Museum and Herbarium Collections for Biodiversity Research in Angola

Rui Figueira,Fernanda Lages

doi:10.1007/978-3-030-03083-4_19

Abstract

The importance of museum and herbarium collections is especially great in biodiverse countries such as Angola, an importance as great as the challenges facing the effective and sustained management of such facilities. The interface that Angola represents between tropical humid climates and semi-desert and desert regions creates conditions for diverse habitats with many rare and endemic species. Museum and herbarium collections are essential foundations for scientific studies, providing references for identifying the components of this diversity, as well as serving as repositories of material for future study. In this review we summarise the history and current status of museum and herbarium collections in Angola and of information on the specimens from Angola in foreign collections. Finally, we provide examples of the uses of museum and herbarium collections, as well as a roadmap towards strengthening the role of collections in biodiversity knowledge generation.

Highlights

Natural History Collections (NHCs) are the basic building blocks for the discovery and understanding of the diversity of life
In the dataset used in this chapter, no records are included from collections based in Portuguese institutions for fish or butterflies, several zoological expeditions were organised by the Instituto de Investigação Científica Tropical (IICT) to Angola, since 1950
Museum and herbarium collections are restoring their paramount role in the study of biodiversity, with the rapid developments seen recently in molecular biology and in biodiversity informatics

Summary

Introduction

Natural History Collections (NHCs) are the basic building blocks for the discovery and understanding of the diversity of life. Internet access to information about species from Angola represented in museum and herbarium collections around the world is possible.

Results

Conclusion