Protocol and survey data from: Building infrastructure for silica-preserved leaf tissue collections in herbaria

Herbaria are irreplaceable resources for plant research, containing spatiotemporally and phylogenetically diverse specimens and data that can be leveraged for a wide range of groundbreaking research. In addition to pressed plants, many herbaria also maintain silica-preserved plant tissue collections. Because these specimens preserve DNA and other compounds more readily, silica-dried plant tissue collections are an exciting avenue for herbaria to enable high quality, reproducible, and data-rich research across plant biology. However, while many botanists already collect voucher-associated silica-preserved tissue samples, there is a lack of guidance around the best tools and practices for curating them. We examined the scientific literature and solicited feedback from herbarium professionals to explore major considerations for building and managing silica-preserved tissue collections, especially in light of resource limitations faced by small and regional herbaria. We identify s..., , # Protocol and survey data from: Building infrastructure for silica-preserved leaf tissue collections in herbaria

Dataset DOI: [10.5061/dryad.z612jm6s3](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.z612jm6s3)

## Description of the data and file structure

Data to inform and find solutions for challenges to silica collection management/curation.

### Files and variables

#### File: Silica_Appendix1.pdf

**Description:** Feedback from natural history museum professionals to understand how herbaria manage silica collections prior to this study. Survey was sent via a listserve to herbarium professionals to assess current (as of 2025) trends in silica collection management and curation. Anonymized responses were used to identify obstacles and best practices to managing and curating silica collections moving forward. Survey questions and responses summarized in PDF format.

#### File: Silica_Appendix1_tabular.csv

**Description:** Feedback from natural history museum professionals to understand how her..., ,