Nemertean collections at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History: type specimens and vouchers for Wesley R. Coe's 1940 publication

The Department of Invertebrate Zoology at the SantaBarbara Museum of Natural History houses a smallcollection of nemerteans from the Eastern PacificOcean. At present the collection containsapproximately 2000 specimen lots stored in alcohol. The historically important elements of the collectionwere obtained in transfers from the Allan HancockFoundation of the University of Southern California,the Kerkoff Marine Laboratory of the CaliforniaInstitute of Technology, and the Benthic InvertebrateMuseum of Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Thespecimens in these three collections voucher manyof the species treated in Wesley R. Coe's 1940revision of the nemerteans of the west coast of theAmericas. Type specimens were located for 4 of the 5new species group taxa and for 1 new subspecies grouptaxon erected in that publication. The Allan HancockFoundation material utilized by Coe was collected inthe 1930's during Pacific expeditions of the R/V Velero III. The material assembled by George andNettie MacGinitie at the Kerkoff lab contained anumber of specimens collected during the same timeperiod. The specimens from Coe's material at ScrippsInstitution of Oceanography were collected by TheodoreBullock and students in central California in 1939.     

Temporal and Spatial Distribution of Enterobius vermicularis (Nematoda: Oxyuridae) in the Prehistoric Americas

Investigations of Enterobius sp. infection in prehistory have produced a body of data that can be used to evaluate the geographic distribution of infection through time in the Americas. Regional variations in prevalence are evident. In North America, 119 pinworm positive samples were found in 1,112 samples from 28 sites with a prevalence of 10.7%. Almost all of the positive samples came from agricultural sites. From Brazil, 0 pinworm positive samples were found in 325 samples from 7 sites. For the Andes region, 22 pinworm positive samples were found in 411 samples from 26 sites for a prevalence of 5.3%. Detailed analyses of these data defined several trends. First, preagricultural sites less frequently show evidence of infection compared to agricultural populations. This is especially clear in the data from North America, but is also evident in the data from South America. Second, there is an apparent relationship between the commonality of pinworms in coprolites and the manner of constructing villages. These analyses show that ancient parasitism has substantial value in documenting the range of human behaviors that influence parasitic infections.     

Microcystins,BMAA and BMAA isomers in 100-year-old Antarctic cyanobacterial mats collected during Captain R.F. Scott’s Discovery Expedition

Microcystins (MCN), β-N-methylamino-L-alanine (BMAA) and anatoxin-a were investigated in Antarctic cyanobacterial mats collected from Ross Island and the McMurdo Ice Shelf, East Antarctica during Captain Scott’s ‘Discovery’ National Antarctic Expedition (1901–1904). Ultra-performance liquid chromatography-photodiode array detection (UPLC-PDA) and tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) analysis were used to quantify the cyanotoxins in seven cyanobacterial mat samples. MCNs were identified in six of the mat samples at concentrations from 0.5 to 16.1 µg?g^–1 dry weight. BMAA was found in one sample (528 ng?g^–1 dry weight, total BMAA), as well as two BMAA isomers, 2,4-diaminobutyric acid (DAB) and N-(2-aminoethyl) glycine (AEG) in six samples up to 6.56 and 6.79 μg?g^–1 dry weight, respectively. No anatoxin-a was detected. The findings confirm that MCNs, BMAA and BMAA isomers are preserved under dry herbarium conditions. The ‘Discovery’ cyanobacterial mat samples represent the oldest polar cyanobacterial samples found to contain cyanotoxins to date and provide new baseline data for cyanotoxins in Antarctic freshwater cyanobacterial mats from prior to human activity in Antarctica, the development of the ozone hole and current levels of climatic change.     

A journey through time: exploring temporal patterns amongst digitized plant specimens from Australia

Online access to species occurrence records has opened new windows into investigating biodiversity patterns across multiple scales. The value of these records for research depends on their spatial, temporal, and taxonomic quality. We assessed temporal patterns in records from the Australasian Virtual Herbarium, asking: (1) How temporally consistent has collecting been across Australia? (2) Which areas of Australia have the most reliable records, in terms of temporal consistency and inventory completeness? (3) Are there temporal trends in the completeness of attribute information associated with records? We undertook a multi-step filtering procedure, then estimated temporal consistency and inventory completeness for sampling units (SUs) of 50?km ×?50?km. We found temporal bias in collecting, with 80% of records collected over the period 1970–1999. South-eastern Australia, the Wet Tropics in north-east Queensland, and parts of Western Australia have received the most consistent sampling effort over time, whereas much of central Australia has had low temporal consistency. Of the SUs, 18% have relatively complete inventories with high temporal consistency in sampling. We also determined that 25% of digitized records had missing attribute information. By identifying areas with low reliability, we can limit erroneous inferences about distribution patterns and identify priority areas for future sampling.     

Combining allele frequency and tree‐based approaches improves phylogeographic inference from natural history collections

Model selection approaches in phylogeography have allowed researchers to evaluate the support for competing demographic histories, which provides a mode of inference and a measure of uncertainty in understanding climatic and spatial influences on intraspecific diversity. Here, to rank all models in the comparison set and determine what proportion of the total support the top‐ranked model garners, we conduct model selection using two analytical approaches—allele frequency‐based, implemented in fastsimcoal2 , and gene tree‐based, implemented in phrapl . We then expand this model selection framework by including an assessment of absolute fit of the models to the data. For this, we utilize DNA isolated from existing natural history collections that span the distribution of red alder (Alnus rubra) in the Pacific Northwest of North America to generate genomic data for the evaluation of 13 demographic scenarios. The quality of DNA recovered from herbarium specimen leaf tissue was assessed for its utility and effectiveness in demographic model selection, specifically in the two approaches mentioned. We present strong support for the use of herbarium tissue in the generation of genomic DNA, albeit with the inclusion of additional quality control checks prior to library preparation and analyses with multiple approaches that incorporate various data. Analyses with allele frequency spectra and gene trees predominantly support A. rubra having experienced an ancient vicariance event with intermittent and frequent gene flow between the disjunct populations. Additionally, the data consistently fit the most frequently selected model, corroborating the model selection techniques. Finally, these results suggest that the A. rubra disjunct populations do not represent separate species.     

Modeled global invasive potential of Asian gypsy moths, Lymantria dispar

Asian populations of gypsy moths, Lymantria dispar (L.) (Lepidoptera: Lymantriidae), remain poorly characterized – indeed, they are not presently accorded any formal taxonomic status within the broader species. Their ecology is similarly largely uncharacterized in the literature, except by assumption that it will resemble that of European populations. We developed ecological niche models specific to Asian populations of the species, which can in turn be used to identify a potential geographic distributional area for the species. We demonstrated statistically significant predictivity of distributional patterns within the East Asian range of these populations; projecting the Asian ecological niche model to Europe, correspondence with European distributions was generally good, although some differences may exist; projecting the ecological niche model globally, we characterized a likely potential invasive distribution of this set of populations across the temperate zone of both Northern and Southern Hemisphere.     

Unlocking avian museum collections to enable and advance environmental change research

The rate and magnitude of contemporary changes in natural systems is unprecedented in the Earth's history. Studies of wild birds have been critically important in helping us understand and address these environmental changes. Avian collections provide a potentially unique perspective on change through time, but their role in environmental change research is limited by the availability of collections data. Here we describe how avian collections might be unlocked to enable environmental change research, and discuss the opportunities and constraints associated with this. We use the concept of the extended specimen to describe the types of data that could be unlocked from basic data for discoverability to enhanced data that might be directly applied to environmental change questions. We illustrate the type of environmental change research these data might support. We argue that data creation and access is currently limited by funding for digitization, a rather patchy understanding of the needs of the research community and less than adequate data-sharing by institutions and researchers. We develop a blueprint for addressing these issues which includes (1) improvements in sharing the data we are already creating and (2) building a better case for digitization at scale. As one of the largest avian collections in the world, the Natural History Museum, UK, is committed to unlocking our collections, but we will need input and support from the avian research community to do so.     

Records of ocean sunfish Mola mola along the Norwegian coast spanning two centuries, 1801–2015

Records of the ocean sunfish Mola mola along the Norwegian coast were compiled from all possible sources: literature, media, databases and museums. A total of 216 records were found between 1801 and 2015. They were distributed along the whole coast, except for the most north‐eastern part. Nearly all years with more than five records were after 2000, with 1985 as the only exception and with a maximum of 23 records in 2014. Most, 92·4%, were from July to December. Records from before 1979 were more incidental and random and no sunfish were recorded in 54 separate years between 1879 and 2015. The northernmost record was from 70° 44′ N in December 1881. No relationship between year and latitude was found. Forty‐four per cent of the records were of sunfish caught in fishing gear, 27% were found stranded and 30% were observed alive at sea. A trend of a decrease in numbers of observations of living individuals and an increase in numbers of strandings as dead individuals as autumn progressed was found. Geographical differences in the three categories of observation were also found. Among the specimens whose size was recorded, most were small, <30 kg and 70 cm in total length. Only 10 were heavier than 100 kg, all these were from before 1960. Annual numbers correlated weakly with sea temperatures. This was supported by a weak negative correlation with the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) index, because the majority of years since 2000 had a negative NAO.     

State of the art and perspectives on neotropical fern and lycophyte systematics

For ferns and lycophytes, the Neotropics is a hotspot of diversity (3000–4500 species), and second only to Southeastern Asia in richness and endemism. This paper presents the current state of knowledge on fern and lycophyte systematics in the Neotropics, and emphasizes sampling sufficiency and current taxonomic and phylogenetic knowledge. Plant systematics plays an important role in documenting diversity and geographic distribution patterns that are needed to understand relationships and evolutionary patterns, and a vital role in species conservation. Although in recent decades this field of science has undergone a revolution because of new approaches and techniques, data presented in this work shows that large gaps remain and there is still a long path towards fully understanding fern and lycophyte systematics in Neotropics. Approaches and how to choose areas that should be targeted in order to try to fulfill these knowledge gaps are discussed.     

Deficiency in African plant distribution data – missing pieces of the puzzle

Biodiversity is spatially unevenly distributed and so is the information on its spatial patterns. This uneven distribution of information on species occurrences is an important impediment to the conservation of biodiversity. Based on 185 427 collection records of 5873 plant species in sub-Saharan Africa, we analyse the availability of distribution data suitable for the GIS-based mapping of plant diversity patterns at a one-degree resolution. Using the bioclimatic model GARP, distribution ranges for each species were modelled. In order to identify data-deficient areas, the documented and modelled diversity patterns were compared. Only for a few, well-known centres of plant diversity are there comparatively many data collection records available. For several of the areas with very few collection records, such as the Guinean montane forests, the north-western Congolian lowland forests, and the southern Albertine Rift montane forests, the model predicts a species richness much higher than currently documented. In many of the data deficient areas, difficult conditions for scientific research appear to have limited collection activities for decades. Only strategic field collections can fill these gaps. Another cause of data deficiency is that data collected and digitized do not match the quality requirements for GIS-based work at the super-regional scale. In particular, regional databases documenting partial ranges of species are rarely connected. One challenge for the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation is therefore to establish international collaborative structures and technical standards that will allow analysis of biogeographical patterns across political boundaries.  © 2006 The Linnean Society of London, Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society , 2006, 150 , 355–368.