Craig Moritz (University California Berkeley)
The convergence of new capabilities in genomics, environmental
analysis with traditional analyses of specimens has generated
exciting new opportunities for museum-based biodiversity
analysis. A priority for museums should be to take this
opportunity to improve our fundamental science and to contribute
meaningfully to the global biodiversity crisis. One unique
perspective provided by museum-based science is on the spatial
and temporal dynamics of biodiversity at genetic, species
and ecosystem level and on the associated evolutionary and
ecological processes. In particular, I suggest that we should
promote protection of these long term dynamics and processes
as a core goal for conservation. In this talk I illustrate
the above using two very different examples – Quaternary
dynamics of a rainforest community and initial results from
a study of change in vertebrate diversity of California
over century in the past century.