Saarela, J.M. -Centre for Arctic Knowledge and Exploration, Canadian Museum of Nature, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Poster presented at: Arctic Science Summit Week and Arctic Observing Summit, March 2016, Fairbanks, Alaska, U.S.A. Available from: http://www.arcticobservingsummit.org/aos-2016-poster-abstracts-public (accessed 4 May 2016). ABSTRACT: Changes in the diversity, distribution and ecology of species in the Arctic are predicted and/or already being documented in response to global change. Baseline biodiversity data from the past and present can provide critical points of reference in time and space for measuring change. Core components of biodiversity data are specimens in natural history collections. Natural history specimens are data themselves, documenting the distribution of species in time and space; they serve as vouchers for datasets, allowing future workers to go back to original material to confirm or revise identifications; and they are also sources of new data (morphology, anatomy, toxicology, genetic information, etc.). Biological specimens from the Arctic are a diverse, valuable and irreplaceable component of the polar information spectrum, yet Arctic specimens were collected more frequently in the past than they are today. Core functions of museums are the collection, long-term preservation, stewardship and curation of specimens, and facilitating access to these specimens, both physically and digitally. The Canadian Museum of Nature, founding member of the international Arctic Natural History Museums Alliance, houses the largest – and continually growing – collection of natural history specimens from the Canadian Arctic, with ca. 260K Arctic specimens (including >550 type specimens). 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. Reciprocally, natural history museums should be more involved in Arctic science discussions to raise awareness and increase usage of their rich collections-based resources, and should engage with researchers who require a permanent repository for their Arctic field collections.

1. 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.ca
Director, 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).
Image:MegBeckel©CanadianMuseumofNature
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.
Dataretrieved8March2016
• 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