The MGC Herbarium (University of Málaga) was founded in 1972 and is part of the Central Research Support Services (SCAI). It is established as a leading scientific infrastructure dedicated to the conservation and management of the botanical heritage of the University of Málaga, as well as to supporting research, teaching, and the dissemination of knowledge on plant biodiversity. Its main mission is to preserve, digitize, and make available to the scientific community the collections it holds, promoting open access to data through their digitization and publication in international biodiversity information networks such as GBIF. At present, the MGC Herbarium houses more than 107,000 botanical specimens distributed across several specialized collections (vascular plants, mosses, algae, lichens, and palynology), together with a digital photographic collection of more than 13,000 images. Virtually all herbarium sheets have been digitized using the Elysia v3.0 system, following the Darwin Core standards and validated through DarwinTest v3.3, with all data accessible through the GBIF network, both on its national and international portals. The MGC Herbarium actively contributes to the study and conservation of the flora of Andalusia and North Africa, serving as an essential resource for researchers, educators, and biodiversity managers.

Overall information

Goals

• Expansion, conservation, and maintenance of the scientific collections housed at the MGC Herbarium (including field collection, pressing, mounting of specimens, data entry, storage, and pest control). • Continuous maintenance and updating of the collections databases. • Digitization of herbarium sheets through high-resolution scanning. • Facilitation of loans and exchanges of material to researchers from the University of Málaga and other national and international public institutions. • Support for research and teaching in areas related to plant systematics, biodiversity, and conservation. • Study of the flora and vegetation of the biogeographic area of the province of Málaga and its surroundings, in order to complete and update the collections through periodic fieldwork. • Dissemination of the scientific and heritage value of the herbarium, and support for environmental education within programs managed by the University of Málaga. • Integration of the MGC Herbarium into national and international biodiversity information networks (GBIF, GRSciColl, Index Herbariorum), promoting open access and interoperability of its data.

Strengths

1. Terrestrial and marine biodiversity.
2. Conservation of threatened flora.
3. Plant taxonomy.

Number of records published in GBIF

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Administrative and technical contact

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How to get there

Univerity of Málaga. MGC Herbarium

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Description

Overall information

Goals

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Collections and databases hosted