Uruguay's Online Flora: A new resource connecting science, society, and conservation

Abstract

Floras and botanical collections are essential tools for understanding plant diversity, promoting its conservation, and supporting a wide range of scientific applications. Uruguay, located in the biodiverse grassland region of southern South America, has had only an incomplete Flora, the most comprehensive of which was published more than a century ago. We review the country´s flora and the history of its study, and introduce the new Flora Uruguaya Online (FUO; https://florauruguaya.org), which when completed will provide a comprehensive record of all vascular plant species, including information on their distribution, morphological, ecological, and phenological characteristics. This online Flora presently contains information on 182 families, 1053 genera, and 3112 species, 85.4% of which are native to Uruguay and 2.2% endemic. Although Uruguay accounts for only 25% of the surface area of the Río de la Plata Grasslands, it contains over 60% of their species and more than 50% of their endemic taxa, reflecting its core geographical position. Uruguay´s flora faces increasing pressure from land-use change, habitat fragmentation, and invasive species. FUO provides critical support for addressing these challenges, offering systematic botanical data for basic and applied research, conservation, sustainable uses, and land management, including practical applications such as the identification of toxic plants affecting livestock production. We highlight key features of FUO with its research-enabling tools for the exploration of Uruguay´s botanical richness by scientists, as well as by policymakers, educators, conservationists, and citizens. These features include its accessibility, interactivity, multiple filters (e.g., geographic regions, ecological characteristics, conservation status, or specific species attributes), rich graphics, and multiple sources of data inputs tied to herbarium specimens.