Mind the gaps: Harnessing iNaturalist to target natural history specimen collection

Natural history collections are an important record of Earth’s biodiversity and are used to examine a range of scientific questions in areas from biodiversity monitoring to biosecurity, the impacts of climate change and public health. To be most useful, collections should be all-encompassing – representing all life on Earth. However, collections are often biased, largely driven by the specific interests of researchers and geographic proximity, and this can impact their use. In addition, collecting has declined globally, partly because of reduced funding. To obtain more representative natural history collections in a cost-effective way, there have been calls for new approaches to collecting. Research scientist Lara Shepherd and Botany Curator Leon Perrie have recently published a method for targeting specimen collection using the citizen science platform iNaturalist. Harnessing the power of iNaturalist In our new paper in the journal Biodiversity Informatics we describe an approach that uses the observations made by citizen scientists on the iNaturalist platform to identify and fill collection gaps. A Wellington case study To illustrate the method, we undertook a five-year case study focused on collecting plants in the Wellington region. The project began during the 2020 COVID-19 lockdowns, when we were restricted to collecting locally. With the help of then-student Joe Dillon we created a project that showed all iNaturalist plant observations within the Wellington region. Next we generated a list of all plant species that had been collected for Te Papa’s herbarium from the same area during the previous 20 years. We then subtracted this list from the total pool of observations, leaving only records of species that were missing from the collection. These are the target species we wanted to collect to ‘fill in the gaps’. From observations to specimens It is incredibly useful to have mapped observations or target species, including photographs that allow identifications to be verified. We now regularly take weekend or after work trips to selected areas where we can collect several target species in a single outing, particularly focusing on weeds. In the Wellington region, we added more than 200 previously uncollected plant species to Te Papa’s herbarium during the case study, representing more than a fourfold increase compared with the previous five-year period. Expanding the approach across Aotearoa New Zealand We have since established similar collecting projects for other regions we frequently visit, including Lower Hutt, the Pohangina Valley, and New Plymouth. We also created a project covering all of New Zealand, allowing us to identify and collect species that are not represented in any New Zealand herbarium database, as far as we are aware. This project also provides a useful way to detect newly arriving organisms before they become widely established. This approach is highly flexible and can be customised by region, taxonomic group, time period or whether species are native or introduced. By combining the collecting expertise of museums with the extensive observations contributed by citizen scientists, it provides a practical and cost-effective way to build more representative natural history collections while also supporting biodiversity monitoring and biosecurity efforts. Enjoying these blogs? Even a small donation helps Te Papa continue making its collections and research accessible to everyone.