The Year of Biodiversity and Conservation

Highlighting conservation research and increasing awareness of biodiversity

Field Museum paleobotanist Jennifer McElwain leads a team of scientists looking for ancient plant fossils in Greenland Photo credit: Courtesy of The Field Museum Full size image available through contact

Chicago – For more than a century, scientists from The Field Museum have traveled to remote parts of the world and pored over specimens, from bird wings to plant fossils, to learn about the biological diversity of life on Earth. Much of this research has focused on describing extinct and living plants and animals, of which some 1.7 million species are known to exist on our planet.

Today, biodiversity research has taken on a new urgency. Unique species, from medicinal plants in China to butterflies in Illinois, are disappearing at an alarming rate around the world. The loss of biodiversity is a loss for humans: Biodiversity keeps the air and water clean, regulates our climate, and provides us with food, shelter, clothing, medicine, and other useful products. Even more troubling, only a fraction of the Earth's species are known to science. Every year, scientists are discovering new species in the wild and through a variety of traditional and novel research techniques using natural history museum collections.

"We are facing the next great wave of extinctions," says John Bates, Ph.D., Curator of Birds in the Department of Zoology. "If we don't understand what is out there, how can we conserve it for the future?"

THE YEAR OF BIODIVERSITY AND CONSERVATION

To increase awareness of biodiversity, The Field Museum is dedicating this school year as "The Year of Biodiversity and Conservation." The nine-month program will highlight the cutting-edge research and conservation projects of many of the Museum's 76 Ph.D. scientists who work in 75 countries around the world. Every month, from September through May, a different research theme and scientist will be featured. Exhibitions, lectures, scientist roundtables, and public programs will allow visitors to meet scientists and learn about such topics as climate change, the evolution of birds, and the diversity of aquatic life.

"The loss of biodiversity is one of the most pressing environmental issues of our time," says John McCarter, President of The Field Museum. "Our scientists are the unsung heroes of conservation, working behind the scenes in laboratories and at field sites around the world to shed light on the global status of biodiversity and identify the most threatened habitats."

The Field Museum is grateful for the generous support of the City of Chicago, Richard M. Daley, Mayor and Department of Environment, N. Marcia Jimenez, Commissioner.

The Year of Biodiversity and Conservation kicks off September 21 with Chicago's first "Race to Stop Global Warming" and a fun-filled day of events at The Field Museum. Jennifer McElwain, Ph.D., Curator of Fossil Plants in the Department of Geology, is the featured scientist for September. McElwain studies fossil plants from 400 million years ago to the present to explore the relationship between global warming and changing levels of carbon dioxide. Her 2 p.m. lecture on September 21 will focus on a recent National Geographic Society-funded expedition to Greenland. (Editors note: see "Kickoff Day" and monthly program sheets for more information on events, exhibitions, and featured scientists.)

EXPLORING GLOBAL BIODIVERSITY -- FROM CHICAGO TO CHINA

Biological diversity, or biodiversity, is the amazing variety of life on Earth – from genes to species to entire ecosystems. The greatest biodiversity is found near the Equator due to its warm climate and wide variety of habitats. As a result, much of The Field Museum's biological collections and research are focused on the equatorial zones of Asia, Africa, and South America.

Jun Wen, Ph.D., Curator in the Department of Botany, studies Asian plants that are economically important, yet threatened by over-harvesting. Her research is focused on ginseng, a flowering plant used in many Asian countries as a strengthening tonic for the weak. "Nowadays, you can hardly find any wild ginseng," says Wen. "We have to develop strategies to learn their biology, cultivate plants, and conserve the wild sources."

In the past 25 years, botanist Michael Dillon, Ph.D., Head and Curator of Vascular Plants, has conducted more than 40 expeditions in Neotropical countries, most recently to the high cloud forests of Peru. Dillon catalogs the plants he finds, determines which ones are threatened, and helps educate local citizens and scientists about their natural resources. This is especially important in impoverished countries such as Peru, where mining and population growth are taking a huge toll on biodiversity.

Many equatorial areas have been identified as "conservation hotspots" because of their high concentration of biodiversity. Steve Goodman, Field Biologist in the Department of Zoology, lives and works in one of these hotspots: on the island of Madagascar off the African coast. Madagascar is home to many plants and animals found nowhere else on Earth, including the entire primate family of lemurs. Since 1989, Goodman has conducted biological surveys and discovered several new species of birds and mammals on the island. Recently, he co-edited "The Natural History of Madagascar," to be published in November 2003 by The University of Chicago Press.

The traditional detailed museum inventory work has long been important in informing conservation. To augment this, The Field Museum established an office of Environmental and Conservation Programs (ECP) in 1994 to focus education and research on areas urgently in need of conservation. Many Field Museum scientists, including Conservation Ecologists Douglas Stotz, Ph.D., and Robin Foster, Ph.D., are conducting fast-paced biological surveys called Rapid Biological Inventories (RBIs) in Neotropical countries such as Bolivia, Ecuador, Cuba and Peru. The object is to turn scientific data over as quickly as possible to officials directly involved with conservation planning in those countries. As a result, museum research and rapid inventories have led to the establishment of several parks and reserves in countries such as Peru, Ecuador, and the Philippines.

One of the most important ECP projects is closer to home – in the Lake Calumet region on Chicago's South Side. In 2002, more than 130 scientists from Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin, including many Field Museum collections staff, conducted the "Calumet Biodiversity Blitz," a rapid inventory of plants and animals in three environmentally significant areas, resulting in the identification of more than 2,200 species. An environmental education program led by ECP reaches more than 900 students and educators in the Calumet region by engaging students in hands-on learning about biodiversity and conservation.

Field Museum botanist searches for plants new to science in South America Full size image available through contact

GENETIC DIVERSITY AND THE FUTURE OF CONSERVATION

Biodiversity is not just species diversity; it is also genetic diversity. Small populations of species in isolated geographic areas – for example, on islands and in fragmented forests – may be on their way to becoming new species or harbor key genetic variation that might help species avoid extinction.

To explore genetic diversity, scientists from around the world conduct research in the Field Museum's Pritzker Laboratory for Molecular Systematics and Evolution, a state-of-the-art research facility dedicated to genetic analysis and preservation of the world's biodiversity. By analyzing the DNA of plants and animals, researchers are discovering new species, constructing evolutionary "family trees," and identifying threatened populations. For example, biologist Kevin Feldheim, Ph.D., Manager of the Pritzker Laboratory, studies the genetic diversity of lemon shark populations in Brazil, the Bahamas, and the Florida Keys – helping to shape a conservation plan for this over-fished coastal shark.

Research on the evolutionary relationships between all species – living and extinct – helps scientists understand the origins of biodiversity. The Field Museum plays a major role in the National Science Foundation's new "Assembling the Tree of Life" initiative, an international effort to describe the genealogical relationships of all 1.7 million known species on Earth. Three Field Museum scientists – Shannon Hackett, Ph.D.; Petra Sierwald, Ph.D.; and Peter Makovicky, Ph.D. -- are playing key roles in constructing Trees of Life for birds, spiders, and archosaurs, respectively.

BUILDING SUPPORT IN THE LOCAL AND SCIENTIFIC COMMUNITY

Humans play a vital role in the future of biodiversity on Earth. "Like all other species, humans are part of the system," says Bates, "We can do a lot to help maintain biodiversity in our own communities."

Field Museum scientists are working closely with local citizens, scientists, and government officials to pass on scientific knowledge and help them manage their own natural resources. In the Chicago area, dozens of graduate students from local universities -- including the University of Chicago, Northwestern University, and the University of Illinois at Chicago – are learning the tools and techniques of biodiversity research by working on their own projects under the guidance of Field Museum scientists.

Others are committed to working with students in the countries where they conduct fieldwork. Bates, who studies the genetic diversity of tropical birds in Africa and South America, is collaborating with Makerere University in Uganda to assist 10 African graduate students in learning techniques to study their local biodiversity. He is also involved with revitalizing two research stations in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo so they can regain their status as centers for research and training in the region.

Greg Mueller, Ph.D., Curator of Mycology in the Department of Botany, is training graduate students and working to improve the scientific facilities in Costa Rica, where he conducts biological inventories of mushrooms and fungi. Mueller's research is providing vital information for the management and conservation of forests, not only in Costa Rica but in the Chicago area as well.

"There is a lot of human pressure on tropical areas, and a better job needs to be done of managing their biodiversity," says Mueller.

"As scientists, we can go in and get a quick snapshot of an area, but you need someone who is around permanently, someone who's there to do the fieldwork and watch what's going on. By training people to carry on this work in their own countries, we are enabling them to protect their natural resources and, at the same time, preserving that biodiversity."

For more information on The Year of Biodiversity and Conservation, call The Field Museum at 312-922-9410 or check the museum's web site: www.fieldmuseum.org.

The Field Museum is grateful for the generous support of the City of Chicago, Richard M. Daley, Mayor and Department of Environment, N. Marcia Jimenez, Commissioner.