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| Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú Herbarium | |
|---|---|
| Name | Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú Herbarium |
| Established | 1930s |
| Location | Lima, Peru |
| Collection size | ~120,000 specimens |
| Director | -- |
| Parent institution | Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú |
Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú Herbarium is the principal botanical repository of the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú located in Lima, Peru, serving as a major center for the study of South American flora. The herbarium supports taxonomic, ecological, and conservation research across Andean, Amazonian, and coastal ecosystems and maintains long-term specimen collections used by researchers from institutions such as the Smithsonian Institution, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and the New York Botanical Garden. It functions within networks including the Global Biodiversity Information Facility, the Consortium of Latin American Herbaria, and national agencies like the Ministerio del Ambiente (Perú).
The herbarium traces origins to botanical instruction at the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú in the 1930s and expansion through collaborations with collectors associated with the Field Museum of Natural History, Missouri Botanical Garden, and expeditions led by botanists trained at the Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos. During the mid-20th century its holdings grew via exchanges with the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (Paris), and private collections linked to figures such as Augusto Weberbauer and students of Joaquín García, integrating specimens from the Andes, Amazon rainforest, and Pacific coastal deserts. In the late 20th and early 21st centuries the herbarium modernized through partnerships with the International Union for Conservation of Nature, the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture, and regional herbaria like Herbario Nacional del Perú to support conservation assessments and floristic inventories.
The collection comprises vascular plants, pteridophytes, bryophytes, and fungal specimens with strengths in Andean bryophytes, Amazonian Fabaceae, and coastal Poaceae, reflecting fieldwork across provinces such as Cusco, Loreto, and Piura. Major accessions include type specimens and historical collections from expeditions connected to Alexander von Humboldt-era traditions, later augmented by modern collections associated with campaigns coordinated with the Servicio Nacional Forestal y de Fauna Silvestre (SERFOR), the Instituto Nacional de Salud, and international botanists from the University of California, Berkeley and University of Edinburgh. Specimens represent floristic diversity from protected areas including Manu National Park, Huascarán National Park, and the Pacaya-Samiria National Reserve, and support taxonomic revisions in families such as Orchidaceae, Asteraceae, and Rubiaceae studied by researchers affiliated with institutions like the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and the Missouri Botanical Garden.
Staff and affiliated researchers have produced monographs, floras, and checklists contributing to regional biodiversity knowledge cited in initiatives by the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation, the Convention on Biological Diversity, and the IUCN Red List. Collaborative taxonomic work with scientists from the Smithsonian Institution, Kew Gardens, and the New York Botanical Garden has resulted in new species descriptions, nomenclatural revisions, and phylogenetic studies employing molecular methods from laboratories at the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú and partner universities including the University of Oxford and Harvard University. The herbarium has participated in conservation assessments informing policy of the Ministerio del Ambiente (Perú) and regional land-use planning projects with organizations such as Conservation International and the World Wildlife Fund.
Facilities include climate-controlled storage rooms, systematic cabinets for vascular plants and bryophytes, a molecular laboratory shared with the university's biology department, and imaging suites adopted through projects with the Global Biodiversity Information Facility and the Biodiversity Heritage Library. Curation practices follow standards established by the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants, with specimen management interoperable via protocols used by the Index Herbariorum and digitization workflows modeled on collaborations with the Natural History Museum, London. Specimen treatment includes mounting, annotation, loan processing, and long-term preservation measures coordinated with regional conservation offices like SERFOR and international repositories such as the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
The herbarium supports undergraduate and graduate teaching programs at the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú and offers training workshops for staff from regional herbaria, universities like the Universidad Nacional Agraria La Molina, and NGOs including Conservation International. Outreach initiatives include public exhibitions in partnership with the Museo de Historia Natural de Lima, citizen science projects coordinated with platforms like the Atlas of Living Australia model and cooperative research with universities such as the University of São Paulo and the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile. Collaborative networks extend to European and North American institutions: the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, the Smithsonian Institution, the Missouri Botanical Garden, and the New York Botanical Garden.
Specimens are catalogued and databased using standards compatible with the Global Biodiversity Information Facility and the Integrated Digitized Biocollections network, enabling online access for researchers at the Universidad de Chile, Universidad Nacional de La Plata, and international partners. Digitization grants from agencies such as the European Union research programs and collaborations with the Biodiversity Heritage Library have supported high-resolution imaging and georeferencing of locality data linked to protected areas like Manu National Park and Pacaya-Samiria National Reserve. Loans and data-sharing agreements follow practices of the Index Herbariorum and enable taxonomic study by scientists at institutions including Kew Gardens, the Smithsonian Institution, and the New York Botanical Garden.
Category:Herbaria Category:Scientific organizations based in Peru Category:Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú