Title: What's in a species Name?: How wildlife management relies on modern systematics research and museum collections
* What have museum collections taught us about invasive diseases?
* When is an endangered species not a species?
* How can birds in a museum help protect airline passengers?
Scientists and staff of the USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center stationed at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History (NMNH) do research on the systematics and conservation of vertebrate species and curate and manage the North American collections of Amphibian, Reptile, Bird, and Mammal specimens and associated records.
Museum-based systematics research provides an evolutionary framework for understanding the diversity, relationships, and natural history of species of vertebrates and is crucial to managing ecological systems in biologically meaningful ways. Assessing the status, population trends, and abundance of taxa requires an appreciation and understanding of their biology and the functional roles they play in biotic systems. Sound taxonomy and reliable statistics are vital for management and conservation planning by resource agencies and organizations.
The Biological Survey Unit (BSU) of the USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center stationed at the NMNH in Washington, D.C., traces its roots back to a formal partnership with the Smithsonian Institution established in 1889. The BSU biologists at the NMNH conduct original research on the systematic relationships, nomenclature, and biodiversity of four groups of vertebrates: amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals, that are part of the National Collection housed in the NMNH. They contribute to our understanding of biodiversity by discovering and describing new taxa, determining evolutionary relationships among taxa, and providing taxonomic identifications and general museum support to several agencies within the Department of the Interior (e.g., FWS), as well as to other federal agencies. Taxonomic and methodological expertise in the BSU continues to make important contributions to the preparation and revision of authoritative checklists of vertebrates and authoritative guides for measuring and monitoring biodiversity around the world. In addition, BSU scientists provide important expertise on behalf of the USGS to the Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS), a standard for scientific nomenclature adopted by the Federal government.
Through a Memorandum of Understanding, the BSU and the NMNH cooperate in areas of mutual interest and concern in research, collection care, and information management. The BSU shares laboratory facilities and research tools with the NMNH and both parties jointly develop policies established to benefit the care and use of the collections and associated data. The BSU has curatorial responsibility for approximately 1,000,000 scientific specimens of North American amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals that are used by a broad spectrum of investigators concerned with topics of international, national, and regional scopes. North America as used herein includes all the North American Continent extending from the Panamanian/Colombian border to the North Pole, Hawaii, the Bahamas, and the West Indies. In addition to the collection-based research, primary staff responsibilities include caring for and managing the collections and associated records, curating selected segments of the collections, collecting and processing new materials for addition to the collections, making identifications, assisting visitors in the use of collection resources, transacting loans of study specimens, processing requests for information about specimens and their associated data, and answering questions from the public about amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals.
Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media Details
Below are other science projects associated with this project.
Amphibian & Reptile Collections
The Herpetology Project, the most recent addition to the Unit, originated in 1972. Roy W. McDiarmid is the Project Leader. The North American collection of reptiles and amphibians contains about 390,900 specimens. This portion of the National Collection is completely computerized; electronic copies on diskette or compact disks, or hard copy reports can be produced in response to requests for...
Bird Collections
The collection of North American birds housed in the National Museum of Natural History is one of outstanding quality. It totals about 370,000 specimens, including approximately 222,000 skins, 31,000 skeletons, 13,000 fluid-preserved, and about 26,500 egg sets and nests. Of the 3,949 specimens in the type collection, 2,120 specimens are holotypes of North American taxa. A major portion of the...
Below are multimedia items associated with this project.
2017 September Evening Public Lecture — What's in a species name?
Title: What's in a species Name?: How wildlife management relies on modern systematics research and museum collections
* What have museum collections taught us about invasive diseases?
* When is an endangered species not a species?
* How can birds in a museum help protect airline passengers?
Scientists and staff of the USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center stationed at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History (NMNH) do research on the systematics and conservation of vertebrate species and curate and manage the North American collections of Amphibian, Reptile, Bird, and Mammal specimens and associated records.
Museum-based systematics research provides an evolutionary framework for understanding the diversity, relationships, and natural history of species of vertebrates and is crucial to managing ecological systems in biologically meaningful ways. Assessing the status, population trends, and abundance of taxa requires an appreciation and understanding of their biology and the functional roles they play in biotic systems. Sound taxonomy and reliable statistics are vital for management and conservation planning by resource agencies and organizations.
The Biological Survey Unit (BSU) of the USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center stationed at the NMNH in Washington, D.C., traces its roots back to a formal partnership with the Smithsonian Institution established in 1889. The BSU biologists at the NMNH conduct original research on the systematic relationships, nomenclature, and biodiversity of four groups of vertebrates: amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals, that are part of the National Collection housed in the NMNH. They contribute to our understanding of biodiversity by discovering and describing new taxa, determining evolutionary relationships among taxa, and providing taxonomic identifications and general museum support to several agencies within the Department of the Interior (e.g., FWS), as well as to other federal agencies. Taxonomic and methodological expertise in the BSU continues to make important contributions to the preparation and revision of authoritative checklists of vertebrates and authoritative guides for measuring and monitoring biodiversity around the world. In addition, BSU scientists provide important expertise on behalf of the USGS to the Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS), a standard for scientific nomenclature adopted by the Federal government.
Through a Memorandum of Understanding, the BSU and the NMNH cooperate in areas of mutual interest and concern in research, collection care, and information management. The BSU shares laboratory facilities and research tools with the NMNH and both parties jointly develop policies established to benefit the care and use of the collections and associated data. The BSU has curatorial responsibility for approximately 1,000,000 scientific specimens of North American amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals that are used by a broad spectrum of investigators concerned with topics of international, national, and regional scopes. North America as used herein includes all the North American Continent extending from the Panamanian/Colombian border to the North Pole, Hawaii, the Bahamas, and the West Indies. In addition to the collection-based research, primary staff responsibilities include caring for and managing the collections and associated records, curating selected segments of the collections, collecting and processing new materials for addition to the collections, making identifications, assisting visitors in the use of collection resources, transacting loans of study specimens, processing requests for information about specimens and their associated data, and answering questions from the public about amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals.
Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media Details
Below are other science projects associated with this project.
Amphibian & Reptile Collections
The Herpetology Project, the most recent addition to the Unit, originated in 1972. Roy W. McDiarmid is the Project Leader. The North American collection of reptiles and amphibians contains about 390,900 specimens. This portion of the National Collection is completely computerized; electronic copies on diskette or compact disks, or hard copy reports can be produced in response to requests for...
Bird Collections
The collection of North American birds housed in the National Museum of Natural History is one of outstanding quality. It totals about 370,000 specimens, including approximately 222,000 skins, 31,000 skeletons, 13,000 fluid-preserved, and about 26,500 egg sets and nests. Of the 3,949 specimens in the type collection, 2,120 specimens are holotypes of North American taxa. A major portion of the...
Below are multimedia items associated with this project.
2017 September Evening Public Lecture — What's in a species name?
Title: What's in a species Name?: How wildlife management relies on modern systematics research and museum collections
* What have museum collections taught us about invasive diseases?
* When is an endangered species not a species?
* How can birds in a museum help protect airline passengers?
Title: What's in a species Name?: How wildlife management relies on modern systematics research and museum collections
* What have museum collections taught us about invasive diseases?
* When is an endangered species not a species?
* How can birds in a museum help protect airline passengers?