HerpNET Overview and Uses of HerpNET Data

1. HerpNET Overview and Uses of HerpNET Data Carol L. Spencer Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, University of California, Berkeley, CA

2. What are HerpNET data? The main purpose of HerpNET is to make museum collections data available on-line for use in museum, conservation and phylogenetic research and to retrospectively assign coordinates to collection localities using consistent and repeatable methods. HerpNET data include more than 4 million specimen records that are being georeferenced to over 750,000 unique collecting localities.

3. Institutions in HerpNET • 54 total, 47 North American (NSF funded), 7 international • Nine funded by GBIF in red: AMS, BPBM, CIB, MHNG, MVZ, RM, RMCA, SMNS, ZIN.

4. What data are available on the HerpNET portal & website? • Portal is available for searching data at http://herpnet.org/portal.html • Currently 27 institutions are available on portal (BPBM, BYU, CAS,CUMV, FMNH, INHS, KU, LACM, LSU, MCZ, MHP, MSU, MVZ, PSM, ROM, SBNHM, SDNHM, TCWC,THNC, UAM, UCM, UMBM, UNAM,UNSM, UTA, UTEP) • Distributed database – servers at each institution • ~7 servers will be added to the portal by late 2006, with all 54 institutions available online by Fall ‘07

5. Current state of georeferencing: • Information communicated through HerpNET Listserv http://herpnet.org/communication.html • Data available now on portal are those that were georeferenced previous to HerpNET • Georeferencing by HerpNET-NSF participants is finished for 20% of all localities • All of North American localities and all GBIF collections will be complete by Sept. 2007 • Data are sent back to collections for integration into server databases after verification

6. Completed Georeferencing for North American Institutions: `20% of all unique localities completed

7. New Features for HerpNET (2007): • Easy, “quick” search feature on the HerpNET portal • More access to HerpNET point data from AmphibiaWeb including maps, through data-caching • Global Amphibian Assessment distribution maps (polygons – created from expert opinion) shown with point data • Ability to search on synonymous taxonomy on both HerpNET and AmphibiaWeb

8. What You Can Do With These Data: Mapping point localities • Make point distributions of species by documenting where they are present • Background map, errors around localities, labels by museum or specimen number can be changed using the interactive mapping interface (Berkeley Mapper) • Options for sending annotated error comments being implemented.

9. Verification Functions: • Verifying current museum specimen data • Identifying errors due to georeferencing, specimen identification, or written locality information

10. Verification Functions: • Identifying gross georeferencing errors or specimens falling outside the administrative boundaries (e.g. counties in California) • Verifying current museum specimen data by mapping it on climate data to determine environmental outliers (using DIVA-GIS)

11. Predicting locations of possible new species or speciation mechanisms: • Predicting species distributions and ascertaining where new species may be found • Madagascar chameleons (Nussbaum et al., 2003) • Dendrobatid frog speciation mechanisms (Graham et al., 2004) • Burmese Bufo species showing areas of high endemicity where new field work should be done (ground truthing)

12. Predicting Biodiversity Hotspots: • Collecting by CAS in Myanmar predicts new areas where high species diversity for both tropical highland and xeric habitats

13. Predicting distributions using past climates: • Mapping distributions onto past climates e.g. Crotaphytus distributions • Are distributions parapatric because of competitive exclusion or due to past glacial maxima causing separate refugium? Crotaphytus bicinctores collaris vestigium nebrius reticulatus antiquus

14. Predicting distributions using past climates: 21,000 ybp Current C. collaris • Hypothesis: Glacial maxima should have strongly affected the distributions of Crotaphytus species, driving northern populations extinct, leaving southern refugia (consistent with the genetic data) • Results from bioclimatic modeling are consistent with this hypothesis C. bicinctores C. reticulatus

15. How to do the mapping and niche-modeling yourself: • Download data from HerpNET portal & add your own data • Use automated georeferencing tools and follow standard methods (GeoLocate, Biogeomancer, HerpNET/MaNIS Guidelines) • Use Mapping Function on HerpNET portal to view specimen data that has already been georeferenced • Use DIVA-GIS (free) for BIOCLIM & Domain modeling • Links to other modeling programs available at HerpNET GIS resources web page e.g. MaxENT, GARP, GRASP, R

16. Importance of voucher specimens for re-checking identifications Identifying hybrid zones Tissues plus voucher specimen used to identify new species (e.g. 19 new species of Batrachoseps since 1985) Can access species changes over time (genetics, morphology, diet, distributions, disease vectors, pesticide residues,etc) Benefits of using museum data in research:

17. “At this point I wish to emphasize what I believe will ultimately prove to be the greatest purpose of our museum. This value will not, however, be realized until the lapse of many years, possibly a century, assuming that our material is safely preserved. And this is that the student of the future will have access to the original record of faunal conditions in California and the west, where ever we now work.” Joseph Grinnell, 1910 Founding Director, Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, University of California, Berkeley The value and quality of our data is improved by georeferencing and making it more accessible.

18. Acknowledgments • NSF and GBIF for funding • University of Kansas • Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, University of California, Berkeley • Michelle Koo for use of Myanmar MaxEnt models • Jim McGuire for use of Crotaphytus data & figures • Robert Hijmans for use of MVZ verification figures • CAS, Cal Photos, Michelle Koo, Joyce Gross, David Wake, Jim McGuire, and Henk Wallacy for photographs & maps.