This is one of a series of columns by specialists at the Royal sa国际传媒 Museum that explore the human and natural worlds of the province.
I have been in British Columbia for almost two years. I聽moved here from Ontario in February 2016. My version of coastlines growing up was Lake Erie. I swam in Lake Erie, I ate fish from Lake Erie. I聽am alive to tell the tale.
Before moving to sa国际传媒, I didn鈥檛 really know what oceans were. I聽did not know how tides worked or why a beach should look completely different from the way it did six hours previously. This personal discovery of marine coastlines has greatly affected my approach to research on insect and spider biodiversity.
This new set of coastal ecosystems is leading to a big new world of science for me to pursue at the Royal sa国际传媒 Museum.
Big is certainly the right word to describe sa国际传媒 coastlines. Including innumerable bays, inlets, coves and islands big and small, the sa国际传媒 coastline from Victoria to the Alaska panhandle is more than 25,000 kilometres long. This is more than 10 per cent of the total coastline of all of sa国际传媒.
This also means that sa国际传媒 has more coastline than most nations, including India, New Zealand, Mexico and the United Kingdom. The coastline of sa国际传媒 is also relatively temperate. Compared with the Arctic and Atlantic coasts of sa国际传媒, the coast of sa国际传媒 is far warmer and more biologically diverse.
I noticed this diversity during my first walks on beaches in and around Victoria. There were flies and spiders and beetles everywhere, and at all times of the year. Like a good entomologist, I聽collected some specimens and brought them to the Royal sa国际传媒 Museum entomology collection to find out what they were.
I was surprised to find very little had been written about sa国际传媒 coastline insects and spiders over the past decades. There were some studies on the species found in California. A couple of expeditions had gone to Alaskan islands and produced scientific studies. But there had been very few published reports of sa国际传媒 coastline insects and spiders.
A common phrase that I聽encountered when reading old reports and insect catalogues was: 鈥淭his species is reported from California and/or Alaska, possibly present throughout Pacific coast.鈥�
This lack of previous coastal research leaves me in a difficult situation. I cannot answer a simple question such as: 鈥淗ow many insect and spider species are there on sa国际传媒鈥檚 coastline?鈥� I, and other entomologists, simply don鈥檛 know. As a result, all of the interesting followup questions are also unanswerable.
How many coastline species are found only in sa国际传媒? Are coastline insects and spiders being affected by climate change and marine pollution? Are global shipping and travel bringing new and invasive coastline species to sa国际传媒?
I don鈥檛 know. I don鈥檛 know. I聽don鈥檛 know.
This uncertainty, however, is a unique opportunity for someone, like me, who works at a museum. Museums are particularly good at collections-based biodiversity research. Most universities and government agencies have some expertise and research interest in biodiversity, but it is never their entire purview. Because I work in a provincial museum, knowing about the insect and spider species in sa国际传媒, including its vast coastline, is one of my main jobs.
A lack of existing research means that new discoveries can be made with relative ease. For example, during a walk along the Ogden Point breakwater I found a specimen of the black-headed barnacle fly (Oedoparena nigrifrons). This species has never been reported in sa国际传媒.
A quick look in the Royal sa国际传媒 Museum collection recovered a few more specimens collected in Tofino by Rob Cannings, curator emeritus of the collection. This species lays its eggs on barnacles. Which species of barnacles? I don鈥檛 know.
I am working with Royal sa国际传媒 Museum curator of invertebrate zoology Henry Choong to produce a scientific publication about our new records of this fly and the barnacles it preys upon. This is only one example. There are dozens of other species that have not yet been reported for sa国际传媒 or sa国际传媒 that have been collected by Royal sa国际传媒 Museum staff and volunteers. There are likely to be coastline species that have not even been described.
In addition to scientific outputs such as papers and reports, my research on coastline biodiversity is also a great way to fulfil my other role at the museum 鈥� public outreach. Cool stories about bizarre insects and spiders on beaches make for fun talks with students and families. Discussion of ecosystems unique to sa国际传媒 engages people鈥檚 desire to learn more about environmental stewardship.
Insects, spiders and beaches can also be incredibly photogenic. We took advantage of this fact in producing our latest pocket-gallery exhibition, Life on the Edge: British Columbia鈥檚 shoreline insects and spiders, in Clifford Carl Hall, an area of the museum that鈥檚 freely accessible to all.
Engaging with the public has also given me the chance to expand my opportunities to learn more about sa国际传媒 coastline biodiversity. I was able to participate in BioBlitzes all across sa国际传媒 last year and this year.
These events, organized by Parks sa国际传媒, community groups and conservation organizations, bring in experts (like me) and the public to 鈥渂litz鈥� an area, recording as many species as possible. These are great chances for me to multiply my observational power and bring insect enthusiasm to the public directly. My goal is to continue participating in BioBlitzes and to encourage more of them in some of the lesser-visited places along sa国际传媒鈥檚 coast.
Meeting directly with people in sa国际传媒, most of whom have far more experience with oceans than I do, has allowed me to learn and see more on coastlines. I look forward to a long career of identifying and studying the insects and spiders of sa国际传媒, especially those found on beautiful coastlines. Will I ever feel that we have learned enough about sa国际传媒 biodiversity?
I don鈥檛 know. But I doubt it.
Joel Gibson, PhD, has been the curator of the entomology collection since the winter of 2016 and studies the insects that inhabit sa国际传媒鈥檚 shorelines, forests, grasslands, mountain tops and urban spaces. He loves the overlap of public outreach, science education and cutting-edge, collection-based research that takes place at large, publicly funded museums.
