scholarly journals Assessment of North American arthropod collections: prospects and challenges for addressing biodiversity research

PeerJ ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. e8086 ◽  
Author(s):  
Neil S. Cobb ◽  
Lawrence F. Gall ◽  
Jennifer M. Zaspel ◽  
Nicolas J. Dowdy ◽  
Lindsie M. McCabe ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Natural History ◽  
North American ◽  
The United States ◽  
Biodiversity Data ◽  
Biodiversity Crisis ◽  
Biodiversity Research ◽  
Natural History Collections ◽  
Rate Of Increase ◽  
Crucial Information

Over 300 million arthropod specimens are housed in North American natural history collections. These collections represent a “vast hidden treasure trove” of biodiversity −95% of the specimen label data have yet to be transcribed for research, and less than 2% of the specimens have been imaged. Specimen labels contain crucial information to determine species distributions over time and are essential for understanding patterns of ecology and evolution, which will help assess the growing biodiversity crisis driven by global change impacts. Specimen images offer indispensable insight and data for analyses of traits, and ecological and phylogenetic patterns of biodiversity. Here, we review North American arthropod collections using two key metrics, specimen holdings and digitization efforts, to assess the potential for collections to provide needed biodiversity data. We include data from 223 arthropod collections in North America, with an emphasis on the United States. Our specific findings are as follows: (1) The majority of North American natural history collections (88%) and specimens (89%) are located in the United States. Canada has comparable holdings to the United States relative to its estimated biodiversity. Mexico has made the furthest progress in terms of digitization, but its specimen holdings should be increased to reflect the estimated higher Mexican arthropod diversity. The proportion of North American collections that has been digitized, and the number of digital records available per species, are both much lower for arthropods when compared to chordates and plants. (2) The National Science Foundation’s decade-long ADBC program (Advancing Digitization of Biological Collections) has been transformational in promoting arthropod digitization. However, even if this program became permanent, at current rates, by the year 2050 only 38% of the existing arthropod specimens would be digitized, and less than 1% would have associated digital images. (3) The number of specimens in collections has increased by approximately 1% per year over the past 30 years. We propose that this rate of increase is insufficient to provide enough data to address biodiversity research needs, and that arthropod collections should aim to triple their rate of new specimen acquisition. (4) The collections we surveyed in the United States vary broadly in a number of indicators. Collectively, there is depth and breadth, with smaller collections providing regional depth and larger collections providing greater global coverage. (5) Increased coordination across museums is needed for digitization efforts to target taxa for research and conservation goals and address long-term data needs. Two key recommendations emerge: collections should significantly increase both their specimen holdings and their digitization efforts to empower continental and global biodiversity data pipelines, and stimulate downstream research.

LepNet: The Lepidoptera of North America Network

Zootaxa ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 4247 (1) ◽  
pp. 73 ◽  
Author(s):  
KATJA C. SELTMANN ◽  
NEIL S. COBB ◽  
LAWRENCE F. GALL ◽  
CHARLES R. BARTLETT ◽  
M. ANNE BASHAM ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
North America ◽  
Natural History ◽  
North American ◽  
Evolutionary Biology ◽  
Biodiversity Data ◽  
Natural History Collections ◽  
Digital Formats ◽  
Global Research

The Lepidoptera of North America Network, or LepNet, is a digitization effort recently launched to mobilize biodiversity data from 3 million specimens of butterflies and moths in United States natural history collections (http://www.lep-net.org/). LepNet was initially conceived as a North American effort but the project seeks collaborations with museums and other organizations worldwide. The overall goal is to transform Lepidoptera specimen data into readily available digital formats to foster global research in taxonomy, ecology and evolutionary biology. 

scholarly journals The history and impact of digitization and digital data mobilization on biodiversity research

2018 ◽  
Vol 374 (1763) ◽  
pp. 20170391 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gil Nelson ◽  
Shari Ellis
Keyword(s):  
Natural History ◽  
The United States ◽  
Digital Data ◽  
National Commission ◽  
Rapid Rise ◽  
Biodiversity Data ◽  
Scientific Enterprise ◽  
Global Biodiversity Information Facility ◽  
Scientific Publications ◽  
Biodiversity Research

The first two decades of the twenty-first century have seen a rapid rise in the mobilization of digital biodiversity data. This has thrust natural history museums into the forefront of biodiversity research, underscoring their central role in the modern scientific enterprise. The advent of mobilization initiatives such as the United States National Science Foundation's Advancing Digitization of Biodiversity Collections (ADBC), Australia's Atlas of Living Australia (ALA), Mexico's National Commission for the Knowledge and Use of Biodiversity (CONABIO), Brazil's Centro de Referência em Informação (CRIA) and China's National Specimen Information Infrastructure (NSII) has led to a rapid rise in data aggregators and an exponential increase in digital data for scientific research and arguably provide the best evidence of where species live. The international Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) now serves about 131 million museum specimen records, and Integrated Digitized Biocollections (iDigBio) in the USA has amassed more than 115 million. These resources expose collections to a wider audience of researchers, provide the best biodiversity data in the modern era outside of nature itself and ensure the primacy of specimen-based research. Here, we provide a brief history of worldwide data mobilization, their impact on biodiversity research, challenges for ensuring data quality, their contribution to scientific publications and evidence of the rising profiles of natural history collections. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Biological collections for understanding biodiversity in the Anthropocene’.

The Reduviidae (Hemiptera: Heteroptera) of Alabama, with a morphological key to species

Zootaxa ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 4688 (2) ◽  
pp. 151-198
Author(s):  
C.SCOTT CLEM ◽  
DANIEL R. SWANSON ◽  
CHARLES H. RAY
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Natural History ◽  
The United States ◽  
The State ◽  
Key To Species ◽  
Auburn University ◽  
Natural History Collections ◽  
Assassin Bug ◽  
Morphological Species ◽  
University Museum

Alabama is one of the most speciose states in the United States, yet many common groups of organisms, including assassin bugs (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Reduviidae), have yet to be fully documented. The purpose of this manuscript is to identify all known assassin bug species occurring in the state using literature records and specimens from natural history collections, most notably the Auburn University Museum of Natural History Entomology Collection, to provide new state records, a checklist, and a morphological species key of the Alabama Reduviidae. All total, 61 species within 36 genera and 10 subfamilies are reported from Alabama. Additionally, 40 new state literature records are documented: 34 from Alabama and six from other states. 

NOTES ON NORTH AMERICAN AGELENID SPIDERS

1937 ◽  
Vol 69 (8) ◽  
pp. 174-177 ◽  
Author(s):  
Irving Fox
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Natural History ◽  
North American ◽  
The United States ◽  
National Museum ◽  
American Museum ◽  
United States National Museum ◽  
University Of Utah ◽  
Comparative Zoology ◽  
The University

The material on which the following paper is based is deposited in the United States National Museum to whose authorities I am indebted for the privilege of studying the collections of spiders in their charge. Several colleagues have been very generous in lending material and in giving advice. Particular thanks are due to Miss Elizabeth B. Bryant of the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Dr. W. J. Gertsch of the American Museum of Natural History, and Professor R. V. Chamberlin of the University of Utah.

scholarly journals Broadening Participation in an Increasingly Digitized World

2018 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
pp. e25972
Author(s):  
Jeanette Pirlo
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Natural History ◽  
Underserved Populations ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
The United States ◽  
Natural History Collections ◽  
The Us ◽  
The World ◽  
Original Label ◽  
And Mathematics

Participation within digitized collections has shown boom, but diversity of participants has remained static. Traditionally, natural history collections were only utilized by researchers with access to the physical collections. With the advent of open source digitized specimens, whether through transcription of the original label onto an electronic database, sound bites, two-dimensional photographs, or three-dimensional volume files, natural history collections are now at nearly everyone’s fingertips. Although collections have been historically clustered in the northern hemisphere, preliminary data suggest that researchers from the southern hemisphere have started using collections more via online portals. Studies have shown that a more heterogeneous community leads to an increase in the quality of science and publications. iDigBio (Integrated Digitized Biocollections), the United States’ national resource for Advancing Digitization of Biodiversity Collections (ADBC), is a National Science Foundation (NSF) funded initiative that makes millions of biological specimens, in the form of data and images, available electronically to the wider world. Our network of institutions across the world provide the digitized content that makes up our search portal. Minority serving institutions (MSIs) are an important resource for under served communities in the United States. They provide the educational and social skills required to overcome discrimination and economic disparities that these communities often face. Here, we focus on the types of institutions involved in uploading data, specifically those that identify as MSIs and the role they play in the field. After assessing MSI participation with the ADBC program by comparing databases of participants, I found that out of the nearly 400 individual institutions that contribute to the database, one-third of them identify as an MSI. The next step is further engaging contributing MSIs and identifying MSIs with natural history collections that are not a part of the iDigBio network and inviting them to join. By incorporating them into our network, we hope to reach underserved populations of students while broadening the scope of collections available. Including MSIs into our greater community of partners is not enough. We are striving to provide a greater understanding of how the iDigBio portal is used by new communities in the US with limited resources. In this way, we can provide educators with the tools necessary to better prepare their students for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) careers, as well as improving the collections available to the world.

Benjamin Henry Latrobe and the nomenclature of two North American fishes

1987 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 85-88
Author(s):  
CHARLOTTE M PORTER
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
North American ◽  
The United States ◽  
American Shad ◽  
New Name ◽  
The Common ◽  
Fish Louse

A curious error affects the names of three North American clupeids—the Alewife, American Shad, and Menhaden. The Alewife was first described by the British-born American architect, Benjamin Henry Latrobe in 1799, just two years after what is generally acknowledged as the earliest description of any ichthyological species published in the United States. Latrobe also described the ‘fish louse’, the common isopod parasite of the Alewife, with the new name, Oniscus praegustator. Expressing an enthusiasm for American independence typical of his generation, Latrobe humorously proposed the name Clupea tyrannus for the Alewife because the fish, like all tyrants, had parasites or hangers-on.

Bringing the Real World of Science to Children: A Partnership of the American Museum of Natural History and the City University of New York

2008 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Anthony G Picciano ◽  
Robert V. Steiner
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
New York ◽  
Natural History ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Compulsory Education ◽  
Development Program ◽  
The United States ◽  
American Museum ◽  
The World ◽  
The City

Every child has a right to an education. In the United States, the issue is not necessarily about access to a school but access to a quality education. With strict compulsory education laws, more than 50 million students enrolled in primary and secondary schools, and billions of dollars spent annually on public and private education, American children surely have access to buildings and classrooms. However, because of a complex and competitive system of shared policymaking among national, state, and local governments, not all schools are created equal nor are equal education opportunities available for the poor, minorities, and underprivileged. One manifestation of this inequity is the lack of qualified teachers in many urban and rural schools to teach certain subjects such as science, mathematics, and technology. The purpose of this article is to describe a partnership model between two major institutions (The American Museum of Natural History and The City University of New York) and the program designed to improve the way teachers are trained and children are taught and introduced to the world of science. These two institutions have partnered on various projects over the years to expand educational opportunity especially in the teaching of science. One of the more successful projects is Seminars on Science (SoS), an online teacher education and professional development program, that connects teachers across the United States and around the world to cutting-edge research and provides them with powerful classroom resources. This article provides the institutional perspectives, the challenges and the strategies that fostered this partnership.

scholarly journals Natural History and Evolution of Anti-Interferon-γ Autoantibody-Associated Immunodeficiency Syndrome in Thailand and the United States

2019 ◽  
Vol 71 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-62 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gloria H Hong ◽  
Ana M Ortega-Villa ◽  
Sally Hunsberger ◽  
Ploenchan Chetchotisakd ◽  
Siriluck Anunnatsiri ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Natural History ◽  
The United States ◽  
Interferon Γ ◽  
Mycobacterium Abscessus ◽  
Annual Data ◽  
Persistent Infections ◽  
Ifn Γ ◽  
Immunodeficiency Syndrome

Abstract Background The natural history of anti-interferon-γ (IFN-γ) autoantibody-associated immunodeficiency syndrome is not well understood. Methods Data of 74 patients with anti-IFN-γ autoantibodies at Srinagarind Hospital, Thailand, were collected annually (median follow-up duration, 7.5 years). Annual data for 19 patients and initial data for 4 patients with anti-IFN-γ autoantibodies at the US National Institutes of Health were collected (median follow-up duration, 4.5 years). Anti-IFN-γ autoantibody levels were measured in plasma samples. Results Ninety-one percent of US patients were of Southeast Asian descent; there was a stronger female predominance (91%) in US than Thai (64%) patients. Mycobacterium abscessus (34%) and Mycobacterium avium complex (83%) were the most common nontuberculous mycobacteria in Thailand and the United States, respectively. Skin infections were more common in Thailand (P = .001), whereas bone (P < .0001), lung (P = .002), and central nervous system (P = .03) infections were more common in the United States. Twenty-four percent of Thai patients died, most from infections. None of the 19 US patients with follow-up data died. Anti-IFN-γ autoantibody levels decreased over time in Thailand (P < .001) and the United States (P = .017), with either cyclophosphamide (P = .01) or rituximab therapy (P = .001). Conclusions Patients with anti-IFN-γ autoantibodies in Thailand and the United States had distinct demographic and clinical features. While titers generally decreased with time, anti-IFN-γ autoantibody disease had a chronic clinical course with persistent infections and death. Close long-term surveillance for new infections is recommended.

scholarly journals “The Future of Archaeology Is Antiracist”: Archaeology in the Time of Black Lives Matter

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-20
Author(s):  
Ayana Omilade Flewellen ◽  
Justin P. Dunnavant ◽  
Alicia Odewale ◽  
Alexandra Jones ◽  
Tsione Wolde-Michael ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
North American ◽  
The United States ◽  
Heritage Preservation ◽  
Social Unrest ◽  
Black Lives Matter ◽  
The North ◽  
Road Map ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Future

This forum builds on the discussion stimulated during an online salon in which the authors participated on June 25, 2020, entitled “Archaeology in the Time of Black Lives Matter,” and which was cosponsored by the Society of Black Archaeologists (SBA), the North American Theoretical Archaeology Group (TAG), and the Columbia Center for Archaeology. The online salon reflected on the social unrest that gripped the United States in the spring of 2020, gauged the history and conditions leading up to it, and considered its rippling throughout the disciplines of archaeology and heritage preservation. Within the forum, the authors go beyond reporting the generative conversation that took place in June by presenting a road map for an antiracist archaeology in which antiblackness is dismantled.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document