The Marine Macroalgae Collection from Herbarium João de Carvalho e Vasconcellos (LISI)—140 Years of History
João Canilho Santos,
Paula Paes,
Pedro Arsénio,
Rui Figueira,
José Carlos Costa,
Margarida Dionísio Lopes,
Helena Cotrim,
Dalila Espírito-Santo
Affiliations
João Canilho Santos
LEAF—Linking Landscape, Environment, Agriculture and Food—Research Center, Associated Laboratory TERRA, Instituto Superior de Agronomia, University of Lisbon, Tapada da Ajuda, 1349-017 Lisboa, Portugal
Paula Paes
LEAF—Linking Landscape, Environment, Agriculture and Food—Research Center, Associated Laboratory TERRA, Instituto Superior de Agronomia, University of Lisbon, Tapada da Ajuda, 1349-017 Lisboa, Portugal
Pedro Arsénio
LEAF—Linking Landscape, Environment, Agriculture and Food—Research Center, Associated Laboratory TERRA, Instituto Superior de Agronomia, University of Lisbon, Tapada da Ajuda, 1349-017 Lisboa, Portugal
Rui Figueira
LEAF—Linking Landscape, Environment, Agriculture and Food—Research Center, Associated Laboratory TERRA, Instituto Superior de Agronomia, University of Lisbon, Tapada da Ajuda, 1349-017 Lisboa, Portugal
José Carlos Costa
LEAF—Linking Landscape, Environment, Agriculture and Food—Research Center, Associated Laboratory TERRA, Instituto Superior de Agronomia, University of Lisbon, Tapada da Ajuda, 1349-017 Lisboa, Portugal
Margarida Dionísio Lopes
Independent Researcher, 1745-016 Lisboa, Portugal
Helena Cotrim
cE3c, Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Change, Faculty of Sciences, CHANGE, Global Change and Sustainability Institute, University of Lisbon (cE3c-FCUL), Bloco C2, 5º Piso, sala 37, Campo Grande, 1745-016 Lisboa, Portugal
Dalila Espírito-Santo
LEAF—Linking Landscape, Environment, Agriculture and Food—Research Center, Associated Laboratory TERRA, Instituto Superior de Agronomia, University of Lisbon, Tapada da Ajuda, 1349-017 Lisboa, Portugal
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.
