Plant Systematics World
TAXON 65 (3) • June 2016: 681–685
PLANT SYSTEMATICS WORLD
Edited by Vicki Funk
ISIDORO SÁNCHEZ VEGA, 1938–2015
Isidoro Manuel Sánchez Vega, Curator of the CPUN Herbarium, and Professor at University of Cajamarca, Peru, passed away
on August 12, 2015. The loss of this prominent Peruvian botanist
impacts both the Peruvian and international botanical communities
because he was extremely knowledgeable in regard to the flora of
northern Peru.
Sánchez Vega was born on the 4th of April 1938 in Moche on
the outskirts of Trujillo, La Libertad, in northern Peru; the cradle
of the Pre-Inca Moche Civilization. His elementary school years
were spent in Moche, and his high school and university years
were in Trujillo, La Libertad. In 1961, he received a degree from
Universidad Nacional de La Libertad-Trujillo (UNT), and in 1962,
he was among the founding faculty in the establishment of the
Faculty of Agricultural and Forestry Science in the Universidad
de Cajamarca (UNC). In 1965, Sánchez Vega began his botanical
collections (http://www.tropicos.org) at the Herbarium Truxillense
(HUT) under the direction of the late Peruvian botanists Arnaldo
López Miranda and Abundio Sagástegui Alva. According to Index
Herbariorum, in 1966 Sánchez Vega founded what is still the only
herbarium (CPUN) in the Department of Cajamarca. In 1969, he
obtained his bachelor’s degree in Biological Sciences from UNT
after completing a floristic study on the Polypodiaceae from the
province of Trujillo. In 1976, and after studying Peruvian highlands grass vegetation named “Jalcas”, Sánchez Vega obtained
his doctoral degree in Biological Sciences at UNT and in 1979, he
obtained his M.S. degree at the Colegio de Postgraduados in Mexico where he defended his thesis entitled “Estudio biosistemático de
Eragrostis mexicana, E. neomexicana, E. orcuttiana y E. virescens
(Gramineae)”.
Upon his return from Mexico, he continued teaching at UNC,
doing taxonomic research in Poaceae and Asteraceae, furthering
his research on the “Jalcas”, and directing the CPUN herbarium.
During his lifelong scientific studies, he collected more than 15,000
specimens deposited primarily at CPUN, described 24 taxa new to
science (see below), and 15 taxa were described in his honor.
Sánchez Vega collaborated with Peruvian and international
botanists, and was a Research Associate at the Field Museum of
Natural History in Chicago and the Ohio State University Herbarium. In addition to his more than 40 scientific publications, he
was very involved in the growth of botanical research in Peru, especially through his participation as professor of Graduate Studies at
DOI http://dx.doi.org/10.12705/653.47
UNC. He was a leader in the organization of Peruvian herbaria and
in 1998 served as the President of the Peruvian Botanical Society.
Also in 1998, he organized the VII CONABOT (Peruvian Botanical
Congress) at UNC with logistic support from the CPUN herbarium.
With a donation of 500 of his own collections from Cajamarca, Ayabaca, Huancabamba and La Libertad, he contributed towards the
creation in 2002 of a new herbarium in north western Peru named
the “Herbarium Piurense” (Piura, Piura; no Index Herbariorum
code) which currently has about 2500 specimens.
Sánchez Vega was known in Peru as the “Padre de la Jalca”
due to his efforts to promote the study, botanical discovery and conservation of this unique ecoregion. He also expanded his research
Dr. Isidoro Sánchez Vega with his beloved wife, Marucha de Sánchez Vega
in his home-town, Moche. Photo by Michael Dillon, 2004.
Version of Record
681
Plant Systematics World
TAXON 65 (3) • June 2016: 681–685
towards the study of traditional botanical knowledge, publishing
in 2011 a 220-page book on the ethnobotany, Andean and cultural diversity and conservation of the natural resources from the
“Jalcas”, and from the northern Peruvian montane forest relicts. His
passion for botanical research kept him working until one month
before his death, when his lung disease made travel to Cajamarca
difficult; he spent the rest of his time at HUT working on Poaceae
and reviewing papers from other colleagues and journals.
With great sadness, we learned of his death on August 12, 2015
in Lima. His colleagues, former students, botanical community, and
relatives have lost a great man. His legacy and botanical teachings
will, however, last forever.
Taxa described by Isidoro Sánchez Vega
Aphanelytrum peruvianum Sánchez Vega, P.M.Peterson,
Soreng & Laegaard, Chuquiraga oblongifolia Sagást. & Sánchez
Vega, Coreopsis breviligulata Sagást. & Sánchez Vega, Coreopsis cajamarcana Sagást. & Sánchez Vega, Coreopsis celendinensis Sagást. & Sánchez Vega, Coreopsis dentifolia Sánchez Vega,
Sagást. & D.J.Crawford, Coreopsis dilloniana Sánchez Vega,
Sagást. & D.J.Crawford, Coreopsis ferreyrae Sagást. & Sánchez
Vega, Coreopsis gracilis Sagást. & Sánchez Vega, Coreopsis
helleborifolia Sánchez Vega, Sagást. & D.J.Crawford, Coreopsis
mollicula Sagást. & Sánchez Vega, Eragrostis lurida subsp. contracta (Pilg.) P.M.Peterson & Sánchez Vega, Eragrostis mexicana
682
subsp. virescens (J.Presl) S.D.Koch & Sánchez Vega, Eragrostis
pilgeri subsp. ancashensis (P.M. Peterson, Refulio & Tovar) P.M.
Peterson & Sánchez Vega, Magnolia bankardiorum M.O.Dillon &
Sánchez Vega, Mikania hensoldiana Sánchez Vega & M.O.Dillon,
Muhlenbergia caxamarcensis Laegaard & Sánchez Vega, Muhlenbergia maxima Laegaard & Sánchez Vega, Piptochaetium pilosum
(Sánchez Vega) Ciald. & Giussani, Piptochaetium sagasteguii Sánchez Vega, Piptochaetium tovarii Sánchez Vega, Piptochaetium
tovarii subsp. pilosa Sánchez Vega, Stillingia parvifolia Sánchez
Vega, Sagást. & Huft, Uniola peruviana Laegaard & Sánchez Vega.
Acknowledgements
Michael Dillon, Jim Luteyn and Mike Huben provided insightful comments to this note.
Alina Freire Fierro,1 Eric F. Rodríguez Rodríguez2 &
Daniel B. Montesinos-Tubée3
1 IKIAM-Universidad Regional Amazónica, Km 7 Via Muyuna,
Tena, Napo, Ecuador, [email protected]
2 Herbarium Truxillense (HUT), Universidad Nacional de Trujillo,
Jr. San Martín 392, Trujillo, Perú; [email protected]
3 Plant Ecology & Nature Conservation Group, Wageningen University (the Netherlands) & Instituto Cientifico Michael Owen
Dillon (IMOD), Arequipa, Perú; [email protected]
Version of Record