Natural History Collections and Conservation: The Hypopterygiaceae Family example (Bryopsida) from the SGO Herbarium

Abstract

On the base on 97 specimens of the Hypopterygiaceae family, housed in the herbarium SGO and the current catalog of Chileans native mosses, presents a table and maps (Geographic Information System), that shows the regional and provincial distribution of the species that belong to this family of mosses in Chile (Arbusculohypopterygium arbuscula, Hypopterygium didictyon and Lopidium concinnum), discussing the presence of them in the central region, due to do not exist current records to confirm their presence. The permanently and long-term fragmentation and deforestation of native forest would be the main reason of the absence of these species. However, new botanical explorations in the areas with Valdivian and hygrophilous forest may help to elucidate this. Present work contributes to the assessment of natural history collections, specially the SGO´s herbarium, as a source of basic information for conservation and sustainable use of plant resources, particularly in non-vascular plants, which still lack sufficient interest in the field of conservation and the community.