Missing and misidentified museum specimens hinder long-term monitoring: a case study of shell-bearing gastropods from the Kola Meridian transect, Barents Sea
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引用次数: 0
Abstract
The consequences of global change cannot be estimated without long-term monitoring programmes. The Kola Meridian transect, along 33°30’E, in the Barents Sea is the longest term monitoring area in the Arctic. Regular (usually annual) hydrobiological benthic surveys along that transect have been performed since 1899. Materials stored in museum collections remain the main source of the faunistic information obtained during the surveys, while only a minor part of these data was published. We reexamined all samples of shell-bearing gastropods from the Kola Meridian stored at the Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences and at Saint Petersburg State University. We found only 159 museum lots from 73 samples, which constitute a very small portion of the total material collected along the transect. Approximately one-third of them (54 lots) was misidentified or includes individuals that cannot be identified at species level. The species composition revealed by museum materials differs substantially from published checklists. Majority of the studied samples (40) were collected during 1899–1920. However, the extant collections do not provide a reliable baseline for the Kola Meridian. We propose that the storage of zoological material in public collections should be considered as an essential part of long-term monitoring programmes.
期刊介绍:
Since 1982, Polar Research has been the international, peer-reviewed journal of the Norwegian Polar Institute, Norway''s central institution for research, environmental monitoring and mapping of the polar regions. Aiming to promote the exchange of scientific knowledge about the Arctic and Antarctic across disciplinary boundaries, Polar Research serves an international community of researchers and managers. As an open-access journal, Polar Research makes its contents freely available to the general public.
Original primary research papers comprise the mainstay of Polar Research. Review articles, brief research notes, letters to the editor and book reviews are also included. Special issues are published from time to time.
The scope of Polar Research encompasses research in all scientific disciplines relevant to the polar regions. These include, but are not limited to, the subfields of biology, ecology, geology, oceanography, glaciology and atmospheric science. Submissions from the social sciences and those focusing on polar management and policy issues are welcome. Contributions about Antarctica are particularly encouraged.