The goal of this project is to integrate a substantial collection of beetle specimens into the holdings of the Oregon State Arthropod Collection (OSAC). The project has three aims. (1) The physical integrity of the specimens will be safeguarded by transferring them to new pest-proof cabinets. (2) The names used to catalog the specimens will be updated so that they comply with the standard naming system (taxonomy) used worldwide by other museums. (3) The accessibility of the specimens to the public and researchers will be improved. Those improvements will make the specimens more accessible onsite and via the internet.
Beetles are sensitive indicators of environmental integrity and climate change. Because of this bioindicator role, the OSAC collection of one million voucher specimens is a unique resource for researchers that will be increasingly important in the future. This collection is especially important because it documents the geographic distribution of several thousand species over the last 90 years and so provides an invaluable benchmark for gauging the impact of ongoing and future climate change. After the collection improvements are implemented, the collection will be used by a variety of experts (e.g., ecologists, evolutionary biologists) and will be accessible online by the general public.
