Digitisation of the Greenlandic Sphagnum peat mosses

This year we were awarded a SYNTHESYS Virtual Access grant to digitise the labels of about 4450 Greenlandic Sphagnum moss collections (~26 species) at the herbaria at Copenhagen (C, c. 4200 specimens), Vienna (W, c. 150), Meise (BR, c. 50) and Leiden (L, c. 50). This effort would lead to a more than 3.5 times global increase in digitised Greenlandic Sphagnum specimens.

Why digitise Greenlandic Sphagnum collections?

Due to its large gradients in latitude, temperature and humidity, and fast-changing environments, Greenland is a key Arctic region to study ongoing changes in polar regions. Sphagnum peat mosses play a key role in polar tundra and wetland ecosystems in terms of biomass, carbon sequestration and nitrogen fixation. The peat-forming Sphagnum wetlands are of global importance as the largest carbon sinks on land. However, most studies investigating changes in the Arctic flora focus on Greenland’s vascular flora, despite the importance of bryophytes, and in particular the peat mosses, in the Arctic ecosystem.