Biological collections in danger?

Abstract

The importance of biological collections has been emphasized several times in the literature (e.g., Suarez & Tsutsui 2004) and there is a general feeling that these specimens -some obtained with great difficulty-, are considered important for the society (e.g., National Academies of Sciences et al. 2021). However, there has been a gradual shortening of budgets regarding maintenance and storing facilities, along with a steady and undesired reduction of human resources to take care of scientific collections, that are raising eyebrows everywhere (e.g., Finkel 2024). On some occasions, the negligence of policymakers has led to disastrous consequences, as was the case of the recent tragic fire at the Museu Nacional/UFRJ, which housed the largest natural history collection in Brazil (e.g., Zamudio et al. 2018). The reconstruction of this institution is progressing even while facing enormous challenges (e.g., Kellner 2019), and, despite all efforts made by the staff to recover objects in the rubble of the palace (Rodrigues-Carvalho 2011), the lost pieces are lost forever.It is also widely known that collecting activities carried out so far are not evenly distributed across the world (e.g., Johnson et al. 2023), a situation that will have to be faced in the near future. This does not only affect countries with developing economies that need to deal with significant challenges in preserving their biodiversity (e.g., Medeiros et al. 2022), as well as other problem such as trafficking of objects (e.g., Kellner 2023). For a number of reasons, significant biases in the way collections have been formed over time can also be identified in countries with stronger economies (e.g., Delsett 2024).The issue is further complicated because the continued limitations of financial budgets for biological collections run counter to the need to increase field collection activities. In a very interesting article, Santos et al. ( 2024) examined herpetology collections housed in Portugal and attempted to provide an overview of areas where species information is not available. The authors came to the conclusion that the country's existing collections are quite incomplete, covering less than 30% of the Portuguese territory, which has negative consequences for science and conservation efforts.In recent years, there has been increasing interest in trying to gain a better understanding of the representation of biological collections across a variety of taxonomic groups, from microorganisms (e.g., Zorzal-Almeida et al. 2022) to insects that occur in restricted areas (e.g., Bonfim-Kubatamaia et al. 2022). There have also been issues regarding the insane bureaucracy for obtaining collection licenses, widely criticized by the scientific community (e.g., Alves et al. 2018), which are not in line with scientific and educational progress.