National Herbarium (Tracheophytes), National Biodiversity Centre (THIM-angio)
Bhutan is a small, landlocked country with an area of 38,394 km2 situated on the southern slope of the Eastern Himalayas. Straddling the two major Indo-Malayan and Palearctic biogeographic realms, Bhutan is part of the Eastern Himalayan biodiversity hotspot and contains 23 Important Bird Areas (IBA), 8 ecoregions, a number of Important Plant Areas (IPA) and wetlands, including two Ramsar Sites. The diverse ecosystems and eco-floristic zones have made Bhutan home to a wide array of flora and fauna.
The National Herbarium was initiated by the Department of Forests and Parks Services in conjunction with the Flora of Bhutan Project in the mid 1970s. In 1987 the herbarium was moved to Taba and housed with the forest research library under the Forest Research Division. With the establishment of National Biodiversity Centre in 1999, the herbarium was relocated to the present location at Serbithang. The new herbarium building at Serbithang was completed in 2002, with funding support from Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA). Currently, the herbarium houses more than 17,000 barcoded herbarium specimens of Angiosperms, Gymnosperms, Pteridophytes (+2200), Fungi, Lichens and Byrophytes (+850).
In 2017, the herbarium received assistance from Dr. Michael B. Thomas through a partnership with the US Fulbright program. This collaboration led to the digitization of the herbarium specimen collection and specimen data portal development. Dr. Thomas currently serves as the Data Curator.
The National Herbarium was initiated by the Department of Forests and Parks Services in conjunction with the Flora of Bhutan Project in the mid 1970s. In 1987 the herbarium was moved to Taba and housed with the forest research library under the Forest Research Division. With the establishment of National Biodiversity Centre in 1999, the herbarium was relocated to the present location at Serbithang. The new herbarium building at Serbithang was completed in 2002, with funding support from Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA). Currently, the herbarium houses more than 17,000 barcoded herbarium specimens of Angiosperms, Gymnosperms, Pteridophytes (+2200), Fungi, Lichens and Byrophytes (+850).
In 2017, the herbarium received assistance from Dr. Michael B. Thomas through a partnership with the US Fulbright program. This collaboration led to the digitization of the herbarium specimen collection and specimen data portal development. Dr. Thomas currently serves as the Data Curator.
Contact: Rinchen Yangzom (ryangzom@moaf.gov.bt)
Home Page:
http://nbc.gov.bt/?page_id=3269
Collection Type: Preserved Specimens
Management: Live Data managed directly within data portal
Global Unique Identifier: 18518af8-19aa-4955-9903-20353576a35c
Usage Rights: CC BY-NC (Attribution-Non-Commercial)
Rights Holder: Royal Government of Bhutan
Access Rights: http://biodiversity.bt/bbp/datasharing
Address:
National Biodiversity Centre
National Herbarium
Post Box 875
Serbithang, Thimphu
Bhutan
Collection Statistics:
- 17,086 specimen records
- 12,027 (70%) georeferenced
- 60 (0.35%) with images
- 12,612 (74%) identified to species
- 304 families
- 1,278 genera
- 3,034 species
- 3,083 total taxa (including subsp. and var.)