Carlos (he/him) is a Colombian PhD candidate at Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (Brazil). He works as an Editor at Botany One and a Communications Officer at the International Society for Seed Science. Follow him at @caordonezparra.bksy.social.
Millions of herbarium specimens are now only a click away. But how do botanists find the right records, sort the right images and train better AI tools? Three digital botany tools are helping turn online collections into usable knowledge.
Once known from only two sites in Brazil’s rocky Cerrado highlands, Vellozia sessilis is now helping show how fieldwork and citizen science can protect microendemic plants.
New research shows that the seeds of Butia capitata use seasonal temperature cues to weaken their protective barriers, ensuring germination happens when the rainy season gives seedlings the best chance to survive.