Biological collections for understanding biodiversity in the Anthropocene

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dc.contributor.authorMeineke, Emily K.
dc.contributor.authorDavies, T. Jonathan
dc.contributor.authorDaru, Barnabas
dc.contributor.authorDavis, Charles C.
dc.creator.orcidhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-5416-4233en_US
dc.creator.orcidhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-2115-0257en_US
dc.creator.orcidhttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-8747-1101en_US
dc.creator.orcidhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-5416-4233
dc.creator.orcidhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-2115-0257
dc.creator.orcidhttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-8747-1101
dc.creator.orcidhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-5416-4233
dc.creator.orcidhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-2115-0257
dc.creator.orcidhttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-8747-1101https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5416-4233
dc.creator.orcidhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-2115-0257
dc.creator.orcidhttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-8747-1101
dc.date.accessioned2022-03-03T21:13:51Z
dc.date.available2022-03-03T21:13:51Z
dc.date.issued2018-11-19
dc.description.abstractGlobal change has become a central focus of modern biology. Yet, our knowledge of how anthropogenic drivers affect biodiversity and natural resources is limited by a lack of biological data spanning the Anthropocene. We propose that the hundreds of millions of plant, fungal and animal specimens deposited in natural history museums have the potential to transform the field of global change biology. We suggest that museum specimens are underused, particularly in ecological studies, given their capacity to reveal patterns that are not observable from other data sources. Increasingly, museum specimens are becoming mobilized online, providing unparalleled access to physiological, ecological and evolutionary data spanning decades and sometimes centuries. Here, we describe the diversity of collections data archived in museums and provide an overview of the diverse uses and applications of these data as discussed in the accompanying collection of papers within this theme issue. As these unparalleled resources are under threat owing to budget cuts and other institutional pressures, we aim to shed light on the unique discoveries that are possible in museums and, thus, the singular value of natural history collections in a period of rapid change.en_US
dc.identifier.citationMeineke, E.K., Davies, T.J., Daru, B.H. and Davis, C.C., 2019. Biological collections for understanding biodiversity in the Anthropocene. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, 374(1763), p.20170386.en_US
dc.identifier.doihttps://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2017.0386
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/1969.6/90236
dc.language.isoen_USen_US
dc.publisherThe Royal Society Publishingen_US
dc.subjectanthropoceneen_US
dc.subjecthistorical dataen_US
dc.subjectmuseumen_US
dc.subjectglobal changeen_US
dc.subjectclimate changeen_US
dc.subjectherbariumen_US
dc.titleBiological collections for understanding biodiversity in the Anthropoceneen_US
dc.typeArticleen_US

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