Forecasting Ecological
Change in the Central Plains
Biodiversity Focus Group
Craig C. Freeman
Biodiversity Institute & Kansas Biological Survey
University of Kansas
Lawrence, KS 66047
ccfree@ku.edu
Primary Objectives
Deploy natural history collection data to:
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document biodiversity patterns
add value to existing collections
build public support for biodiversity
Answer fundamental questions about how
human-mediated changes affect the
biodiversity of the Central Plains
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ecological services
agriculture (crops, pollinators, pests, forage)
public health (disease vectors, emerging diseases)
invasive species
„
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Web-based integration of
occurrence data for critical
collections that are digitally
ready
Databasing and
georeferencing of critical
collections that are not
digitally ready
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Integration,
mapping, and
analysis of
biodiversity data
using web-based
informatics tools
„
Survey and
inventory of target
areas and taxa
where critical gaps
are identified
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Molecular sequencing of target taxa for
species identification and analysis of genetic
patterns across ecological gradients
Collection Assets
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Primary Assets
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Kansas State University
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University of Kansas
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Museum of Entomological and Prairie Arthropod Research –
824,000 insects
Herbarium – 200,000 vascular plants and bryophytes
Biodiversity Institute – >7 million specimens
KBS Aquatic Insect Collection – 500,000 specimens
Secondary Assets
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Ft. Hays State University
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Sternberg Museum – fish collections
State Agencies
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KDHE – 55,000 invertebrate records from stream monitoring work
KDWP – mussel collections
Processing Collection Data
Taxon
Priorities
Asset
Assessment
Databased?
No
Database
Yes
Georeferenced?
No
Georeference
Yes
Error
Estimated?
Yes
Integrate
No
Estimate
Error
Taxon Priorities
„
Identified in proposal
Birds
„ Fish
„ Insects
„ Terrestrial (grasshoppers)
„ Aquatic
„ Mammals
„ Reptiles
„ Unionid mussels
„ Vascular plants
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Taxon Priorities
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Potential additions
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Aquatic invertebrate data collected by KDHE and
KDWP (vouchers?)
Leafhoppers, crickets
Lichens
Processing Collection Data
Taxon
Priorities
Asset
Assessment
Databased?
No
Database
Yes
Georeferenced?
No
Georeference
Yes
Error
Estimated?
Yes
Integrate
No
Estimate
Error
Priority Collections & Taxa
Collection
Total
Specimens
Great Plains
Specimens
Great Plains
Databased
Great Plains
Georeferenced
Great Plains
Error Estimate
Lichens (KU)
10,000
9,000 (90)
8,100 (90)
6,075 (75)
0 (0)
Plants (KSU)
200,000
100,000 (50)
30,000 (30)
0 (0)
0 (0)
Plants (KU)
375,000
225,000 (60)
125,000 (56)
7,500 (6)
0 (0)
Subtotal Plants/Lichens
575,000
334,000 (58)
163,100 (49)
13,575 (8)
0 (0)
Amphibians/Reptiles (KU)
292,000
40,000 (13.7)
40,000 (100)
25,844 (64.6)
25,844 (64.6)
Birds (KU)
100,000
41,535 (41.5)
41,535 (100)
528 (1)
0 (0)
Fish (KU)
630,000
567,000 (90)
(19,895 lots)
567,000 (100)
(19,895 lots)
567,000 (100)
(19,895 lots)
0 (0)
Insects (KSU)
824,000
659,000 (80)
0 (0)
0 (0)
0 (0)
4,300,000
2,795,000 (65)
419,250 (15)
377,330 (90)
0 (0)
Invertebrates (KDHE/KDWP)
55,300
55,300 (100)
55,300 (100)
55,300 (100)
0 (0)
Invertebrates (KU)
1,000
200 (20)
200 (100)
160 (80)
0 (0)
165,000
55,926 (34)
55,926 (100)
54,728 (98)
33,013 (60.3)
6,367,300
4,213,961 (66)
1,179,211 (28)
1,080,890 (92)
58,857 (5.5)
6,942,300
4,547,961 (65)
1,342,311 (29)
1,094,465 (82)
58,857 (5.4)
Insects (KU)
Mammals (KU)
Subtotal Animals
Grand Total Specimens
Processing Collection Data
Taxon
Priorities
Asset
Assessment
Databased?
No
Database
Yes
Georeferenced?
No
Georeference
Yes
Error
Estimated?
Yes
Integrate
No
Estimate
Error
Databasing Issues
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Infrastructure support
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Specify – collection management software
DiGIR (Distributed Generic Information Retrieval) –
protocols and tools for linking independent databases
Most retroactive databasing in 2006/2007 done
with non-EPSCoR resources
KS specimens processed first; NE and CO
specimens next, followed by other Great Plains
specimens
Retroactive Databasing
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>70,000 specimen records added to databases
since mid-2006
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Insects
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Vascular plants
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KSU – 4,500 grasshoppers
KU – 1,000 grasshoppers
KSU – 54,000
KU – 11,000 (QC = 15,500)
Lichens
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KU – 700 (QC = 1,000)
How Many Specimens?
Nebraska
Vascular Plants
Birds
Reptiles
Fish
Mammals
Lichens
Inverts
Colorado
Kansas
0
50
100
150
200
250
Databased specimens (x1000) from KS, CO, and NE in collections at the
University of Kansas. CO and NE totals do not include an estimated 20,000
undatabased plant records from each state. Estimates of the number of
insect records remain unreliable.
Georeferencing and
Error Estimation Issues
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MaNIS (Mammal Network Information
System) protocols used for georeferencing
and error estimation
BioGeomancer Workbench not available
for batch processing of records
Two-step approach used to process
records until Workbench is available
(summer 2007?)
Georeferencing and
Error Estimation
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High priority
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Medium priority
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Birds
Insects (selected groups)
Vascular plants
Amphibians/reptiles
Invertebrates
Lichens
Low priority
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Fish
Mammals
Georeferencing and
Error Estimation
Started with 29,361 KS bird
records
Started with 131,735 KS plant
records
Survey, Inventory, Modeling,
and Molecular Studies
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Biodiversity research projects involving
graduate students
Phylogeography of the Common Nighthawk
(Brett Benz, supervised by A.T. Peterson)
„ Variation among populations of selected
riverine fishes in the Kansas River basin and
other basins in the Great Plains (Matt Davis
and Pingfu Chen, supervised by E.O. Wiley)
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Goals for the 2nd Year
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Add 75,000–100,000 new specimen
records to databases
Georeferencing and error estimation
Process ca. 200,000 specimens
„ Complete KS specimens; start NE and CO
„ Protocols for attaching georeference and error
data with original collection data
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Deploy collection data for vascular plants,
lichens, birds
Acknowledgments
Special Thanks
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KSU
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M. Papes (KU birds), A. Peterson (KU birds)
H. Huang, B. McCann, M. Sedarous, C. Ramirez, J. Soberón, D. WhiteMan (KU)
Kansas State University Herbarium: C. Ferguson, M. Mayfield, S. Mohandass
Museum of Entomological and Prairie Arthropod Research: G. Zolnerowich
Biology: M. Evans-White, K. Gido, D. Hoeinghaus, A. Joern
KU
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Biodiversity Institute: A. Bentley (fish), R. Brown (herps), A. Crowther (inverts),
M. Engel (insects), Z. Falin (insects), D. Fautin (inverts), C. Morse (plants), A.
Peterson (birds), M. Robbins (birds), J. Simmons (herps), J. Thomas (insects),
R. Timm (mammals), L. Trueb (herps), E. Wiley (fish)
Kansas Biological Survey: D. Huggins (aquatic insects), P. Liechti (aquatic
insects), E. Martinko (insects)