Notes from Nature - The New Brunswick Museum Digital Engagement Lab

The New Brunswick Museum hosts invaluable collections for conservation research. Many collections will be used in the Digital Engagement Lab to unlock information on biodiversity, such as on amphibians, puffins, invertebrates, and more - all with the help of community scientists. Our first project starts with measuring frogs to determine if their body size has changed over time due to climate change. With your help, we can make a difference to protect our frogs and ecosystems!

Why are museums important?
Often, museums are mistaken for being solely educational facilities. Although this is an important component of museums, they also conduct essential research for the conservation of ecosystems. Museums are vital institutions that collect and preserve specimens, providing important snapshots of biodiversity over time. Some specimens are decades to hundreds of years old. When newly added specimens are properly preserved, they can last hundreds of years for future research. This allows us to examine how species have changed over time, especially in response to stressors such as climate change.

Why do museums collect specimens?
Physical specimens are important proof for documenting biodiversity. Physical collections enable the description of new species, the study of physiology, and the examination of how morphology has changed over time. Important advances in technology have allowed us to examine changes in gene expression, the presence of contaminants (pesticides, forever chemicals, etc.), pathogens, diet, and more. The collection of physical specimens is conducted under strict ethical guidelines and is necessary to address the current biodiversity crisis and restore habitats and populations.

The importance of physical specimens is described in this paper: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10664955/

Why does species size and distribution (especially for frogs) matter?
Changes such as in size and distribution often occur in response to stressors such as urbanization and climate change. Shifts in morphology (such as size and colour) and changes in species range (distribution) may signal a change in the environment. Specifically for frogs, size often responds to changes in temperature and precipitation. Size is incredibly important for amphibian species, as it is linked to their ability to reproduce and escape predators. Therefore, examining how size has changed over time could provide insight into a species' status. This information can also be used to estimate future changes by examining trends in climate and species over time and projecting how they are likely to change. This allows us to take important steps in protecting species.

How is this information going to be used?
All data will be made openly accessible to scientists and the public through the New Brunswick Museum website (https://biodiverse-nb.ca/portal/index.php) and GBIF (https://www.gbif.org/). The New Brunswick Museum will specifically use this information to examine how species have changed in morphology and distribution over time. We will then use this information to prepare projections and share them with governing environmental agencies.

Hop to it! Frog Measurements Project Information

Human activities such as burning fossil fuels, deforestation, industrial production, and large-scale agriculture have caused Earth’s temperature to rise significantly since the 1970s. This warming climate is having serious effects on wildlife. Amphibians (frogs, salamanders, and caecilians) are especially vulnerable, with higher extinction rates than any other group of animals. In Canada, 30 native amphibian species are currently considered at risk (COSEWIC, 2024). This is concerning because amphibians play important roles in ecosystems. They help control insect populations, serve as both predators and prey, and can indicate environmental changes.

To protect these species, conservation experts need better tools to understand how amphibians are responding to a changing climate. However, the data needed for this kind of planning is still limited. Scientists have found that changes in body size are one way in which amphibians respond to environmental stress. Most studies so far have focused on a single species or a small area. Large-scale studies across many species in North America are rare because of the time and effort required to digitize and analyze the vast amount of information stored in museum collections. By taking part in this project, you are helping to fill that gap. Each measurement you contribute adds valuable information that helps scientists assess how amphibians are changing over time and responding to environmental pressures. Together, these contributions help researchers identify patterns, make better predictions, and support more effective conservation decisions.

In this way, even small individual efforts can add up to make a real difference in protecting amphibians and the ecosystems they inhabit.