Comparison of herbaria collected by botanists over centuries shows impact of climate change

A team of botanists and biologists affiliated with several institutions in Italy has found it is possible to trace changes to plant life in some parts of the world by studying herbaria created by plant enthusiasts. In their study, reported in the journal Royal Society Open Science, the group compared plant samples in herbaria created by Ulisse Aldrovandi, Girolamo Cocconi and Emilia-Romagna, who made their collections centuries apart.