THE BIOLOGICAL SURVEY OF CANADA (TERRESTRIAL ARTHROPODS) Text of - - PDF document

THE BIOLOGICAL SURVEY OF CANADA (TERRESTRIAL ARTHROPODS) Text of presentation by H.V. Danks at CMN workshop on October 26, 2005 [Title slide - slide 1]

• I. Introduction and History

Many years ago Canadian entomologists recognized that only about half the insect fauna of Canada had even been described, and that relatively few of the described species were known in any biological or ecological detail. That problem related especially to the huge size of Canada and to its diversity of habitats. And in the early 1970's, the first of many reductions in the government funding of research led to more applied and mission-orientated perspectives in government departments, so that the sort of national overview that was necessary to make progress in systematic and faunistic entomology was nowhere to be found [slide 2]. It became clear that some agency was required to take a national, scientific overview and so coordinate work to characterize the fauna of the country. In 1974, the Entomological Society of Canada took the initiative to seek support for such an idea. After several attempts to secure appropriate funding, a Pilot Study for an insect survey eventually was established in 1977. This was through an Unsolicited Proposal, funded by the Department of Supply and Services, for which Agriculture Canada was lead department and thus administered the contract (given that Agriculture held the Canadian National Collection of Insects and Arachnids). The proposal was also supported by the Museum, by Parks Canada, and by other departments. The intention of those unsolicited proposals was that a start up could be funded chiefly by DSS, and then another Department, typically the lead department, would take over the funding after a couple of years. However, some individuals in the management of Agriculture Canada at the time decided not to support the Survey further. Nevertheless, the Pilot Study had proved successful in testing the Survey model, and was well received by others. This soon led to the present Survey supported by the Canadian Museum of Nature (the government department in Canada with a general mandate for the acquisition and dissemination of knowledge on the biota, and thus the potential long-term base for a Survey), in cooperation with the Entomological Society

• f Canada (providing national scientific expertise through an advisory committee). And the name

was changed to the Biological Survey of Canada (Terrestrial Arthropods) in the hope that in due course expansion would add other components within the parentheses. So the Survey’s original mission (before the term “biodiversity” became common) was quite simple: coordinate work to characterize the arthropod fauna of the country, by taking a national, scientific overview. Because of that history of development, coupled with resource limitations, the Survey is currently confined to terrestrial arthropods. But of course that is a good group to test the concept because, as scientific information gathered by the Pilot Study showed, indeed the Canadian arthropod fauna is very inadequately known, with only about half of the estimated 67,000 species

• f insects and their relatives even described. In fact [slide 3], the adults of only 55% of the insects

and about 20% of the mites have been described. There are, of course, individual variations from

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group to group [details on slide]. Again, despite wide variations from group to group, the immature stages [slide 4] of less than 10% of the insects have been described even in the final larval stage.

• II. Structure of the Survey

So given that overwhelming biodiversity and our overwhelming ignorance about it, how does the Biological Survey of Canada work? The key word is focus. Focus in administrative, in scientific, and in logistic arenas. Thus the administration of the Survey itself is small and simple [slide 5]. A small Secretariat does the day to day work (the head of the Secretariat and one assistant). Broader consultation is done not with a large bureaucracy, but through the expert advisory scientific committee (which meets twice per year) and by regular contacts with the scientific community itself – the working scientists in various places. The scientific focus comes through concentrating on key themes, and was exemplified even in the Pilot Study, because a scientific book was produced, not just an internal report. The logistic focus comes through knowledge of the interested parties in the country, and integration and coordination of the interests of these individual co-operators to increase efficiency.

• III. Key operating principles

In general terms, though, the BSC is efficient because it is a bottom-up, individually driven entity that focuses the efforts of individual scientists, coordinating that work with a very small central organization that integrates national expertise, and hence has a high level of scientific

• productivity. Therefore, the ground-level work on faunas undertaken by the BSC differs from the

top-down “strategic” initiatives currently favoured by most other organizations. For example, although many agencies now operating under the umbrella of biodiversity focus on data collating, especially web presentation and interoperability, the BSC has emphasized the need to continue to

• btain core data on Canada’s fauna through primary scientific research, generating and analysing

data to answer general questions about the fauna. Therefore, the BSC has been able to develop structures and relationships to ensure that substantial new data are generated across a wide front, as well as revisiting old data, and is very well known among entomologists for its scientific and practical publications.

• IV. Survey activities and products

The activities and roles of the Survey [slide 6] are in coordination, in synthetic and active research, and in more general themes.

• A. Clearing-house Roles

As part of the Survey's role as a coordinating office [slide 7], we keep track of resources, and notably people interested in taxonomy and ecology and of their projects – one can’t coordinate without knowing the existing picture. The Survey also encourages the exchange of information.

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And not just by answering queries, but also by visiting entomologists and giving seminars across the country, and through newsletters [slide 8]. We also have a very extensive website [slide 9], which includes:

• all the newsletters and other information
• many scientific publications
• published Survey briefs
• a searchable database of personnel with their interests and projects
• analysis of the insect fauna
• information on scientific projects
• and so on
• B. Scientific Synthesis

The role of scientific synthesis [slide 10] is one that perhaps is undervalued in the grant-dependent world of research these days (which tends to emphasize specific experiments) but synthesis is essential for the orderly progress of studies on the fauna. The Survey has been active in producing or stimulating two main types of syntheses: books and major reviews; and conference

• proceedings. The very first book, in fact, was the Pilot Study’s product Canada and its insect fauna

[slide 11], which assessed the nature of the Canadian fauna and the state of our knowledge about it, as well as its environmental context. I will be showing a number of products (like this early one) in order to emphasize that it is important for any endeavour of this sort to have final useful products, not just ideas or activities. Another book is Arctic Arthropods [slide 12], which developed this same sort of treatment for regions beyond the northern limit of trees. And indeed, the way the fauna decreases toward the north, a particular Canadian perspective on biodiversity, is instructive: the fauna decreases markedly [slide 13], with fewer than 2000 named species of insects from the arctic compared with 30,000 for Canada and 90,000 for the U.S.A.; and its composition changes [slide 14], with a marked decrease in beetles and a marked increase in flies towards the north, for example. … so interesting perspectives come from the synthesis of data. Scientific synthesis is also encouraged by holding conferences, workshops or symposia [slide 15] and publishing the proceedings to focus discussion and related papers in one place. Often, such symposia support the development of active Survey field projects. Symposium proceedings that have been published include [slide 16] “Temporal and spatial patterns in the Canadian insect fauna”, “Aquatic insects of peatlands and marshes in Canada”, and “Origins of the North American insect fauna”. Other volumes include one on the arthropods of spring habitats [slide 17],

• ne on systematics and entomology [slide 18], and one on peatlands [slide 19].

... So the BSC has dealt with a range of subjects. These syntheses (both the books and the symposium proceedings) treat both taxonomy and

• ecology. A key element of an effective biological survey is that we need to know not only what the

fauna is, but also what it does [→ e.g. habitats and wider interpretation, not just taxa]. It is possible to assemble these volumes not only because there are active project leaders, but especially because the scientific community sees the value of collective work on one theme: it is

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helpful if results can be enhanced before they are published, through cooperation among scientists; and it is better to publish in context than in isolation.

• C. Active Scientific Projects

The Survey's active scientific projects are chosen on the basis of their scientific importance and current feasibility – Here is a sample [slide 20]. The scientific focus is on those key taxa, key subjects, key regions, or key habitats that will best help us understand the Canadian fauna. The logistic focus means that we pursue work that not

• nly is desirable scientifically, but also is feasible, so that useful products can come from the work

reasonably quickly; and feasibility is important, especially the availability of expertise (for example, it is not possible to launch a major project on the important soil fauna because there are about 18,000 species, less than half of them described, and only a small handful of taxonomists for the groups involved). The projects of course work by cooperation, not by decree. We coordinate, not direct. This approach works because, in essence, people get more from such projects than they could by working in isolation, because they profit not only from the ideas of the Survey and its ability to synthesize, but also from the collecting, interest or information of the others who are involved. The level of involvement by individuals can vary widely: from collecting a few specimens or making a few observations while engaged in something else, to a specific research project. The sort of catalysis and coordination of specific scientific work that makes up a Survey project often blends together, of course, with the roles of scientific synthesis. Let me repeat that because the Survey sets priorities by regular discussion, these projects reflect both the scientific need to know key things about the fauna, and such realities as who is available to participate. But of course we don’t need to take on the sorts of defined projects already catered for by existing agencies and individuals, such as detailed work on individual forestry or agricultural pests, although of course we are interested in the important background fauna. Anyway, some information about a few of the Survey’s scientific projects will illustrate how the Survey works, including by way of context a little of what we’ve been able to find out about the fauna. Yukon One long-term and ambitious Survey project was a study of the fauna of the Yukon Territory. [slide 21]. That region is of particular significance to Canada: The fauna of the Yukon is relatively extensive, because there are more western than eastern species in Canada [cf. life zones]; Habitats there are very diverse, e.g. arctic/subarctic [slide 22 (Herschel Is)], alpine [slide 23], the northernmost extensive extension of the boreal zone [slide 24], and other habitats of interest; Apart from its current diversity, the fauna is also of particular significance because part of the region – Beringia – was unglaciated during the Pleistocene ice-age [slide 25]. The Yukon Territory therefore is one key area for interpreting the nature and development of the Canadian fauna. Despite its importance, however, the fauna was not well known, as shown by

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work started under the auspices of the Survey and carried on by people from various organizations. That work included cooperative field parties to various places as well as collection-based research. The project eventually resulted in an extensive synthetic work on the fauna published by the Survey, the 1000-page book Insects of the Yukon [slide 26], consisting of introductory and synthetic material around a core of careful annotated taxonomic information and analyses. Discoveries by project participants added many new Yukon records. There are distinctive northern elements in the Yukon but also the fauna of the southern Yukon has a surprisingly southern aspect, including southern boreal and grassland species. From an ecological perspective, northern and aquatic groups are relatively well represented in the fauna [slide 27] – northern groups can cope better with the conditions, and aquatic habitats are more favourable than terrestrial ones in the north. From an historical perspective, many present-day arctic species seem to have survived in Beringia and then dispersed (as apparent postglacial dispersal routes suggest) [slide 28], while boreal and some Eurasian species dispersed into the Yukon after deglaciation. We now can estimate that there are about 6000 named species of insects in the Yukon, based on a sample of groups (dealt with in the Yukon book) with about half that number. … So this large-scale project shows that many people can contribute to one goal, with the aim

• f a comprehensive publication and synthesis of what the fauna is and what its composition means.

In contrast, progress would be piecemeal and much slower otherwise. The early involvement of systematists and their associated collections is essential for the success of large-scale projects like this. That cooperation has been easier to achieve because the chosen projects are scientifically important, and don’t reflect narrow vested interests. Grasslands One major current project is on the arthropods of grasslands in Canada [slide 29]. Interest in that project was maintained for some time, while relevant experts were engaged in

• ther major Survey projects, through newsletters, for example [Slide 30]. A prospectus [slide 31]

was published to help develop the scientific basis for the project, which includes its relevance to the fauna of the centre of the continent, relationships of the native prairie fauna to modified agricultural lands, and so on. Some conferences or symposia have been held [Slide 32]. Collecting at key grasslands sites chosen for their interesting faunas has been done by cooperative effort as several to many entomologists assembled at one site together for a week or two during each of the past few years. And a series of books is planned [see slide]: chapters for the first volume on Ecology and Interactions are currently being edited; a second volume considers systems affected by humans; and a third book will document the occurrence and distribution of key taxa in detail. … Again, a focus on the goals, a detailed plan, and specific products. Arctic Canada has a lot of arctic territory [slide 33]. The Survey's arctic interests (exemplified early

• n by the Arctic Arthropods book shown earlier) are relevant too because the arctic is likely to

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provide “early warning” about global warming, environmental degradation, and other issues of great current concern (cf. expected degree of climate change greater in arctic). Thus, a brief was published [slide 34]; some workshops to encourage field ventures and cooperation and coordination were held; a newsletter [slide 35] was produced for a number of years; and scientific papers have been published about such things as Arctic insects as indicators

• f environmental change [slide 36], arctic insect cold hardiness, and the likely counter-intuitive

effects of climate warming on some high arctic insects because they rely so much on sun-warmed microclimates influenced by cloudiness rather than on mean air temperatures alone. In the current phase, field components continue [cf. slide 37 (Thelon R. sampling)] especially on the northern mainland, which is relatively unexplored. … So such a project has a range of current contexts and interests, as well as taxonomic exploration. Newfoundland A restricted regional project shows the sort of results that can develop even with limited but coordinated research resources: The insects of Newfoundland. Assessment of the fauna of Newfoundland [slide 38] may be expected to be of particular value because that fauna is unique nationally, representing mainly post-glacial immigration to an island

• r peninsular situation. Many groups of the fauna of Newfoundland were very little known when

this project was initiated, but now we have a synopsis of the aquatic insects, and work on other taxa is proceeding. The characteristics of that fauna as now revealed are that it has a boreal aspect, as you might expect (cf. slide 39 (upland lakes/ponds)). The fauna is reduced [slide 40] to about 15% of the mainland total. However this appears to be due only partly to isolation from the mainland (the faunal source area). Ecological conditions (the cool boreal zone, reduced habitat diversity) have the greater influence on reductions in diversity. Notwithstanding these reductions, the fauna is balanced in terms of major adaptive types (lacking only are some narrowly specialized higher taxa; so it is a typical aquatic insect assemblage). There are only a few regional endemics, with little faunal evidence of refugial areas. The findings prove to be of great interest, confirming the validity of the original decision to treat this region as one key area of the country for faunal interpretation. … So these sorts of conclusions about the major role of current conditions can come from a relatively small scale study, but one that was carefully coordinated. And work, now focussed also

• n the terrestrial fauna and including Labrador, and aimed at providing keys and so on, continues.

Other projects Similar overviews of habitat-based projects (such as the Arthropods of springs) could be given, but hopefully the point has been made that scientific goals, with coordination and cooperation, lead to useful products.

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• D. Other Roles

Besides its coordinating and scientific roles to characterize insect biodiversity, the Survey acts too [slide 41] to facilitate support for relevant work, and for relevant infrastructures such as collections. In general arenas, the BSC publishes briefs to point out neglected avenues of inquiry. For example, the arthropods of soils [slide 42] help determine soil fertility (on which agriculture and forestry depend), yet as mentioned earlier we know very few of the species of soil arthropods in

• Canada. A brief on the Appraisal of environmental disturbance [slide 43] and a paper on

Environmental impact assessment [slide 44] suggested ways to carry out environmental assessments properly, and how insects could be used in very helpful ways for that purpose. A brief

• n the Arthropods of spring habitats [slide 45] pointed out the value of these discrete habitats not
• nly for work on faunas, zoogeography, and adaptations (which underpinned the Survey’s

entomological studies), but also for the long-term monitoring of groundwater quality. In turn, these briefs and other documents have been used to educate people more widely, to support grant applications from individuals working under the auspices of the Survey, to testify at a government commission about water policy, and so on. The Survey has taken some initiatives with respect to collections, which of course are the ecological as well as taxonomic databases on which future progress depends. For example, some time ago we published a brief entitled Importance of research collections of terrestrial arthropods [slide 46]. Some of the general ideas were extended in a paper on the fundamental values of collections [slide 47]. The Survey also has addressed related matters, and submitted specific briefs about collections to the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council, for example. And recently we published two briefs dealing with how to prepare data labels properly, and with the importance of keeping adequate voucher specimens [slide 48]. Among our general roles we have also tried, especially recently, to educate people about how biodiversity studies for insects should be done, with a series of briefs [slide 49] that concentrate especially on the sampling methods, on the detailed planning required [cf. the title “How to assess insect biodiversity without wasting your time”], and on the payoffs from doing things properly. General Themes

• V. Partners

As you’ll realize from the scope of our projects, many people connect with the BSC, at a variety of levels [slide 50]. The members of the Scientific Committee are most active in leadership, but the Committee and many other entomologists interested especially in systematics and related themes participate fully in the projects. Many other entomologists and graduate students, including members of the ESC, participate in or gain information from the BSC, so that hundreds read the information in the newsletters and in the ESC Bulletin, and many are in contact with the secretariat and with members of the Scientific Committee, including relevant departments in every major Canadian

• University. Scientists especially in North America but also across the world use and appreciate the

BSC’s publications. A still wider group of people connects with particular aspects of the BSC’s work (e.g. provincial natural resources officials use BSC briefs about insect diversity). Finally, the

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BSC also reaches individuals with more general interests, through its web site: a couple of hundred people access the web site every day. Among this range of contacts, the key people are the scientific researchers who participate in the projects facilitated by the BSC. Most of them are happy to cooperate in such activities because the BSC’s products have been identifiable, sometimes highly visible, and have provided an overall synthesis and level of analysis not available through other sources [cf. coordination is difficult in an era of specialization and limited resources].

• VI. Funding avenues

Funding [slide 51] assigned annually by the Museum as part of its work-planning process is used to run the Secretariat office, pay expenses for the volunteers of the Scientific Committee (through an annual contract with the ESC), support Secretariat travel, and produce newsletters and

• briefs. Most scientific research done for BSC projects is funded through specific support obtained

by co-operating individuals for their own work, from various sources, although of course co-operative products do accrue to the credit of the BSC. Smaller sets of funding or sponsorships, especially seed funding for publications, can be handled through the Biological Survey Foundation, a registered charity set up on behalf of the Scientific Committee to develop and fund selected publications of the Biological Survey and to ensure that they become widely available [e.g. Yukon Book]. So in effect the BSC serves to combine resources and bring them to bear on projects of wide

• interest. It nevertheless needs some finite level of core funding, as currently provided only by the

CMN, even though the benefits accrue more widely.

• VII. Impacts of the Survey

So what effects has the BSC had? [slide 52] Of course, it continues to produce many scientific publications and other outputs, and over the past 25 years or so has published dozens of books, papers and briefs, as well as contributing to or stimulating a much larger number of papers produced by cooperating scientists. Beyond the scientific literature, the BSC has published dozens of newsletters, convened a dozen workshops, and prepared numerous reports and letters to officials. The BSC has been able to identify gaps in knowledge, get people together to address national needs, set national priorities, and steer and enhance various major projects and bring them to fruition. In other countries, in contrast, many projects of this scale fail to finish, or take much longer (e.g. USA – some people there believe that the BSC must have huge resources to “buy” this level

• f cooperation).

Symposia and synthetic publications produced by the BSC’s projects provide baselines for future work, as evidenced by the fact that they are widely cited. Moreover, we know that the BSC has influenced the research of graduate students and others in universities across the country towards projects or issues promoted by the BSC. The Survey’s briefs on themes such as collections procedures and biodiversity studies are widely used both within and outside the entomological community, and influence the way that biological research is undertaken. And this has been achieved even though the BSC has a minimal staff and very limited funds.

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But, again, it is important to recognize that the BSC influences the direction and quality of science at the production rather than at the administrative level. That gives the BSC excellent visibility with its co-operators – the entomological community – but it is not so visible directly at the strategic or federal level, nor even in the wider biological community.

• VIII. Broadening the Survey

The Survey considered the possibilities of expanding the BSC explicitly at the request of an earlier head of the Museum [slide 53]. Structure: A key conclusion of these deliberations was that expansion should take place by founding further “modules” [i.e. like the current secretariat-plus-advisory-committee structure devoted to arthropods], and not by diluting the existing terrestrial arthropod module’s disciplinary expertise by adding responsibility for other taxa. Thus each module (although coordinated with the

• thers) would retain the two essential components of a widely representative expert scientific

committee and a full time professional secretariat. Obviously, therefore, addition of other modules requires extensive consultation with other biologists. Coordination: Such modules would need some coordination, of course, to make the expanded Biological Survey of Canada into a coherent entity. Our conclusions were that this coordination should take place chiefly through collective discussions among the heads of the Secretariats for each module, rather than through a separate group which directs the modules. And so the “chief”

• f the BSC would be one of the module heads, supported by an assistant responsible for tasks

related to the broader survey. Composition: In terms of what the additional modules might be, a potential module is appropriate for any discipline that involves a reasonably large number of species and has a guild

• f potential co-operators which is sufficiently large, vigorous and well organized through a

scientific society. Not just taxonomic but also other orientations might be possible, depending on the contributing community of scientists – here is a sample set of schemes [cf. slide 54].

• IX. Conclusions

I hope that this necessarily brief overview of the Biological Survey of Canada [slide 55] has given you some idea of how the organization works, through its 4 main roles as a coordinating

• ffice, promoting scientific synthesis, pursuing selected active scientific projects, and in wider

arenas. To close, though, let me reiterate a few key points about the perspective or the philosophy of the Survey as it currently operates [slide 56]. First, the Survey is interested in the whole arena related to characterizing the fauna. That means, for example, ecology as well as taxonomy. We need to know what the fauna does as well as what it is. In turn, this perspective encourages wider interest: Understanding biodiversity is not just assembling specimens in collections and naming

• them. Nor is it focussing on this year’s “hot topic”.

Second, although the Survey has very broad interests, it emphasizes effective execution and production of products, so it considers both scientific and logistic elements in its planning: topics, but also their feasibility; scientific elements, but also what resources are available; broad scientific

• rientations, but also finite finishable projects, as well as general societal linkages.

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Finally, the Survey, with its secretariat, acts chiefly as a catalyst and coordinator, and therefore does not intend to build an empire to compete with existing organizations. Instead it tries to provide the infrastructure to help the work of a wide range of interested parties. In summary, the Biological Survey model works primarily by catalyzing, coordinating and publishing scientific products, and the cooperators and the Scientific Committee consist chiefly of individual scientists helping to do this. Such a model, with its small Secretariat, larger advisory group, and still larger group of cooperators, is very efficient. The Secretariat/ Scientific Committee framework has costs, of course, but because others can bring a variety of resources to bear it generates external products worth many times the value. I conclude that the BSC is a worthwhile model to develop further, and I look forward to exploring such possibilities here. List of slides

• 1. Title slide
• 2. Development of the BSC
• 3. Terrestrial arthropods in Canada – Knowledge of adults in some taxa (selected

groups and totals)

• 4. Terrestrial arthropods in Canada – Knowledge of early stages in some taxa

(selected groups and totals)

• 5. Structure of the Biological Survey of Canada (Terrestrial Arthropods)
• 6. The 4 main roles of the Biological Survey of Canada (Terrestrial Arthropods)
• 7. Coordination roles of the Biological Survey of Canada (Terrestrial Arthropods)
• 8. Newsletter: Biological Survey Newsletter
• 9. Website of the BSC, home page
• 10. Scientific synthesis roles of the Biological Survey of Canada (Terrestrial Arthropods)
• 11. Book: Canada and its Insect Fauna 1979
• 12. Book: Arctic Arthropods 1981
• 13. Number of species from temperate to arctic regions in Canada
• 14. Percentages of Coleoptera and Diptera in the arctic and farther south
• 15. Scientific synthesis roles of the Biological Survey of Canada (Terrestrial Arthropods)
• 16. Publications: three proceedings - Temporal and spatial patterns... 1980; Aquatic insects of

peatlands and marshes ... 1987; Origins of the North American insect fauna 1988

• 17. Publication: Arthropods of Springs ... 1991
• 18. Publication: Systematics and Entomology ... 1993
• 19. Publication: Arthropods of Peatlands ... 1994
• 20. Sample scientific projects of the BSC
• 21. Map to show the position of the Yukon Territory
• 22. Yukon: Arctic, Herschel Is., July 1983
• 23. Yukon: Alpine, Rainbow L., Carcross Rd., June 1981
• 24. Yukon: Boreal, 5-Finger Rapids, aspen and spruce
• 25. Pleistocene glacial refugia in the Yukon area
• 26. Book: Insects of the Yukon 1997
• 27. Relative representation of northern and aquatic groups in the Yukon

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• 28. Postglacial dispersal routes to and from the Yukon
• 29. Grasslands habitat in BC
• 30. Newsletter. Arthropods of Canadian Grasslands
• 31. Grasslands Prospectus
• 32. Summary of grasslands project activities
• 33. Arctic terrain; Map to show arctic areas
• 34. Brief: Arctic invertebrate biology 1989
• 35. Newsletter: Arctic Insect News no. 10, 1999
• 36. Publication: paper on arctic environmental change 1992
• 37. Collecting in the arctic barrens (sampling in the Thelon river)
• 38. Map to show the position of Newfoundland
• 39. Newfoundland: Long Range mountains, Gros Morne National Park (Upland lakes/ ponds)
• 40. Summary of the diversity of the aquatic insects of Newfoundland and of the mainland
• 41. Wider activities of the Biological Survey of Canada (Terrestrial Arthropods)
• 42. Brief: Soil arthropods 1982
• 43. Brief: Appraisal of environmental disturbance 1984
• 44. Publication: Paper on environmental impact assessment 1986
• 45. Brief: Arthropods of springs 1990
• 46. Brief: Importance of research collections... 1991
• 47. Publication: Paper on value of collections 1991
• 48. Two briefs: Label data standards …2001; The role of voucher specimens …2003
• 49. Biodiversity briefs: Terrestrial arthropod biodiversity 1994; How to assess biodiversity

1996; Terrestrial arthropod biodiversity projects 2000

• 50. Partners of the Biological Survey of Canada
• 51. Funding for the Biological Survey of Canada
• 52. Impacts of the Biological Survey of Canada
• 53. Key recommendations for expansion of the Biological Survey of Canada
• 54. Potential modules in a complete BSC (provisional examples)
• 55. Summary of the roles of the Biological Survey of Canada (Terrestrial Arthropods)
• 56. Basic philosophy of the Biological Survey of Canada (Terrestrial Arthropods)

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