Mapping Asia Plants: Historical Outline and Review of Sources on Floristic Diversity in South Asia

Abstract

South Asia, which is composed of eight countries, including Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka, is an important global biodiversity hotspot. As a part of the Mapping Asia Plants (MAP) project, we reviewed the history of botanical investigations, floristic works, and publications in this region, as well as the key floras, checklists, and online databases in South Asia. The botanical survey of this region, which began during the 17th century, has two distinct phases: surveys conducted during the British India period and those conducted in the post-British period. The seven volumes of The Flora of British India are the most important contributions to flora research in South Asia because of their wider geographical coverage, which was performed by British botanists. Following on from this, different countries have launched independent floristic surveys. At the country level, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka have completed, or partially completed, their flora surveys at the country level, while Maldives has not yet published its national flora survey. According to currently available information, the approximated numbers of plant taxa for each country in South Asia are as follows: Afghanistan, 5261 (vascular plants); Bangladesh, 3470 (vascular plants); Bhutan, 5985 (flowering plants); India, 21,558 (flowering plants); Maldives, 270 (common plants); Nepal, 6500 (flowering plants); Pakistan, 6000+ (vascular plants); and Sri Lanka, 4143 (flowering plants). Additionally, there are 151 books devoted to the key floras and checklists in South Asia. A total of 1.1 million digital records of specimens from this region can be found on the website of the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF). However, there are still major gaps and limitations—such as out-of-date publications, national floras that are mainly detailed only in local languages, massive non-digitized specimens, and the lack of a comprehensive online database or platform—which should be addressed in terms of their global applications.