Dr. Roberto Miguel Klein Herbarium (FURB), Blumenau, Southern Brazil

Abstract The premise of this study is to present the collection of the FURB herbarium, its collection area and type specimens, as well as its projects and contributions to the flora of the Subtropical Atlantic Forest. The FURB herbarium currently has nearly 41,000 records of vascular plants and has the largest collection of lycophytes and ferns in Southern Brazil, with more than 8,000 records. More than 4,500 scanned images of 4,436 species are available online, and it is expected that the whole collection will be scanned in less than one year. There are 198 families of angiosperms, 33 of ferns, three of lycophytes and six of gymnosperms. All collections of the Floristic and Forest Inventory of Santa Catarina project are recorded in FURB, which represents almost 35,000 herbarium specimens. The families with the largest number of species are: Cyperaceae (109 species), Rubiaceae (129), Solanaceae (131), Poaceae (155), Melastomataceae (157), Myrtaceae (257), Orchidaceae (288), Fabaceae (323), and Asteraceae (426), between angiosperms. Among the ferns and lycophytes are: Hymenophyllaceae (30), Thelypteridaceae (31), Aspleniaceae (32), Dryopteridaceae (43), Pteridaceae (54) and Polypodiaceae (60). There are five type specimens among them: one holotype, one isotype and three paratypes. To date, the FURB herbarium has donated 19,521 herbarium duplicates for identification or expansion of other herbaria.


Introduction
Th e Dr. Roberto Miguel Klein Herbarium (FURB) was founded in 1990 by Lucia Sevegnani, PhD. Roberto Miguel Klein (1923-1992 was an important botanist and ecologist. In 1949, together with Father Raulino Reitz, he founded the Sellowia Journal, which published contributions of researchers linked to Herbário Barbosa Rodrigues (HBR). In addition to HBR, the Sellowia papers are considered Klein's major works, among those that treated the relation between malaria outbreaks and the local fl ora (Klein 1967) and addressed the vegetation structure of Southern Brazil, published in a series of papers co-authored by Henrique Pimenta Veloso (Veloso and Klein 1957, 1959, 1961, 1963, 1968a, 1968b. Klein and Reitz also created the Flora Ilustrada Catarinense (Reitz 1965;Citadini-Zanette 2013), published in 149 fascicles between 1965and 1989. In addition to conducting a fl oristic assessment of Santa Catarina State, Klein studied autoecology and gathered information about tree communities, making himself one of the outstanding dendrologists of Southern Brazil (Amado 2013). His importance has been proven by tributes such as the genus Kleinodendron L.B.Sm. & Downs, besides 75 specifi c epithets, from 37 families (IPNI 2012). After his death, Klein's scientifi c contributions were not forgotten. Th e Flora Ilustrada Catarinense came to be published from 1996 on, with 17 volumes published to date (Bortoluzzi et al. 2011).
Th e FURB herbarium has been registered in Index Herbariorum since 2005, under the acronym FURB (http://sweetgum.nybg.org/ih/herbarium.php?irn=148203). Th e aim of the herbarium is to study the plant diversity of the local vegetation, especially that of the Serra do Itajaí National Park, Itajaí Valley, and Santa Catarina State. Initially the collection was established by professors for didactic purposes, but with the advent of new projects, such as the Floristic and Forest Inventory of Santa Catarina (IFFSC project -Vibrans et al. 2010), the collection has undergone a massive increase in the amount of material. At the beginning of the IFFSC project, the FURB herbarium had only approximately 5,000 herbarium specimens (now there are more than 41,000). At present, 86% of the FURB collection is georeferenced, with only a few early specimens not having coordinates.
Th e angiosperm collections are organized according to the APG system , the ferns according to Rothfels et al. (2012) and Smith et al. (2006), the lycophytes according to Øllgaard (2012), and the gymnosperms according to Christenhusz et al. (2011).

Data resources
Th e data underpinning the analyses reported in this paper are deposited in the GBIF, the Global Biodiversity Information Facility, http://ipt.pensoft.net/ipt/resource. do?r=furb_herbarium_database_11-09-2014

Available data
Th e herbarium has 41,325 specimens ( Figure 1 and Figure 2), in addition to the largest collection of ferns and lycophytes (8,360 specimens) in Santa Catarina State. Th e full database is available via the INCT Virtual Herbarium (http://inct.splink.org.br/ FURB). Th ere are 4,556 images of 4,436 species.

Flora Catarinense Revisited
Th is project aims to fi nd the nomenclatural types collected in Santa Catarina in herbaria and publications; recollect specimens in the fi eld in the type localities, mainly the older ones; scan nomenclatural types; perform collections; and get information about rare and endemic species that are only known by the type or by very few documented specimens in collections.

IFFSC -Floristic and Forest Inventory of Santa Catarina State
Th is project aims to develop the fl oristic inventory of forest formations in Santa Catarina and generate information to support the formulation of forest policy in the state, in particular the economic-ecological zoning for rural land use planning and environmental licensing, as well as the defi ning of priority areas for conservation, restoration of degraded ecosystems, and the updating of red lists. To complete these objectives, the remaining forests are periodically inventoried and their horizontal and vertical structures analyzed. Th e genetic diversity and structure of populations of 13 endangered species are assessed, as well as the social and economic importance of the state's native forest resources. Finally, a georeferenced information system has been designed and implemented and is to be updated in order to assist the preparation of the endangered species list. Th e project publications can be downloaded from the IFFSC website (http://www.iff .sc.gov.br/ - Vibrans et al. 2013aVibrans et al. , 2013bVibrans et al. , 2013cVibrans et al. , 2012aVibrans et al. , 2012b.

DNA bank
Th e establishment of a DNA database linked to the FURB herbarium aims to provide subsidies for studies in molecular biology including species of fl ora of Santa Catarina. In Brazil these initiatives have been shown to be necessary, since, despite the enormous biodiversity of the fl ora of the country, molecular studies are scarce (Santos et al. 2002). Th e bank starts in 2014 with the goal of maintaining samples of the main species of Santa Catarina's vascular plants and fungi. Field surveys will be performed and samples collected from young leaves will be stored in silica gel. Th is inexpensive andeff ective method, neither injurious to the DNA nor detrimental to the dehydration of leaves (Chase and Hills 1991), grants researchers the ability to preserve the DNA material for at least 10 years (Hodkinson et al. 2007), reducing the costs of research and allowing material to be donated and loaned. Gaudeul and Rouhan (2013) recommend a universalization of the method and this should be done in any fi eld, since it is practical, avoids surveys in specifi c fi elds for this purpose, and increases the scientifi c value of the specimens and collection. In fact, other fi eld surveys will be done, in addition to those related to the project, to ensure the existence of samples in DNA database. In the fi rst year, the collections will prioritize the Itajaí Valley region of the state, which is home to 54 municipalities, and it estimated that at least 20% of the tree species will be collected and made available for study. Th e sample for the DNA bank will continue with the second cycle of IFFSC, whose collections will be performed throughout the state, and it is estimated that material will be collected for DNA extraction for about 75% of the tree species. Th e database of the species can be found at www.furb.br/herbarium.

Temporal coverage
Th e earliest specimen is dated March 1, 1937, a Prosopis nigra Hieron. (Fabaceae), but the fi rst specimen for the FURB herbarium was collected on September 7, 1991, of a Plinia rivularis (Cambess.) Rotman. (Myrtaceae). Th e distribution of collected specimens by year can be seen in Figure 3. A great increase occurred between 2007 and 2012, during the fi rst cycle of the IFFSC project. Th e second cycle of the project will start in 2014 and will surely result in an increase of the the number of specimens.

Plant sampling
Most of the plant samples are from Southern Brazil, Santa Catarina State ( Figure 4) being the most widely represented area, and the aim is to cover the widest possible range of plant diversity of this territory. Th e majority of the samples comes from the IFFSC project and from the fi eld work of undergraduate students. Other parts of the Brazilian South are represented mainly by exchanged samples.

Plant processing procedures
After being dried in ovens at 65 to 70 degrees Celsius, the specimens are incorporated into the database. All data such as scientifi c name, location, city, coordinates, altitude, and general descriptions of the plant are recorded. Th e registration number is generated automatically by the software. Afterwards, the plants are glued with hot glue onto A2 sheets, packed in plastic bags in order to avoid being contaminated by insects or fungi and to prevent loss of material during handling, and subsequently frozen for fi ve days at -20 degrees Celsius. Next, the plants are stored in specifi c cans that are sealed and stored separately in groups: lycophytes and ferns, gymnosperms and angiosperms. Among the groups, the cans are alphabetized according to family and gender.
All databases are reviewed by a DataClean tool, from CRIA (http://splink.cria. org.br/dc/index?criaLANG=pt&colecao=FURB), which checks the coordinates, toponymy, scientifi c names, and their authors. Th e "doubtful" records are reviewed by the curator. Th e names are checked using the List of Species of Brazilian Flora (2014), and the identifi cations are made by specialists visiting the herbarium or by comparison with photos or duplicates sent to other institutions.
Th e FURB herbarium uses a specifi c software, Herbaria 3.1 (Miszinski et al. 2012), that includes several control possibilities of the collection. Th ese control possibilities include information about the synonymous names used, preventing the same species from being registered under several names. Th us, we use specifi c fi elds for family, genus, and specifi c epithet. When we enter a genus name, its family and division is automatically fi lled based on an ancillary table. A list of epithets linked to the genus is then released, allowing the choice of the same (new epithets can be linked at any time), which is chosen to fi ll the author's name and still shows the presence of varieties or subspecies.

Rare, endemic species and ecosystems sampled
FURB maintains 68% of all species listed by the List of Species of Brazilian Flora (2014) for Santa Catarina and 33.9% of all species in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest (Stehmann et al. 2009). Th e Atlantic Forest in Santa Catarina has three forest types: Evergreen Rainforest, Mixed Forest, and Seasonal Forest (for more information see Klein 1978 andOliveira-Filho et al. 2013). 75% of FURB samples were collected in Evergreen Rainforest, 16% in Mixed Forest, and 5% in Seasonal Forest. Th e other formations (grasslands, mangroves, and coastal vegetation) constitutes 4% of the collections. Species of natural grasslands are represented still less, but will increase due to sample campaigns to be held within the IFFSC project during 2014 and 2015. Th e database SpeciesLink (http://splink.cria.org.br/) shows that the FURB herbarium possesses 0.0725 records per sq km of the Southern region. Although seemingly small, it is a high number compared to other featured herbaria in Santa Catarina; FLOR, JOI and CRI have 0.0677, 0.0150, and 0.0119 records per sq km, respectively. Among these herbaria, FURB also has the largest number of herbarium specimens with photographs available online (4,354 in total), and the goal is to start photographing all specimens before the end of 2014. It also deserves to be mentioned that the collection has 1,417 unique names not found in other herbaria. Th is is quite a high number despite the fact that, due to the impracticability of this analysis, possible synonyms were not excluded.
Although the fl ora of Santa Catarina is well documented in the FURB herbarium, recent studies are still reporting new records for the state Sevegnani 2010, Gasper et al. 2012b, Funez andGasper, unpublished data), suggesting that there are even more species to fi nd.
Th e Conservation Units are represented at FURB by 2,428 specimens collected in Serra do Itajaí National Park, the largest remaining area of Evergreen Rainforest (Atlantic Rain Forest), 4,771 specimens being collected in other Conservation Units (Table 1).

Taxonomic coverage
Th e main herbarium collection is composed of vascular plants (Figure 1), representing 4,267 species. Among the vascular plants is the collection of ferns (368 species and 7,904 specimens) and lycophytes (33 species with 456 specimens), which corresponds to 20% of the total specimens and 9,4% of the species. Bryophytes lato sensu corre-

Research activities
Herbarium collections have a fundamental importance in biodiversity conservation, exhibiting aspects such as reducing the distribution of a particular species or accumulating information in regard to rare or endangered species (e.g. Schatz 2012; Iganci and Morim 2012), and they often serve as a starting point for conservation (Bridson and Forman et al. 1992; for more information see Pyke and Ehrlich 2010). Currently, many species are described using the herbarium specimens, and this fact according to Bebber et al. (2010), is one of the great frontiersof new species.
To date, the collection has enabled comprehensive fl oristic studies of the three forest types of Santa Catarina Sevegnani et al. 2013a). Phytosociological analyses were conducted by Schorn et al. (2012), Lingner et al. (2013a), and Meyer et al. (2013a). Understory species and regeneration strata were researched by Meyer et al. (2012Meyer et al. ( , 2013bMeyer et al. ( , 2013c. Spatial distribution of vascular plant and fern diversity were analyzed by Gasper and Sevegnani (2010), Gasper et al. (2012b), and Uhlmann et al. (2012). Th e infl uence of environmental (geoclimatic) variables on species richness, composition, and distribution in forest remnants was investigated within Evergreen Rainforest by Lingner et al. (2013b), fern species being considered by Gasper et al. (2013c). Spatial patterns of Dicksonia sellowiana Hook. (Dicksoniaceae), a threatened species, have been described by Gasper et al. (2011) in a study that was also based on the FURB collection. Finally, the collection has enabled studies on secondary succession and the assessment of the conservation status of the sampled forests (Vibrans et al. 2012c;Sevegnani et al. 2013bSevegnani et al. , 2013c.
In the future, the phylogenetic information will be provided by the DNA stored in the bank and will be extremely important for taxonomic studies. For this reason it is crucial that incentives for research and the maintenance of herbarium activities continue.

Current situation and future perspectives
Of the 170 active herbaria listed in the Catalogue of the Brazilian Herbaria (http:// www.botanica.org.br/rede_herbarios.php), most have fewer than 50,000 records (80% according to Peixoto et al. 2006). It is estimated that the FURB herbarium will reach this value in two years, and in the meantime must have its registration approved as "Fiel Depositário" (Azevedo 2005;CGEN 2014).
In addition to the novelties promoted by the e-taxonomy, the availability of data online, including the recently added images, allows for the rapid updating of herbari-ums (Smith and Figueiredo 2009;. Smith et al. 2011), as well as the discovery of gaps in colle ctions (Canhos et al. 2013).
Finally, one of the novelties of the FURB herbarium is the expansion of its fungi collection. Th is may result from the second cycle IFFSC, with the collection of macrofungi, which requires special care (Wu et al. 2004). Th e collection of macrofungi in the Herbarium FURB is small at presentand has only 159 specimens, stemmed mainly from sporadic collections of a small number of students.