The Australian National Botanic Gardens is actively involved in scientific research into Australia’s flora, with a particular focus on documenting and conserving its diversity. Areas of research include taxonomy and systematics (the describing and naming of organisms and understanding their evolutionary relationships) and the conservation of threatened plant species. The majority of this work is conducted through the Centre for Australian National Biodiversity Research (CANBR), a joint venture between the Director of National Parks and CSIRO’s Division of Plant Industry that was established in 1993.
Find out more about the Centre for Australian National Biodiversity Research (CANBR) and CSIRO’s Division of Plant Industry
Collections and Research
Collections are fundamental to the research conducted at the Australian National Botanic Gardens, providing the scientific basis for its work in discovery and conservation.
These include:
- Australian National Herbarium - which houses over 1.2 million preserved plant specimens that provide the scientific basis for the names used to label plants in the ANBG Living Collection
- National Seed Bank - which holds seed for more than 3000 native plant species, with a particular focus on plants found only in the local alpine and subalpine regions and in native grasslands
- ANBG Library and Archives - with a collection covering the taxonomy, botany and horticulture of Australian native plants, as well as landscape design, plant conservation, Aboriginal use of plants, botanical illustration, botanic gardens, herbaria, and flora of other countries
- Australian Plant Image Collections - the national collection of photographs and illustrations of Australia's flora, and other images related to the Gardens