The role of natural history collections data in documenting the biological and geological diversity...
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Centre for Arctic Knowledge and Exploration
The role of natural history collections data in documenting the biological and geological diversity of the Arctic, with examples from the Canadian Museum of Nature
Jeffery M. Saarela & Shannon Ascensio
PLoSBiol11(1):e1001466.CCBY2.5 FrançoisGénier ©CanadianMuseumofNature
Collections are the CoreSpecimens have many uses and are irreplaceable
Sokoloff
Natural Heritage Campuso >10 million specimenso 3.2 million catalogable specimenso 260,000 Arctic specimens
Early Exploration of the Canadian ArcticSir William Parry Expedition – 1819-1820
Image: R. Higgitt, Herbarium, Royal Botanical Garden, Edinburgh
John Franklin's overland expeditions
Images: National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London
1819-1822
1825-1827
Centre for Arctic Knowledge and Explorationcollections-based research
Arctic Botany Arctic Mineralogy Arctic Phycology Arctic Zoology
Arctic Palaeobiology
Eocene Epoch55-33 Mya
Today
Mar
iann
e Do
ugla
s©M
aria
nne
Doug
las
Image: Bob Hynes © Smithsonian Institution
Ansg
arW
alk
CC B
Y-SA
2.5
via
Wik
iped
ia
Fossil forest - Axel Heiberg Islandca. 45 Mya
Arctic Palaeontology
Images:Roger Bull © Canadian Museum of Nature
Ted Daeschler © T. Daeschler/VIREOEduard Sola CC BY-SA
Kennonv CC BY-SA 3.0
Tiktaalik roseae
375 Mya fossil fish with a mix of fish & amphibian traits
~3.5Mya
Rybcynski et al. 2013, Nature Communications
Image: Algkav and Dr. Blofeldbased on original by Yug, CC BY-SA 3.0Images: Martin Lipman © Martin Lipman
Image: Julius Csotonyi © Julius Csotonyi
Giant Ancient CamelTibia fragments
Donald McAllister (1934-2001)
Arctic Fishes
Arctic Marine Fishes of Canada…a new book coming 2016
Lake Trout
CMNbirdspecimensfromFoxeBasin
Holotype:Arcticperegrinefalcon(CMNAV46581)
Arctic Birds
Birdnestcollection
MartinLipman ©CanadianMuseumofNature
Large Skeleton Collection
Mitochondrial DNAdiversityinbowheadwhalesoftheCentralCanadianArctic
McLeodetal.2012,MarineMammalScience28:E426
Arctic Plants & Algae
Moonwort (Botrychium tunux)National Herbarium of Canada (CAN)
Joe Holmes © Canadian Museum of Nature
DarwinCore:Astandardforsharingdataaboutbiodiversity
WieczorekJ,BloomD,GuralnickR,BlumS,DöringM,etal.(2012)DarwinCore:AnEvolvingCommunity-DevelopedBiodiversityDataStandard.PLoSONE7(1):e29715.doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0029715http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0029715
DarwinCoreCategories:SimpleDarwinCoreiscomprisedofsevencategoriesof
terms(green)
Wieczorek J,BloomD,Guralnick R,BlumS,DöringM,etal.(2012)DarwinCore:AnEvolvingCommunity-DevelopedBiodiversityDataStandard.PLoSONE7(1):e29715.doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0029715http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0029715
ChallengesComplete digitization @ CMN• ca. 260K Arctic/Northern specimens• ca. 154K of our specimens from north of
60 digitized and freely accessible online• >100K specimens are NOT yet digitized
Complete high-resolution imaging• Only a very small fraction of the Arctic
collection is currently imaged Examples:• just 15 of >17,000 Nunavut bird records
imaged (<0.1%)• of >25K vascular plant specimens from
Nunavut, only 3000 (12%) imaged• no Arctic zoology (fish, invertebrate,
crustacean, insect, mammal) are imaged
European collections rising to the challengeLarge-scale data capture & digitisation in France, Netherlands & Finland
Slide courtesy V. Smith, CC BY-NC-SA
Arctic Natural History Museums Alliance
“National natural-history museums need to step up and actively share our knowledge of the Arctic regions and to be more ambitious in our sharing of that knowledge with scientific colleagues, public-policy decision-makers and the general public.”
-- Meg Beckel, CEO, Canadian Museum of Nature
• Canadian Museum of Nature• National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution• Swedish Museum of Natural History• Natural History Museum, University of Oslo• Finnish Museum of Natural History• Icelandic Institute of Natural History• Natural History Museum of Denmark• Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences