BOTANY COLLECTIONS

• Collecting of botany specimens in

Northwest Territories and Nunavut peaked

in the 1960s, and in subsequent decades

collecting was fairly consistent through

time, based on Canadian Museum of

Nature collections data. The sustained

focus on Arctic flora research at CMN

explains the pattern in recent decades.

• By contrast, botany collections from

Nunavut and Northwest Territories housed

in numerous other Canadian collections

demonstrates a strong decline in collecting

since the 1960s, similar to the trends

observed for zoology collections.

Age profile by decade of botany

collections from Northwest

Territories and Nunavut at the

Canadian Museum of Nature (n =

43,841).

Age profile by decade of botany

collections from Northwest

Territories and Nunavut in numerous

Canadian collections (not including

CMN), accessed via Canadensys

(n = 19,881).

The critical role of natural history collections in documenting biodiversity of the Arctic in the past, present and future

Jeffery M. Saarela - jsaarela@mus-nature.caDirector, Centre for Arctic Knowledge and Exploration

• Natural history collections housed in museums, herbaria and

universities represent the planet’s permanent record of biodiversity

in time and space.

• Estimates of the total number of natural history collections range

from 1.2-3 billion. Data for only 10-20% of these (ca. 118.5 million

specimens) are digitized and available through the Global

Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF).

• Arctic natural history collections are a diverse, valuable and

irreplaceable component of the polar information spectrum. The

total number, spatial and temporal distribution, and taxonomic

composition of Arctic natural history is not known, because (1) most

collections are not digitized; (2) many digitized collections are not

geo-referenced, so not all Arctic records can be found in map-based

searches; (3) Arctic specimens and digitized collection data are

distributed across many different institutions and repositories; and

(4) it is difficult to count collections by ecozone.

• Collections are often used in ways that were unanticipated by the

original collectors. We cannot predict all the future questions that

today’s Arctic specimens may help answer.

• Arctic Observing programs on biodiversity should document

field observations with specimens whenever possible, and

should engage with natural history museums to ensure these

specimens are properly preserved and accessible to future

generations of researchers.

• Natural history museums need to be more involved in Arctic

science discussions to raise awareness and increase usage of

their collections, and should engage with researchers who

require a permanent repository for their Arctic collections.

Arctic Natural History Collections

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons

Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.ARCTIC SCIENCE SUMMIT WEEK AND ARCTIC OBSERVING SUMMIT, FAIRBANKS, ALASKA – MARCH 2016

© M. Lipman

Age Profile of Canadian Arctic Natural History Collections

Arctic Natural History Museum Alliance

Arctic Policy and Arctic Natural History Museums

• Online collections data from Canadian natural history collections provides strong evidence for a substantial decline in

Arctic collecting since the 1960s. This trend needs to be reversed to understand Arctic biodiversity through time.

• Although not all Canadian Arctic collections have been digitized and duplicate specimens housed at different institutions were not

removed from the analyses, the observed patterns based on available data are likely robust.

Global North American Arctic

• The U.S.-Canada Joint Statement on Climate, Energy and Arctic

Leadership (10 March 2016) calls on Arctic nations to embrace a new

future for Arctic leadership, with one objective being conserving Arctic

biodiversity through science-based decision making: “Canada and the U.S.

re-affirm our national goals of protecting at least 17% of land areas and 10% of

marine areas by 2020.”

• In the Canadian Arctic only 11.7% of terrestrial and freshwater and 0.8%

of marine territory are currently protected (Environment Canada 2016).

• Biodiversity in existing and new Arctic protected areas needs to be

comprehensively and systematically surveyed and documented by

specimens, to establish a current and robust baseline of information, and

the resultant specimens should be housed in permanent collections like

the Canadian Museum of Nature and made accessible digitally, enabling

researchers and the public to learn about – and value – the Arctic natural

world.

Michel Poulin, Canadian Museum of Nature,

collecting sea ice algae in the Canadian High

Arctic.

Alan Macdonald in the large skeleton collection at the Canadian Museum of Nature.

• The Arctic Natural History Museum Alliance, founded in 2013, comprises the national natural history

museums of the eight Arctic Council states. The Alliance aims to work together to actively share their Arctic

knowledge with the science community, public policy decision-makers and the general public, and is focussing

on collections digitization, research contribution and collaboration, and impactful public programming and

outreach.

Institution Total specimens | Arctic

specimens

Canadian Museum of Nature 10.5 million | 1 million

National Museum of Natural History,

Smithsonian Institution

128 million | 151,000

Swedish Natural History Museum 10.1 million | ?

Oslo Natural History Museum 6.2 million | ?

Finnish Natural History Museum 13 million | ?

Denmark Natural History Museum 14 million | ?

Iceland Natural History Museum 1.5 million | 500,000

Zoological Institute, Russian Acad. of Sciences 60 million | ?

Arctic Natural History Museum Alliance leadership: Jan

Olov Westerberg, Director General, Swedish Natural

History Museum; Meg Beckel, President and CEO,

Canadian Museum of Nature; Kirk Johnson, Director,

Smithsonian Natural History Museum and Mark

Brzezinski, Executive Director, US Arctic Executive

Steering Committee (holding a narwhal tooth).

Imag

e: M

eg B

ecke

l©

Can

adia

n M

use

um

of

Nat

ure

There are far fewer natural history collections from the Arctic than from temperate and

tropical areas, based on the ca. 118.5 million specimens records available from the Global

Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF). Many Arctic areas have not been inventoried.

Dat

a re

trie

ved 8

Mar

ch 2

016

• The members of the Arctic Natural History Museum Alliance collectively

house some 243 million specimens. The total number of Arctic collections

in these institutions is not known, but likely represents a considerable

proportion of the planet’s total Arctic collections.

© M. Lipman

Canadian Museum of Nature scientists collecting in the Canadian

Arctic: Paul Hamilton (top) sampling freshwater algae, Kathy

Conlan (middle) surveying benthic invertebrates, and Paul

Sokoloff (bottom left) collecting plants.

Canadian Museum of Nature, Ottawa

Canadian Museum of Nature collections online (http://collections.nature.ca)

Botany field camp in the Canadian Arctic. The Canadian Museum of

Nature Arctic flora team makes some 1000 collections on each annual

expedition.

Age profile by decade of zoological

collections from Northwest

Territories and Nunavut at the

Canadian Museum of Nature (n =

35,988).

Age profile by decade of zoological

collections Northwest Territories and

Nunavut in numerous Canadian

collections (not including CMN),

accessed via Canadensys (n =

23,8976).

ZOOLOGY COLLECTIONS

• Collecting of zoological specimens from

Northwest Territories and Nunavut peaked

in the 1960s, declined slowly during the

next two decades and then rapidly declined

from 1981 onwards, based on Canadian

Museum of Nature collection data.

• The pattern is similar based on zoological

specimens from Northwest Territories and

Nunavut in numerous other Canadian

institutions, except the peak was in the

1970s and the decline over the next 30 years

was stronger. However, there was a

substantial increase in collecting activity

from 2010 onwards.

P. Sokoloff © CMN

J. Bastien © CMN

© M. Lipman