Cristiana Vieira

Museu de História Natural e da Ciência da Universidade do Porto (MHNC-UP) · Herbário PO

The Herbarium of Porto University (registered in the Index Herbariorum as PO) is an active collection in continuous growth that contains about 22,072 herbarium specimens of bryophytes. The history of Bryology in Porto is inseparable from the origins of the first specimens of bryophytes collected by Isaac Newton in 1848. The majority of bryophyte sp...

Biological models and replicas were in their heyday in the nineteenth century when they were common in primary, elementary, secondary and higher education institutions, as they were frequently used to illustrate anatomical structures mentioned in textbooks and scientific papers. Biological models and replicas are part of the heritage of the Museu d...

The Natural History and Science Museum of the University of Porto houses a collection of 45 models of fungi in papier-mâché from the 19th-century, which were used at the university until 2015 as didactic models. For the first time, the materials and techniques used in the production of a Boletus edulis model were studied (vernacular name: cep, porc...

COMO GUARDAR UMA PLANTA PARA SEMPRE\ HERBÁRIOS E OUTROS MAIS \ MÉTODOS, MATERIAIS, E TÉCNICAS \ COLHEITA DE ESPÉCIMES E SEUS DISPOSITIVOS \ MONTAGEM DE FOLHA DE HERBÁRIO \ ANATOMIA DE UMA FOLHA OU PACOTE DE HERBÁRIO \ ARRUMAÇÃO IDEALIZADA \ UM HERBÁRIO COMO O DA UNIVERSIDADE DO PORTO (PO-MHNC-UP) \ UM HERBÁRIO DO JARDIM DE BELAS-ARTES \ UM HERBÁRIO...

Understanding how species assemble into communities is a central issue in community ecology. So far, most studies have focused on the assembly mechanisms of vascular plant communities, while the role of deterministic (environmental filtering and biotic interactions) and stochastic (e.g. dispersal limitation) processes structuring bryophyte assembla...

Biological soil covers (BSCs) play a pivotal role in ecosystem functioning by enhancing soil stability, mediating nutrient cycling, and influencing soil hydrology. Recognized as ecosystem engineers, they can physically modify, maintain, or create habitats, facilitating plant community development. Through these intricate interactions, BSCs contribu...

Mountains matter. Rural subsistence communities living in areas with high biodiversity, such as mountains, are hotspots of ecological knowledge. However, modern lifestyles may threaten this unique cultural heritage. Our study aimed to document and analyze information on plants used to fulfill the everyday needs of the people in three rural communit...

The significance of plant material sample deposits extends beyond the scientific community, with various industries, historians, and law enforcement agencies increasingly relying on them. Preserving global xylariums and herbariums is essential for accessing centuries of data, species, and samples that may no longer exist in their original locations...

The typification of the name Juniperus navicularis (Cupressaceae) is provided, based on a thorough literature review and examination of original herbarium material deposited in the Gandoger collection (LY). In addition to discussing the historical background of the name and various assignments by different authors, we further studied additional typ...

Putative type specimens of 18 taxa described from Mozambique collected by Américo Pires de Lima at the beginning of the 20th century are kept in the African collections of the Herbarium of Porto (PO) at the MHNC-UP. These specimens were not collected as part of a dedicated scientific mission, but they and the sci�entific studies carried out by Pire...

Putative type specimens of 18 taxa described from Mozambique collected by Américo Pires de Lima at the beginning of the 20th century are kept in the African collections of the Herbarium of Porto (PO) at the MHNC-UP. These specimens were not collected as part of a dedicated scientific mission, but they and the scientific studies carried out by Pires...

The diverse flora of the Madeira and Azores archipelagos holds significant scientific and conservation value. Additionally, a comprehensive catalogue of specimens present in the worldwide herbaria is essential to research and management efforts. This study aims to systematically document and catalogue the flora specimens of Madeira and the Azores p...

The Natural History and Science Museum of the University of Porto's PO Herbarium holds an impressive array of algae specimens, each chronicling the evolution of marine life and scientific documentation practices. The past state of these collections, though rich in potential, presented obstacles due to their unstructured arrangement and limited acce...

This poster features the curation of the palaeobotanical specimens of the PO Herbarium, in the Natural History and Science Museum of the University of Porto (MHNC-UP). It sums up the specimen's botanical Families and Genera, as well as their corresponding Geological Period, and the Municipalities in which they were found. Data accessibility will b...

Background & Aim: This study focuses on the systematic selection of plant specimens for display at the Natural History and Science Museum of the University of Porto (MHNC-UP), aiming to enhance public understanding of botany and ethnobotany while promoting conservation and cultural appreciation through state-of-the-art museum exhibition design and...

This study delves into the impact of contrasting management practices on epiphytic bryolichenic communities, shedding light on their divergent responses to management regimes on Castanea sativa Mill. orchards. Lichens and bryophytes were sampled in managed and abandoned plots, in 95 trees, in north and south sides and at two heights in Galicia (NW...

"Indeterminabilis" is the label found on some of the specimens in the Pires da Lima lichen collection. This extensive collection of lichens was collected by the Portuguese scientist Américo Pires de Lima in 1916/17 during his time in Mozambique and is currently housed in the Herbarium of the University of Porto (PO/MHNC-UP). In 1929, a comprehensiv...

This study delves into the impact of contrasting management practices on epiphytic bryolichenic communities, shedding light on their divergent responses to management regimes on Castanea sativa orchards. Lichens and bryophytes were sampled in managed and abandoned plots, in 95 trees, in north and south sides and at two heights in Galicia (NW Spain)...

https://www.up.pt/casacomum/ficcoes-botanicas/12-um-botanico-sao-tomense/ Em 1957, Arnaldo Rozeira, botânico nascido em S. Tomé, regressa pela segunda vez à sua terra natal integrado numa missão científica, tendo-lhe sido atribuída a chefia da brigada de sociologia botânica. Apaixonado pela diversidade vegetal tropical, a sua carta ao “pai” da fit...

Riparian plant communities are key to ecosystem functioning and important providers of ecosystem services on which wildlife and people depend. Ecosystem functioning and stability depend on functional diversity and redundancy. Therefore, understanding which and how different drivers shape community assembly processes and functional patterns is cruci...

Fungi are the end and beginning of many nutrient cycles and the basis of several scientific studies in areas such as medicine, biology, nutrition, and agriculture. The Porto Herbarium (PO), currently part of the Museum of Natural History and Science of the University of Porto, contains cryptogamic specimens, such as Fungi, which are still very litt...

The term "tutti frutti" was coined in 1834 by the Italians and means "all the fruits", which sums up what herbarium has. In the Porto Herbarium, we find one, defined as a botanical collection consisting of the preservation of dried or fresh fruits, which usually subsidies a herbarium. The Porto Herbarium had a considerable collection of fruits and...

Knowing the floristic casts and associations of vegetation groups is an important tool to conserve and predict the demographic species turn-over of native Forests, especially when facing worsening climatic scenarios. In Portugal the native forests are mostly ruled by oaks (Quercus) and their distribution and species composition is predicted to chan...

Droughts significantly impact forest ecosystems, reducing forest health and productivity, compromising ecosystem functioning, and nature-based solutions for climate change. The response and resilience of riparian forests to drought are poorly understood despite their key role in the functioning of aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. Here we investi...

The herbarium collections at the Polytechnic Academy of Porto started around 1881, with the efforts from the Experimental Botanical Garden Staff. A few years later, Gonçalo Sampaio started his contributions, exchanging exsiccatae with foreign institutes and botanists, thus establishing the foundations for the study of Portuguese Phytography (Phane...

Environmental changes and biodiversity loss have emphasized the need to understand how communities affect ecosystem functioning and services. In riparian ecosystems, integrative, generalizable, broad-scale models of ecosystem functioning are still required to fulfill this need. However, few studies have explored the links between functional traits,...

The Herbarium of the Natural History and Science Museum of the University of Porto (PO Herbarium) includes in its vast collection threatened Portuguese species, which are represented in the Red List of Vascular Flora from Continental Portugal. The Red List of Vascular Flora from Continental Portugal was made by a specialized team and from the data...

The Instituto Nun’Alvres (INA) has a remarkable collection of herbarium specimens that remain deeply understudied. It is composed of a vast quantity of specimens collected primarily by Jesuits, including Alfonso Luisier, who were pioneers in the experimental teachings of the natural sciences in Portugal and contributed to the national and internati...

The present study was set to explore the collection of specimens labeled as “Exotic”, from the set of vascular plants from the INA herbarium. We came to understand that exotic included “foreign” sensu lato, with this in mind, we tried to evaluate the collector's definition of “exotic”, reviewing it in light of the current concept.

Throughout Europe, the 19th century presented as a fruitful period for advances in Natural History studies. Portugal followed this evolutionary rise of the natural sciences, among which, botany, which supported by trips to the colonies, found in scientific illustration a vehicle of communication for the scientific and political message. During the...

We examined specimens from René Louiche Desfontaines, deposited in the “Herbier de la Flore Atlantique” (P-Desf) from MNHN-P and homologue specimens from P-Lam, LINN-HS, MPU, FI-Webb, and B-W, to assess three names of western Mediterranean oaks (Quercus L.) that are distributed across the Iberian Peninsula and North Africa. Specifically, we bring i...

Water quality and riparian communities are among the most affected stream components by agriculture. However, little is known about the effects of riparian management for both aquatic and terrestrial taxa at different spatial scales. Here, we surveyed aquatic (diatoms) and terrestrial taxa (bryophytes, vascular plants, litter-dwelling snails, and g...

https://www.up.pt/casacomum/ficcoes-botanicas/2-a-muscinea-de-arapiles/ Em 1915, António Luís Machado Guimarães, professor de Zoologia na recém-criada Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade do Porto e filho do professor catedrático da Universidade de Coimbra, Bernardino Machado, que viria a ser Presidente da República, escreve ao padre da Companhia...

https://www.up.pt/casacomum/ficcoes-botanicas/4-a-arvore-mais-silvestre/ Em 1916, Tude Martins de Sousa, um regente florestal rendido ao amor pela Árvore mas atormentado por dúvidas sobre a origem do pinheiro-silvestre encontrado no Gerês, escreve a Gonçalo Sampaio, botânico e professor, seu tutor no estudo de alguns dos mistérios vegetais da Serr...

https://www.up.pt/casacomum/ficcoes-botanicas/5-a-ilha-hospital/ Tuberculoso, o Barão de Castelo de Paiva refugiou-se, como aliás muitos dos seus contemporâneos oitocentistas, na ilha da Madeira, cujo ar era aconselhado para quem sofria dessa doença pulmonar. Imaginamo-lo hoje como um naturalista apaixonado e irrequieto, a quem a tísica não impedi...

PODCAST: https://www.up.pt/casacomum/ficcoes-botanicas/1-o-narciso-de-pandora/ Em 1886, Edwin John Johnston escreveria a Alfred Tait sobre a flora que ia encontrando nos seus passeios nas cercanias do Porto, destacando particularmente um narciso, flor que, então, fazia as delícias dos horticultores. Estas são as possíveis palavras da mensagem troc...

https://www.up.pt/casacomum/ficcoes-botanicas/6-vivam-os-livros-livres/ Em agosto de 1833, o Porto lambia as feridas frescas do cerco que o torturara por mais de um ano, e o lente de Botânica e Agricultura Agostinho Albano da Silveira Pinto preparava já o regresso ao ensino. Apenas um mês antes, ainda entre o fogo dos obuses que maceravam a cidade...

https://www.up.pt/casacomum/ficcoes-botanicas/7-para-sempre-aluno/ Esta é uma carta que poderia ter sido redigida num momento conturbado, mas decisivo, da carreira profissional de Gonçalo Sampaio, que aos 31 anos, ainda aluno na Academia Politécnica do Porto e vacilando entre várias decisões e vocações, desabafa com o seu antigo mestre do liceu de...

https://www.up.pt/casacomum/ficcoes-botanicas/3-plantas-que-comem-homens-e-mulheres/ Afinal, que misteriosa planta interessa tanto a literata Carolina Michaëlis como o botânico Gonçalo Sampaio? E quem é a jovem Sara Cabral Ferreira, cuja existência se encontra ameaçada? Ouça esta missiva sonora que retrata um pouco da vida portuense de há cem anos...

Promoting museum collections in times of coronavirus pandemic has turned out to be a challenging, yet interesting experience. Moreover, given the recent increase in the popularity of podcasts, it is not surprising that audio narratives are also reaching museums. In this regard, the Natural History and Science Museum of the University of Porto (MHNC...

The Herbarium of the Natural History and Science Museum of the University of Porto (PO Herbarium, Index Herbariorum) harbours vast collections of Portuguese territories and Portuguese former colonies' flora. Among these collections, the specimens of Mozambique, were gathered by several collectors. In this work, we studied the specimens brought by t...

This work assesses the effects of river regulation on the diversity of different instream and riparian biological communities along a relieve gradient of disturbance in regulated rivers. Two case studies in Portugal were used, with different river regulation typology (downstream of run-of-river and reservoir dams), where regulated and free-flowing...

Resumo: O presente trabalho explora o reconhecimento do genius loci passado e atual de três espaços do centro da cidade do Porto como representações remanescentes e transformadas de espaços com missões botânicas distintas, interligadas e pertinentes na paisagem oitocentista da cidade. Através da exploração de fontes deixadas pelos intervenientes ou...

Dam-induced disruption of the natural continuum of rivers has manifold consequences on fluvial ecosystems, but how distinct plant groups and plant adaptive strategies can mediate the regulation effects is largely unexplored. In this work, we focused on how different plant groups (macrophytes, bryophytes, and riparian woody vegetation) respond to hy...

The search for aesthetic and artistic values in science leads to the study of the approach of the visible and tangible in botany. Can a collection of pressed plants be, not only of great scientific value, but also an artistic testimony? The collection we lean upon in order to study these questions is a remain of the herbaria performed by students o...

Show caves have been developed for touristic purposes throughout many countries. The installation of sources of artificial lighting inside these caves promotes growth of different photosynthetic organisms. These organisms, usually labelled as “lampenflora” or “lamp flora”, are mainly composed of cyanobacteria, diatoms, mosses and ferns, proliferati...

This collection is composed of specimens brought by several collectors, the majority from the 1950s by the botanist and professor Arnaldo Rozeira. He accompanied three botanical missions to collect specimens to improve the phytosociological knowledge of both islands. The biological collection is well furbished with documentation such as corresponde...

Bromine (Br) cycling in natural wetlands is highly complex, including abiotic/biotic processes and multiphase inorganic/organic Br-species. Wetland ecosystems receive Br primarily from the ocean, functioning as either sinks or sources of Br, with the overall imbalance largely decided by the prevailing climate. Aiming to trace the present-day transp...

ResumoA exposição “Ciência numa Ilustração, Ilustrar para Comunicar / Divulgar Ciência” visa a aquisição de uma visão integrada e abrangente, incluindo uma visão histórica, acerca da Ilustração Científica, bem como a sensibilização para a área, designadamente, para os seus diferentes domínios e subdomínios e enquadramento no nosso quotidiano. Ainda...

Resumo A obra “Iconografia Selecta da Flora Portuguesa”, de Gonçalo Sampaio (botânico) e Sara Cabral Ferreira (ilustradora), foi editada pela primeira vez em 1949. Contendo cento e cinquenta estampas de espécies da flora portuguesa, este livro destacou-se na literatura botânica nacional, embora fosse uma edição póstuma e incompleta. Os seus desenho...

ResumoOs herbários são coleções biológicas que incluem o material de referência para todos os que precisem de identificar ou preservar plantas, fungos ou algas. Estas coleções foram usadas inicialmente pelos professores/médicos/herbalistas no século XVI e mais tarde, nas primeiras viagens de exploração científica, tornaram-se uma ferramenta essenci...

The Herbarium of the Natural History and Science Museum of the University of Porto (MHNC-UP) (registered in the Index Herbariorum as PO Herbarium) is an active collection in continuous growth that contains about 100,000 herbarium specimens of fungi, lichens, algae, bryophytes, pteridophytes and vascular plants. The history of botany at Porto Unive...

Macrophytes have a crucial impact on stream functioning. However, there is a significant gap of knowledge about how hydromorphological fluctuations affect their structural and functional responses in southern Mediterranean streams. In this study, we investigated the impact of hydromorphology on macrophyte stream assemblages in Cyprus and analysed t...

As plantas de zonas húmidas (wetlands) naturais, como os sapais e turfeiras atlânticas, desempenham um papel-chave no ciclo biogeoquímico global do bromo (Br), com reconhecidas implicações na destruição do ozono estratosférico. Com este estudo, preliminar, pretende-se avaliar o potencial de fixação do Br por espécies nativas e de ampla representaçã...

Rivers are amongst the most threatened ecosystems in Europe. To prevent further degradation and to improve their ecological status, effective mitigation and restoration actions are needed. Those actions are primarily based on the precision of the ecological assessment results. This study aims to assess the ecological status of two small Mediterrane...

Coastal sand dunes are dynamic ecosystems, with vegetation and biota responding to continuous changes in its typical environmental severity. Understanding vegetation patterns is relevant to early detect shifts in prevailing coastal dynamics and to refine monitoring strategies, especially in secondary sand dunes, which are under legal protection in...

The herbarium of the Natural History and Science Museum at Porto University (PO) is a reference collection of Portuguese flora, comprising collections since the 19th century including former Portuguese colonies. All specimens deposited in this herbarium are readily accessible with meta-data (location and date of collection and name of collector). B...

The story of cryptogamic studies in the Iberian Peninsula is inseparable of the origins of Porto University and Instituto Nun’Alvres herbaria. Both share intertwined botanists of late 19 and early 20th centuries that often corresponded and united efforts to gather the greatest information on plants and fungi other botanists did not venture to study...

The MHNC-UP collections were built over two and a half centuries – since 1762 – of acquisitions for pedagogical and research purposes. Several objects were also donated to the University of Porto’s museum by collectors, retiring specialists, or their families. Notably, the collections’ domains cross different scientific fields, such as geology, pal...

The book Iconografia Selecta da Flora Portuguesa, from Gonçalo Sampaio (botanist) and Sara Cabral Ferreira (illustrator), was firstly published in 1949. It contains 151 black & white drawings of Portuguese flora species. The original drawings are part of the scientific illustration collection of the Museum of Natural History and Science of the Univ...

Before digital photography and modern digital printing, all publications had to go through a mechanical printing process. For this purpose, typographic plates were made with the necessary schematic drawings, photographs, and illustrations. Linking typographic plates to academic articles is important. from a historical science perspective, for a bet...

Bryophytes are a key group of freshwaters providing multiple ecological functions, especially in headwaters. Worldwide, recent efforts were directed at characterizing the functional composition of vascular aquatic communities, but few studies have addressed bryophyte functional responses to environmental conditions. Our study was conducted in head...

During the 19th century, Castelo de Paiva and Salles Cardoso were the teachers of Botany theoretical and practical classes and the boosters of the creation of Botanic and Experimental Garden and Herbarium of the Polytechnic Academy. Moreover, the garden officials, Agostinho da Silva Vieira and Joaquim Casimiro Barbosa, acted as naturalists and head...

Nitrogen (N) pollution resulting from intensive anthropogenic activities has been recognized as an important driver that threatens the functioning of ecosystems and their floristic diversity at a global scale. Bryophytes are among the most sensitive components of the vegetation with respect to N pollution, as they obtain most nutrients directly fro...

The Academia Polytechnica emerged in Porto in the 19th century (1837) and became University of Porto in 1911. In 1852 another educational institution - the Escola Industrial, later Instituto Industrial do Porto - was created. Both schools shared facilities, lecturers, laboratories and scientific instruments from 1854 to 1933. Nowadays, material evi...

The teaching of Botany at Porto began at the Royal Academy of Marine and Commerce in 1819, a vital course for many of the businesses that characterized the northern part of Portugal. During the XIX century, Castelo de Paiva Baron and Salles Cardoso were the teachers of "Botany" theoretical and practical classes and the boosters of the creation of B...

Mediterranean watercourses are among the most threatened ecosystems worldwide, being increasingly important to understand environmental drivers of biotic assemblages. Our aim was to provide a comprehensive picture of bryophyte communities in Mediterranean rivers and to determine the environmental factors that influence their distribution. We used f...

Campylopus introflexus, listed as one of the 100 worst alien taxa in Europe, is an example of a recent introduction in this region. It became an invasive species in Portugal only twenty years ago, but is now known from more than 200 localities, where it occupies extensive areas and numerous microhabitats. Several studies have highlighted the method...

Scientific illustrations are one of the possible outcomes of a natural history museum’s research, communication or dissemination efforts. It is common that, given their role in science representation and dissemination, illustrations feature and occupy large areas of exhibition space, replacing text information. However, the authors of these illustr...

O Museu de História Natural e da Ciência da Universidade do Porto (MHNC-UP) foi estabelecido formalmente no final de 2015 como resultado da fusão de núcleos museológicos existentes. Actualmente, encontra-se organizado segundo uma estrutura bipolar que integra um polo central, localizado nas instalações do Edifício Histórico da Reitoria da Universid...

Freshwater ecosystems support biological communities with high species richness and conservation interest. However, these ecosystems are highly altered by human intervention and threatened worldwide, making them a priority in conservation planning and biodiversity monitoring. Bryophytes, including several conservation-interest taxa, are recognized...

1. Bryophytes play an important role in headwater stream ecosystems sensitive to human pressures. The high number of bryophyte species listed as threatened in Europe suggests that further efforts to conserve fluvial bryophyte diversity are needed. Investigations of the spatial ecology of bryophyte diversity should help identifying priority areas fo...

The Natural History and Science Museum of the University of Porto (MHNC-UP), formally established at the end of 2015, is now undergoing an extensive refurbishment process, and so it is closed to the public. Simultaneously, an inventory of all existing collections, evaluation of its conservation status and improvement of the preservation conditions...

Previous molecular studies have done much to shed some light on the taxonomy and phytogeographic position of Homalothecium sericeum and H. meridionale and the present study clarifies the taxonomy and distribution of the two species across Iberia. By conducting a revision of Homalothecium specimens available in Spanish and Portuguese herbaria, we co...

The textile industry is one of the largest sectors globally, representing up to 20% of industrial water pollution. However, there is limited insight into how fluvial ecosystems respond and recover from this impact. From summer 2012 to spring 2013, we examined water quality and ecological status upstream and 1.5 km downstream the input of a textile...

Bryophytes are a major component of freshwater diversity, playing a vital role in headwater streams, highly vulnerable ecosystems subjected to intense human pressures. However, efforts to conserve fluvial bryophyte diversity are often lacking or ineffective. In this context, our main objectives were to determine the most important environmental var...