How digitisation of herbaria reveals the botanical legacy of the First World War

Digitisation of herbarium collections is bringing greater understanding to bear on the complexity of narratives relating to the First World War and its aftermath – scientific and societal. Plant collecting during the First World War was more widespread than previously understood, contributed to the psychological wellbeing of those involved, and enhances floristic knowledge. The material legacy of wartime collections residing in herbaria is now becoming truly accessible for multidisciplinary study. Moreover, there are lessons to be learned from history in the lack of follow‐through in publishing these collections, because such collections form an important baseline for any post‐conflict landscape restoration actions. Mass digitisation provides a tool through which previously un‐documented collections held in herbaria can become visible and related collections can be linked together both taxonomically and by collection events, enabling more holistic interpretation and informing transdisciplinary approaches. Plant collecting during the First World War is known through few published examples, and the extent of accessioning or impacts of these collections thereafter was not clearly known. We sought to address this by querying recently digitised herbarium collections at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and the Natural History Museum, London. Combining an analysis of these digitisation programmes (which are still underway) with published and unpublished archival records, we have identified more than 4,600 additional specimens collected in connection with the First World War by at least 30 previously unknown or not well‐documented collectors, bringing the known total to approximately 6,700. We also found that there was a close coordination of individuals' collecting activity in the theatre of war with scientific institutions. The motivations for botanist and non‐botanist collectors who contributed could differ, though both yielded a benefit for scientific exploration. We recommend that further research in this area extends the scope regarding the internationalism of wartime collecting both in terms of participant forces and recipient institutions, with a focus on lessons learned for the future coordination of biodiversity recording and post‐conflict environmental restoration activities based on this scientific knowledge.