About This Project

Natural History Museums (NHM) are critical to biodiversity research, and increasingly in evolution, genetics, and conservation. Although the importance of large national NHMs is well established, less is known about the value of small regional NHMs in biodiversity research. I will test the hypothesis that the species richness and diversity indices from small NHMs closely match those from larger museums, focusing on leaf beetles (Coleoptera: Chyrsomelidae) from California’s Diablo Mountains.

Ask the Scientists

What is the context of this research?

The J. Gordon Edwards Entomology Museum at San José State University has over 500,000 insect specimens. But only a small portion of its specimens and associated data have been digitized, so the collection is essentially invisible to the research community. We will improve access to this resource and measure its value for ecological research by digitizing its leaf beetle collection. We will transcribe specimen label data into a relational database, including georeferenced geographic coordinates and high-resolution images, allowing for increased availability. These records will be compared with other published datasets from California to determine what proportion of known species are represented in the Museum. Finally, we will use standard ecological metrics, such as the Sorensen and Shannon-Wiener indices, to assess species richness, evenness, and similarity between the Edwards Museum and other larger museums.

What is the significance of this project?

This project addresses gaps in smaller natural history museums by transcribing collection data from specimens in the Edwards Museum, enabling open data integration and analysis with ecological indices, ecological niche modeling, and measuring correlations with environmental factors. By focusing on the Edwards Museum, we can understand how this regional collection represents overall insect richness in the California Bay Area. Additionally, this project will help measure temporal changes in leaf beetle community composition over time in response to external factors like land use changes or the introduction of invasive species. Leaf beetles (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) are an excellent study organism for this project because they are species-rich in California and are significant herbivores in most terrestrial ecosystems. This project will both measure the value of small museums and also extend knowledge of the nearby Diablo Mountain Region, a region of exceptional species richness.

What are the goals of the project?

This research project works to quantify the leaf beetle collection of the J. Gordon Edwards Entomology Museum housed at San José State University (SJSU). Specifically, we will: 1) digitize existing collection records for the leaf beetle collection held at the Edwards Museum and 2) measure contemporary leaf beetle community composition in the Diablo Range, an area of high species richness near San José. This research project will clarify the scientific value of these smaller natural history museums to large-scale ecological understanding.