Pinning down the butterfly effect

The University Museum of Zoology, Cambridge holds a collection of approximately 2 million specimens covering the entire animal kingdom. The Museum's main purpose is to promote and advance the understanding and appreciation of the richness and diversity of animal life in the past, present and future of our planet.

Museum of Zoology

Galina Jönsson discusses digitalising the Natural History Museum’s collection and the benefits this can bring to butterfly conservation

‘We are in the midst of a climate emergency, and incomplete knowledge of historical biodiversity change is limiting our understanding of the separate and interacting effects of climate change, land-use change and other human pressures on wildlife. Current knowledge is generally based on data that rarely goes back further than the 1970s, but many of the pressures known to affect wildlife occurred or began earlier than this (e.g., large-scale transformations of the British landscape in the 1950s). Historical specimens offer a wealth of earlier data, but are generally ‘locked up’ in uncatalogued natural history collections. Some ten years ago, the Natural History Museum embarked on an ambitious project to digitise all information associated with its 80 million specimens. One of the first elements, iCollections, wherein nearly 200,000 British butterfly specimens were digitised, is now complete. These ‘digital collections’ are a unique resource that allow us to extend our understanding of biodiversity backwards in time. My talk will explore what iCollections has taught us about British butterflies thus far and demonstrate how knowledge of the past can assist our understanding of contemporary climate change-effects on wildlife and help better predict future response.’Twitter: @galinajonsson
Webpage: https://www.imperial.ac.uk/people/g.jonsson18

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Pinning down the butterfly effect

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Pinning down the butterfly effect

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