Digitising biological collections to advance National Species Inventories: A case study from the flora of Chile

Societal Impact Statement In response to Chile's public policy to establish a national biodiversity inventory and monitoring system, we launched the HerbarioDigital.cl portal. We have digitised over 120,000 specimens representing more than 3,900 species from two Chilean herbaria, integrating them through a curated local taxonomic index. Comparisons of this taxonomic index with global catalogues revealed discrepancies in species richness across several families, underscoring the importance of expert‐curated data. This effort enabled the compilation of a preliminary national species inventory, demonstrating how digitising biological collections and strengthening local taxonomic capacity can support national strategies to address the biodiversity crisis. Summary To develop a dynamic, multi‐taxon framework for a national biodiversity inventory by integrating Chilean herbarium data, local taxonomic expertise and global datasets. Specimens from Chilean herbaria are being digitised using the i ‐Biodata platform, which integrates specimen data with a taxonomic index based on the Catalogue of Vascular Plants of Chile. We compared this local index with a global reference derived from the Catalogue of Life (COL), filtered for plant species with occurrences in Chile. After comparison, the locally curated catalogue of vascular plant species was integrated into a broader national biodiversity inventory, obtained from the COL framework filtered for GBIF records in Chile. We have digitised nearly 120,000 specimen records of > 3,900 species from two herbaria, integrated by a standard local taxonomic index. This is an ongoing project, with further digitisation underway. The comparison of the local taxonomic index with a global taxonomic index revealed discrepancies in species richness for several families. To serve as a new and improved comprehensive taxonomic index of Chilean biodiversity, we compiled a preliminary national species inventory by integrating the locally curated catalogue of vascular plants with a global catalogue of plant, animal and fungal taxa recorded in Chile. The integration of local catalogues with global references through the digitisation of biological collections results in a dynamic and collaborative multi‐taxon framework for a national species inventory. This new taxonomic index developed for Chile is interoperable and could be useful for biodiversity research, conservation and policy‐making.