Botanical records through a social lens

This collaborative project is led by Folgert Karsdorp of the KNAW Meertens Institute, and investigates the social biases and cultural aspects of historical botanical records (that is, citizen science avant la lettre). In collaboration with FLORON, our contribution to this project is to implement a case study that explores historical botanical records from the Netherlands to characterize patterns of distribution and abundance of Asteraceae species in cities through time. We aim to let these historical records inform us about which species are winners and which are losers of the urbanization process. This can provide unique information on the plant traits that mediate successful adaptation to urbanization.