Tools for the Study of Biodiversity: Museums, Botanical and Zoological Gardens, and Herbaria

Classifying and naming organisms correctly depends on being able to examine, compare and reliably reference actual specimens — not just written descriptions. Over centuries, biologists have built several kinds of institutions specifically to collect, preserve, and make available such reference material, and each plays a distinct role in the study of biodiversity.

Museums preserve actual specimens of plants and animals, usually after appropriate preservation treatment, so that their physical structure can be studied long after the living organism is no longer available. Larger animal specimens are commonly preserved by taxidermy (mounting a treated skin over a lifelike form), while smaller organisms, or ones whose internal features matter, are often preserved in jars of a preservative solution. Museums typically also display skeletons of animals alongside their preserved specimens.

Zoological parks (zoos) are places where live wild animals are kept in captivity, in conditions intended to resemble their natural habitat as far as possible, for public display, conservation, breeding of endangered species, and study of their living structure and behaviour — something a preserved museum specimen cannot show.

Botanical gardens similarly maintain living collections, but of plants rather than animals, gathered from many different regions and habitats, often labelled with their scientific names — allowing plants to be studied, compared and identified while alive, and serving conservation purposes for rare or threatened species.

Herbaria are collections specifically of dried, pressed plant specimens, mounted on standard-sized sheets. Each mounted specimen carries a printed or handwritten label recording essential information: the plant's scientific (binomial) name and the family it belongs to, the date and precise place of collection, the name of the collector, and often the local or vernacular name as well. Sheets are stored systematically, generally arranged according to an accepted system of classification, in cabinets or almirahs, so that any specimen can be quickly located for comparison — making a well-organised herbarium an indispensable reference tool for identifying an unfamiliar plant. …