Hidden herbarium treasures in a wartime Kyiv: An appeal for international collaboration, digital preservation, and support

Abstract The article provides updated information about the collections and current research and curatorial activities of the National Herbarium of Ukraine (KW) housed in the M.G. Kholodny Institute of Botany of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine in Kyiv. With its ca. 2,300,000 specimens, the KW herbarium is the second‐largest collection of plants and fungi in eastern Europe. In terms of the number of specimens, it ranks 30th among the world's herbaria and 23rd among the herbaria of Europe. After its formal establishment in 1921, the herbarium incorporated several large herbaria from the universities of Kyiv and Kharkiv, including important 19th‐century collections of W.S.J.G. Besser, A. Andrzejowski, A.S. Rogowicz, I.F. Schmalhausen, and particularly the globally important herbarium of N.S. Turczaninow. The 20th‐century collections of O.V. Fomin, J. Paczoski, V.I. Lipsky, E.I. Bordzilowski, M.V. Klokov, M.I. Kotov, and many others greatly enriched the KW herbarium, especially well documenting the flora and mycobiota of all regions of Ukraine, from the Carpathians in the west to the Donets Ridge in the east, and from the Polissia forests and Prypiat wetlands in the north to the steppes and the Crimean Mountains in the south. The continued war against Ukraine poses severe threats to the KW collections, its holding institution, and its staff. “Digital preservation” of the valuable specimens through their large‐scale digitization and data sharing with researchers worldwide are the most important tasks. Physical preservation and reliable curation of the collections can be achieved through the institutional support and better involvement of the staff of KW and associated researchers in mutually beneficial international research projects. Five examples of possible digitization and data‐sharing project ideas are proposed here: (1) North American specimens of Thomas Nuttall, (2) early New Zealand collections of the Cunningham brothers, (3) the global Schultes Herbarium (now in the Turczaninow historical herbarium), especially his taxa for which original specimens are absent in other herbaria, (4) the worldwide collection of Artemisia in the Besser and Turczaninow historical herbaria, and (5) herbarium genomics, phylogenetics, and phylogeography, with a special emphasis on type specimens and endemic, subendemic, and taxonomically or phytogeographically significant taxa. We hope that the information and ideas presented in this article will guide the efforts of KW and associated staff and will be of interest to researchers worldwide who might apply for joint research projects with KW.