Big Data analysis of natural history collections shines a light on species distribution
If you have ever enjoyed rooting through natural history collections, then you’ll know the pleasure of stumbling across unexpected discoveries. But Europe’s natural history collections are inaccessible to many and the way they are scattered is a barrier to research. To help engage those who can’t get to Europe’s museums, or others trying to make a connection between items in multiple locations, bringing collections online and making them accessible over the internet is an important goal. Europe’s collections account for 55 % of the world’s natural sciences collections, containing an estimated 1.5 billion objects that represent around 80 % of the world’s bio- and geo-diversity. Only about 10 % of these specimens are even partially digitised, with photos and further information available widely. Digitising collections is important both to enable virtual access to the specimens themselves and to unleash the data attached to them, especially collection location and date. The emerging research infrastructure Distributed System of Scientific Collections DiSSCo aims to digitise and unify the hundreds of separate physical collections in Europe. Eventually, these digital collections will allow researchers to integrate data sets and find new avenues of research by linking disparate fields. Potential new insights from this analysis include finding wild relatives of crops that are adapted to a warmer climate, understanding the spread of disease vectors, and informing species conservation in the face of climate change. This process is a huge undertaking, however, given the sheer scale and complexity of the endeavour. There are several challenges, including efficiency issues with current imaging technologies, the fragmented ownership base of the collections, a need to improve the technical skills of collection staff, and insufficient informatics standards across Europe. The EU-funded ICEDIG project advanced all the technical, financial, policy and governance aspects that are crucial for developing and operating DiSSCo. "These include prototypes, blueprints, novel workflows, new industry partnerships, and citizen involvement models,” explains Leif Schulman, director of Luomus, the Finnish Museum of Natural History. “The project’s goal was to produce conceptual and technical design reports to enable the construction of DiSSCo. Technological innovation, as well as technical, cultural and organisational capacity enhancement, are required to speed up the rate of digitisation,” adds Schulman, ICEDIG project coordinator.
More data, more insight
“By combining the millions of datapoints that state where and when a species was collected with environmental data, we can model both past distribution areas and future areas. This ‘Big Data’ gives us an insight into interactions we couldn’t decipher otherwise,” Schulman notes. Not just aimed at scientists, the digitising project could help a wide range of people from those who like pottering around museums to children working on projects. The majority of users will probably come from the general public scrolling through and admiring an enthralling array of images of specimens. “A smartly designed data infrastructure serves all user groups well based on the same resource investments,” says Schulman. Nevertheless, the most transformative impact will be in science, because the digital collection will enable research that would not otherwise be possible. “New scientific insights will then strongly support the development of sustainable policies,” Schulman adds.
Toward DiSSCo
The next step is to apply ICEDIG’s findings in the preparation and construction of DiSSCo. The project DiSSCo Prepare is already running. ICEDIG summarised its findings in a publicly available report, 'Conceptual design blueprint for the DiSSCo digitization infrastructure – DELIVERABLE D8.1' which will act as the principal guideline for taking DiSSCo further.
Keywords
ICEDIG, natural, collections, digitise, Europe, insights, data
