Virtual Herbarium of Flora and Fungi: how to guarantee its sustainability

Maria Regina de Vasconcellos Barbosa; Leonor Costa Maia; Ariane Luna Peixoto; Dora Ann Lange Canhos; João Renato Stehmann; Ana Odete Santos Vieira; Lana da Silva Sylvestre; Mariângela Menezes; Silvia Rodrigues Machado

doi:10.1590/SciELOPreprints.17228

article.authors6a6d1959044c6

Maria Regina de Vasconcellos Barbosa Universidade Federal da Paraíba https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6166-3922
- Conceptualization
- Writing – Original Draft Preparation
- Writing – Review & Editing
Leonor Costa Maia Universidade Federal de Pernambuco https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0095-5758
- Conceptualization
- Writing – Original Draft Preparation
- Writing – Review & Editing
Ariane Luna Peixoto Instituto de Pesquisas Jardim Botânico do Rio de Janeiro https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1959-8543
- Conceptualization
- Writing – Original Draft Preparation
- Writing – Review & Editing
Dora Ann Lange Canhos Centro de Referência em Informação Ambiental https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8615-6652
- Conceptualization
- Writing – Original Draft Preparation
- Writing – Review & Editing
João Renato Stehmann Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9504-5441
- Conceptualization
- Writing – Original Draft Preparation
- Writing – Review & Editing
Ana Odete Santos Vieira Universidade Estadual de Londrina https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8899-2427
- Conceptualization
- Writing – Original Draft Preparation
- Writing – Review & Editing
Lana da Silva Sylvestre Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0486-0898
- Conceptualization
- Writing – Original Draft Preparation
- Writing – Review & Editing
Mariângela Menezes Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3363-1143
- Conceptualization
- Writing – Original Draft Preparation
- Writing – Review & Editing
Silvia Rodrigues Machado Universidad Estatal Paulista https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3137-8551
- Conceptualization
- Writing – Original Draft Preparation
- Writing – Review & Editing

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1590/SciELOPreprints.17228

Keywords:

biological collections, Brazil, database, diversity, flora, funga, network, repository, sustainability, virtual Herbarium

Resumen

This viewpoint highlights the importance of, and the support required for the Brazilian National Institute of Science and Technology - Virtual Herbarium of Flora and Fungi (INCT-HVFF). It started in 2009 with 25 Brazilian herbaria and three from abroad. Now, it is a network of 170 Brazilian herbaria and 27 from other countries. The INCT-HVFF makes data and images of algae, fungi, and plants from these herbaria freely and openly available through the online repository speciesLink, as well as through GBIF and SiBBr. The speciesLink is a platform developed and maintained by CRIA (Reference Center for Environmental Information), a Civil Society Organization of Public Interest that provides tools for searching and analyzing biodiversity data and makes information about Brazil’s biodiversity accessible to all interested. The focus of the INCT-HVFF, as well as of CRIA, is to provide biodiversity data, contributing directly to the conservation and sustainable use of Brazil's biological resources. Today, the INCT-HVFF shares more than 13.9 million records of algae, fungi, and plants from Brazil and neighboring countries. Adequate funding is essential to ensure that this network continues to be an important source of data, information, and knowledge, offering many benefits to its users.