Leveraging virtual datasets to investigate the interplay of pollinators, protected areas, and SDG 15

Abstract

Biodiversity loss amplifies the need for taxonomic understanding at global, regional, and local scales. The United Nations Environmental Programme Sustainable Development Goals are explicit in their demand for greater accountability with respect to ecosystem management, and Sustainable Development Goal 15, Life on Land, specifically calls for a halt to biodiversity loss. Pollinators (bees and butterflies) are two functional groups with public attention for protection, yet little long-term data availability. National Parks, including those in the United States, act as optimal sites to study biodiversity loss, but historic data tends to vary in availability. This study addresses systematic taxonomic and digitalization biases present within historic (museum), modern (citizen science), and non-digitized (private collection) datasets for Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks from 1900 to 2021. We find that, although database record availability is representative of butterfly and bumble bee groups known for the area, categories such as data rescue, digitalization/availability, and management/archiving vary across database types. These findings on virtual datasets offer opportunities for conservationists to understand the efficacy of digitized collections in addressing questions of species loss over time, including the strengths and pitfalls of digitized data repositories. Additionally, virtual datasets can be utilized to monitor biodiversity under Sustainable Development Goal 15 targets while also promoting broader access to resources such as museum collections for educational purposes.