Botanic gardens have built up one of the largest living stores of plant diversity on the planet.
New research shows that, because information is scattered across disconnected systems, this worldwide collection has not been able to operate as one joined-up backstop against extinction.
At a time when plant declines are gathering pace, the data required to respond is frequently trapped in databases that cannot talk to each other-weakening the very safety net intended to stop species from vanishing.
Where records break
Across thousands of botanic gardens, living collections include more than 105,000 plant species-material that could, in principle, act as a single global defence against biodiversity loss.
By analysing the ways records are created and shared, Professor Samuel Brockington at Cambridge University Botanic Garden found that systems which are incompatible-or missing entirely-stop collections from working together as one network.
Rather than operating as a coordinated metacollection, key information on threatened status, legal constraints, and provenance is often kept within individual institutions.
Unless those digital obstacles are addressed, the global community cannot properly deploy the plants it already holds, exposing the deeper structural problems that come next.
What gardens safeguard
Worldwide, more than 3,500 botanic gardens maintain at least 105,634 species-around 30 percent of land plant diversity.
Collection staff describe these as living collections: plants cultivated and documented to support science and conservation efforts now.
A Kew report suggested that as many as 40 percent of plant species are at risk of extinction, increasing expectations on gardens.
When databases remain separate, teams cannot translate that growing risk into rapid, targeted action for the species most in need.
What data must carry
Keeping plants alive is only part of the job; gardens also need to record where material originated and what conditions apply to its use.
A good record connects a specimen to permits, collection dates, and its precise location within the garden, enabling staff to find it when required.
If that documentation is missing, a researcher might receive a cutting but not the essential context needed to interpret findings.
Problems can also propagate between collections when one garden corrects a record while another continues to rely on an older version stored locally.
When names go wrong
A single incorrect name can derail years of effort-particularly when restoration practitioners are trying to source a scarce species.
Plant names are revised as botanists reassess specimens, and a database that is never refreshed can effectively lock an outdated label in place.
Misidentifications may also leave a threatened plant hidden in plain sight, because staff believe it is a different species they already grow.
Shared naming services could reduce these errors, but only if gardens commit to common standards and an agreed timetable for updates.
Barriers to data exchange
In many gardens, staff still depend on spreadsheets or bespoke software that cannot output information in a shared, standardised format.
Licensed systems are often unaffordable for smaller institutions, while rivalry between suppliers can undermine long-term continuity.
Language differences create further friction, as many platforms offer only a limited set of interfaces and training resources.
Each local workaround slows cooperation, so what should be a simple plant request can stretch into weeks of back-and-forth emails.
Equity is the point
A large share of global plant diversity is found in tropical countries, yet many gardens in those regions do not have enough staff or tools to digitise their collections.
Paywalls and proprietary file formats can exclude institutions already working under severe budget pressures, leaving their holdings effectively invisible to global searches.
Thaís Hidalgo de Almeida, Curator of Living Collections at Jardim Botânico do Rio de Janeiro, underlined how urgent equitable access is.
“Having an integrated and equitable global data ecosystem would greatly help us address urgent conservation needs in biodiversity-rich countries like Brazil, making our work faster, more collaborative, and more effective,” she said.
Building any shared system around equity would ensure every garden participates as a full partner, rather than simply supplying data.
Building one system
Instead of relying on manual emails and periodic uploads, an international platform could allow gardens to update records once and make them available everywhere.
Botanic Gardens Conservation International already runs PlantSearch, bringing together species lists from more than 1,100 collections in a single place.
“The digital infrastructure needed to manage, share, and safeguard living plant diversity wasn’t designed to operate at a global scale,” said Professor Brockington.
Even a strong platform will fall short if records are not kept up to date, so funding must include staff time and training-not just technology.
Tools that change decisions
Linked databases could reveal which threatened species are held in only one or two gardens, highlighting them as priorities for additional propagation and planting.
If records were connected to climate and pest warnings, collection managers could relocate plants before heatwaves or disease outbreaks eliminate stocks.
Researchers, too, need reliably verified material for sequencing and chemical analysis, and shared records would make requests faster and reduce avoidable mix-ups.
However, quality assurance becomes the limiting factor, because every automated notification depends on people maintaining names, locations, and legal notes accurately.
Who pays and owns
Sustained investment is essential: a shared data system needs ongoing development, security, and specialist staff well beyond the initial launch.
Under the global biodiversity framework, countries have committed to recovery actions both in nature and outside the wild-work that depends on trustworthy data.
Even so, sharing detailed information can feel unsafe, as rare plants may attract theft and some gardens worry about public scrutiny when errors are revealed.
Decisions about privacy, attribution, and long-term hosting will determine whether institutions trust a joint system enough to participate.
Next steps for gardens
No single garden can protect plant diversity by itself, but a properly connected network could finally use its combined knowledge to respond effectively.
Turning that ambition into reality will require shared standards, open access, and reliable funding; without them, these safeguards will continue to fall short.
Photo credit: University of Cambridge.
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