On Open Access, data mining and plant conservation in the Circumpolar North with an online data example of the Herbarium, University of Alaska Museum of the North

• Main Authors: Huettmann, Falk, Ickert-Bond, Stefanie M.
• Format: Review
• Language: unknown
• Published: NRC Research Press (a division of Canadian Science Publishing) 2017
• Subjects: Arctic; Canada; Alaska
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/1807/88994; http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/abs/10.1139/AS-2016-0046

With the advent of global online data sharing initiatives, few limits remain to using the treasure troves of museum data for biodiversity and conservation. The University of Alaska herbarium (ALA) is fully online with metadata. Over 260,000 specimens representing the largest collection of Alaska plants anywhere can be data mined. We found that most specimens were collected through the National Park Serviceâ s Inventory and Monitoring program at Denali National Park and Preserve. The majority of specimens were collected along roads, trails, coastline or waterways, while high-altitude, remote and pristine sampling locations are underrepresented still. Actual field efforts varied over the years, peaking in the late 1980s. From 1-400 specimens were collected per sampling location, and on average 40 species were obtained per collection event at a unique location. Our analysis presents a first data mining inventory of such open access data allowing for a rapid assessment, quality control and predictive modeling involving automated high-performing machine learning algorithms and mapping analysis using open geographic information systems (GIS) concepts. Our research sets a first template for more investigations in the Arctic and we briefly compare with selected specimen details from adjacent landscapes like the Russian Far East, Canada, and the circumpolar North. The accepted manuscript in pdf format is listed with the files at the bottom of this page. The presentation of the authors' names and (or) special characters in the title of the manuscript may differ slightly between what is listed on this page and what is listed in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript; that in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript is what was submitted by the author.