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Palm taxonomy in Brazilian Amazônia: The state of systematic collections in regional herbaria

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Abstract

Despite their economic and ecological importance, Amazonian palms have been largely neglected by contemporary taxonomists. The resulting confusion at the specific level is a serious impediment to research efforts by specialists in other fields. To assess the state of systematic collections presently available in Amazônia, we conducted a survey of the palm specimens in three Brazilian herbaria (MG, IAN and INPA). Twelve criteria were utilized to measure the quality of the specimens. We found that most of the 897 specimens are reasonably complete in a physical sense, but a large proportion lack crucial information on their labels. Curating facilities are in serious need of improvement, as is evident from the significant (26%) percentage of specimens found to be in an unreasonable state of preservation. A checklist of the 232 currently recognized palm species in Brazilian Amazônia shows that 145 (62.5%) are not represented by identified specimens, and that the representation which does exist lacks depth. To improve the quality and representativeness of collections in regional herbaria, we suggest procedures for collecting and storing palms as well as policies designed to intensify collecting efforts in Amazônia.

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Author information

Author notes

  1. Anthony B. Anderson

    Present address: Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi, 66.000, Belém, PA, Brazil

Authors and Affiliations

  1. New York Botanical Garden, 10458, Bronx, NY

    Michael J. Balick

  2. Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia, 69.000, Manaus, AM, Brazil

    Anthony B. Anderson & Marlene Freitas da Silva

Authors
  1. Michael J. Balick
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  2. Anthony B. Anderson
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  3. Marlene Freitas da Silva
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Additional information

In accordance with the agreement made with the “Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cientifico & Tecnológico-CNPq.” covering scientific research in Brazil, a report of this research, in Portuguese, will be published inActa Amazonica.

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Balick, M.J., Anderson, A.B. & Freitas da Silva, M. Palm taxonomy in Brazilian Amazônia: The state of systematic collections in regional herbaria. Brittonia 34, 463–477 (1982). https://doi.org/10.2307/2806503

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