History

The Vascular Plant Herbarium of the Marine and Coastal Research Institute (IIMyCher) originated in 2017 through the merger of two collections housed in the Biology Department of the Faculty of Exact and Natural Sciences (FCEyN) at the National University of Mar del Plata (UNMDP). The first collection began in the 1970s with specimens contributed by students of Systematic Botany and Phanerogams courses in UNMDP's Biology program, under Professors Susana Saravia and Patricia De Vreese. Initially, specimens came from ornamental flora around the University Complex (CUMB) and Mar del Plata city, collected by students during these courses.

In the 1990s, the Vascular Plants course (formerly Phanerogams) was taken over by Dr. María Virginia Mancini, who promoted specimen collection from various Argentine regions during student field trips. This collection also included specimens gathered since the 1980s during research expeditions to Patagonia and Buenos Aires Province by the Paleoecology and Palynology Research Group. Additional specimens came from the Geoecology of Sedimentary Environments Research Group at the Coastal and Quaternary Geology Institute (IGCyC/FCEyN), collected since 2000 from various coastal and continental environments in Buenos Aires Province.

In 2017, an extensive curation process began to standardize the entire collection in Darwin Core format for incorporation into the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), now feeding Argentina's biodiversity data portal (www.biodiversidad.ar). Preliminary digitization revealed the collection's diversity, specimen origins, and taxonomic representation. Native taxa were identified using Flora Argentina (www.floraargentina.edu.ar) while exotic taxa were verified via Missouri Botanical Garden's database (www.tropicos.org).

The collection currently contains over 2,000 digitized specimens representing ~140 families, 500 genera, and 1,000+ species. Among tracheophytes, eudicots show the highest family diversity. As of 2025, Poaceae, Asteraceae, and Fabaceae contain the most specimens and genera. Specimens primarily come from Buenos Aires Province (53%), Patagonia (30%), with smaller contributions from NE Argentina (10%) and central/NW regions (7%).

Since 2024, the herbarium has incorporated rocky intertidal macroalgae specimens from Lobería and General Pueyrredón coastal areas, currently housing 19 digitized families (Rhodophyta, Chlorophyta, Ochrophyta-Phaeophyceae) from specific research projects. It also hosts a bryophyte collection of ~20 families from mountainous and coastal environments.

IIMyCher's ongoing GBIF integration provides a research resource for Buenos Aires Province and other Argentine regions, featuring coastal, intertidal, wetland, Tandilia mountain system, and Patagonian forest/steppe specimens. It also serves as a reference for national and international academia.

Internationally recognized by the acronym MDQ in the New York Botanical Garden's Index Herbariorum (http://sweetgum.nybg.org/science/ih/herbarium-details/?irn=255753), this designation is used in GBIF's open-access global biodiversity platform.

Today, IIMyCher supports human resource training and outreach activities related to urban tree heritage and regional forest/nature reserves.