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Advisor(s)
Abstract(s)
Herbaria phycological collections have approximately one million 700 thousand specimens
preserved in European herbaria, a significantly lower number when compared to vascular plants,
due to factors such as greater sampling difficulty and fewer specialists. Several studies report that
coastal systems have undergone dramatic ecological changes in the last 150 years, with macroalgae
being a particularly affected group. Thus, macroalgal herbaria are essential sources for the study
and conservation of this biodiversity, as well as a pillar that responds to several ecological questions.
Despite having a large coastline, Portugal’s phycological collections are scarce, poorly developed,
and practically inaccessible digitally. In 2021/2022, all the phycological specimens present at LISI
were the focus of this exploratory project whose objective was to catalog them, taxonomically review
the specimens and place them at the service of the scientific community through the incorporation
of digitized vouchers into online databases. Three marine collections were constituted and studied,
accounting for a total of 852 vouchers and more than 1800 specimens, being the Portuguese Marine
Macroalgae Collection, the oldest digitized phycological collection available in Portugal. This project
provides an opportunity for other educational institutions to embrace their long-neglected collections
as well.
Description
Keywords
phycology algae historical collections taxonomy metadata digitization
Pedagogical Context
Citation
Canilho Santos, J.; Paes, P.; Arsénio, P.; Figueira, R.; Costa, J.C.; Lopes, M.D.; Cotrim, H.; Espírito-Santo, D. The Marine Macroalgae Collection from Herbarium João de Carvalho e Vasconcellos (LISI)—140 Years of History. Diversity 2024, 16, 478. https://doi.org/10.3390/ d16080478
Publisher
MDPI