Museums and collections as libraries of natural history data

Background/Question/Methods

Natural history collections are associated with many universities and research institutions. Together they house millions of specimens and samples, each of which has associated ecological data. Collections are extensively used for taxonomic and phylogenetic research, but the associated data have not traditionally been integral in ecological research or conservation. Museum specimens provide data for study of species identity, phenotypic traits, genetic variation, population structure, etc. However, collections are not simply the specimens themselves; associated collection data are often extensive and include distribution, phenology, behavior, habitat and ecological associations. There is a long tradition of observation and description of natural history data among taxonomists and collectors. How can ecological research effectively access this rich storehouse of natural history data, and what are the obstacles, benefits, and shared advantages in doing so?

Results/Conclusions

Museums are both "sources" and "sinks" of natural history data for ecological research. One of the major obstacles to assessing long term ecological change is the lack of baseline data; however, such data are already available in collections for some taxa and regions. Many collections house specimens and data more than a century old, often from greatly altered habitats. As such, they are a unique source of long term data available over large spatial scales. Current studies of ecological change in the arctic, for example, could benefit from a surprisingly rich source of baseline data collected decades earlier at the same sites. Collections are also repositories or data archives from ecological studies. This role becomes especially relevant in studies that generate large samples of poorly known or unidentifiable taxa. As such, collections provide the means to verify past results, and to facilitate future analyses based on those same data sets. There are challenges associated with using collection data – databases are often rudimentary, and not accessible remotely, expertise is required to use collections effectively, and there is sometimes an artificial divide between taxonomists who often manage such collections and ecologists who could take advantage of the data. Finding ways to overcome these challenges has the potential to create synergy that more than offsets the cost in time and effort. Each individual specimen or label in a collection may be characterized as “just” natural history data, but taken together, they are rich data sets for studies of population and community ecology and conservation.