a short space of time. The ever deeper penetration of humans into previously untouched natural re- gions will increase these risks still further. These societal challenges can only be overcome through a joint ap- proach: collaboration and networking are crucial, not only on an in- ternational level, but also between politics, civil society and science as well as between the different scientific disciplines. To develop possible solutions, knowledge is required – and science is therefore paramount. A viable future for us all will depend on the decisions we make today. Fact- and science-based decisions require not only the broad availa- The Botanic Garden is due to be redeveloped in the coming years with bility of knowledge, but also a positive dialogue between science and new displays, garden areas and digital tools, while the Botanical Muse- society and the broad acceptance of science. um will be modernised in keeping with the times. And the new visitor The title of this annual report – “Networking for Diversity” – under- centre will create a lively forum of urban openness for our visitors at the lines how important scientific networks and international knowledge Königin-Luise-Platz entrance. exchange are for solving global problems. Here, at the Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum Berlin, one of our central objectives is to gen- My heartfelt thanks go to our employees as well as to all donors and erate knowledge and to link received research data with relevant collec- sponsors of the Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum Berlin. What tion objects and other data worldwide so as to unlock new knowledge we’re able to show you in this report would not be possible without potential and make it usable. We develop standards and software tools their commitment. and make biodiversity data available digitally – for the modelling of fu- ture scenarios, for example. Biodiversity data as a knowledge resource Happy reading! And happy looking! must be accessible worldwide and FAIR-compliant. Indeed, it is only as a globally networked knowledge community that we will be able to meet the challenges of the future. Raising people’s awareness of nature and getting them excited about plants is one of our key missions. As positive and relaxing places, bo- tanical gardens themselves play their part in developing a new under- Prof. Dr Thomas Borsch standing of nature and thus also strengthening the desire to preserve Director of the Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum Berlin its diversity. We see this in the growing responsiveness of our visitors. November 2020 Image left: View of the Bromeliad House withTillandsia usneoides in the foreground. 6 Atmospheric shot of the spruce (Picea) area of the arboretum. “Network!” This motto is a winning formula in many situations. Wheth- A network for plants er you want to get ahead professionally, achieve a political goal or start a new trend: exchanging knowledge, sharing resources and bringing The BGBM connects people, together comrades-in-arms with different talents can only be advan- institutions and information in tageous. However, as much as this strategy has grown in importance in the wake Berlin and around the world of digitisation, it has always been fundamental for plants: you only have to look into a forest to discover this green network. The trees there are connected to one another by an underground web of fungal threads, through which they are able to exchange nutrients and warn each other about pests. They are stronger together than they are alone. So what could be more fitting than to use this winning formula for botanical research and the transfer of knowledge to society? This is ex- actly what the Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum Berlin (BGBM) has been practising for a long time. In the course of the BGBM’s tradi- 7 Plant geography section (Greece) in the afternoon sun. tion-rich history, a robust network has emerged that connects collec- However, it is not enough to store the samples and data just the once tions and institutions, data and people. The 2017–2019 annual report and then let them slumber in drawers. The information from this mem- presents this network of knowledge, growth and research. ory bank should ultimately be available at any given moment to an- swer new research questions. That is why information scientists at the Anyone who takes a walk through the garden or admires the green BGBM grapple with how best to make all this valuable data accessible. treasures in the greenhouses is already getting to see part of this green They have, for example, developed their own software to link togeth- network: around 20,000 different species, subspecies and varieties of er the various in-house collections, as well as the research data gen- living plants have been assembled by the BGBM, together with part- erated on the objects. This not only makes it possible to understand ners at home and abroad. And there are also other botanical treasures who brought a living plant from where into the greenhouse, where behind the scenes, such as the nearly four million dried plants in the the associated material is in the herbarium and in the DNA bank, and herbarium, the approximately 50,000 tissue and genetic material sam- whether seeds have also been stored. But also which DNA sequences ples in the DNA bank or the frozen seeds of thousands of wild plants or electron microscope images belong to an individual and what place in the seed bank. The BGBM is thus part of a global memory bank this individual already occupies in one of the published family trees of biodiversity that is preserved in herbaria and other natural history that reconstruct evolutionary history. collections. 8 At the BGBM, all the different types of collection (living collection, herbarium, DNA bank, seed bank and data) are digitally networked with one another. This results in an ever-growing pool of knowledge that is made available globally. 9 Dr Robert Lücking (curator), in the fungus collection. In addition, the data collected at the BGBM is made accessible via vari- stitution itself and beyond Berlin. Indeed, the BGBM not only contrib- ous online platforms. Anyone who might be interested can take a look, utes to researching and protecting plant diversity in Germany, Europe at any time and from anywhere in the world, at the BGBM’s virtual her- and the world. It also offers the opportunity for exciting encounters barium or the Flora of Cuba, browse the Euro+Med PlantBase site for between experts and laypeople. Whether through exhibitions, cultural European and Mediterranean plants or retrieve information on global events or special activities for school classes, there are many ways to biodiversity on an internet platform called GBIF (Global Biodiversity foster dialogue. In citizen science projects, members of the public can Information Facility). even contribute to the research work of the BGBM themselves, for ex- The BGBM network not only connects up the different sources of infor- ample by deciphering old handwriting on herbarium labels or helping mation within our own institution, its threads extend far beyond the in- with plant identification. We are stronger together than we are alone! 10 KEY EVENTS OF 2017 – 2019 Berlin’s Governing Mayor Michael Müller (centre), Regine Günther, Senator for the Environment, Transport and Climate Protection (2nd from right), Sarah Wiener (right), Dr Andrea Bör, Chancellor of the Freie Universität Berlin (left) and Prof. Thomas Borsch (2nd from left) at the ceremony for the reopening of the Victoriahaus. Key events of 2017 – 2019 Audience with the Queen The reopening of the Victoriahaus KEY EVENTS OF 2017 – 2019 11 Flowers and young leaf of the species Victoria cruziana (native to the Rio Paraná in Brazil) on display in June 2018 in the Botanic Garden’s newly renovated Victoriahaus.