COLOMBIAN FROZEN BIODIVERSITY: 16 YEARS OF THE TISSUE COLLECTION OF THE HUMBOLDT INSTITUTE

Collections of frozen tissue samples stand as keystone sources of molecular information to construct biodiversity knowledge, and are particularly challenged if they focus  on megadiverse countries. In 1998 the Humboldt Institute (Instituto de Investigación de Recursos Biológicos Alexander von Humboldt) began a tissue collection of Colombian biodiversity (IAvH-CT) and the aim of this work is to present a diagnostic and an historical perspective for that collection, constructed by compiling information and experiences on its management as well as by organizing and curating the information of each catalogued sample. After 16 years, the IAvH-CT harbors 16,469 samples, which represent around 2530 species from 1289 genera, and 323 families of the Colombian biodiversity. Samples are biased toward plants (44 %) and birds (40 %), but also include other animal taxa. Geographically, IAvH-CT includes samples from all Colombian departments, but there is broad variation in their coverage. When compared with other international collections, IAvH-CT fulfills several standards of sample storage and data management, but its major weakness is that several tissues seem to lack a vouchered specimen. Tissues housed at IAvH-CT have been included in at least 48 studies published in several scientific journals. IAvH-CT is implementing strategies to improve curatorial standards, fill-in taxonomic gaps, and to explore the potential of its samples to understand the outstanding Colombian biota in a cooperative research framework among institutions.

RESUMEN

Las colecciones de tejidos son fuentes fundamentales de información molecular para el conocimiento de la biodiversidad, y son particularmente desafiantes si están enfocadas en países megadiversos. En 1998 el Instituto Humboldt (Instituto de Investigación de Recursos Biológicos Alexander von Humboldt) inició una colección de tejidos de biodiversidad colombiana (IAvH-CT) y el objetivo de este trabajo es presentar un diagnóstico y una perspectiva histórica de esta colección, mediante la compilación de información y de experiencias sobre su manejo y organizando y curando la información de cada muestra catalogada. Después de 16 años IAvH-CT resguarda 16 469 muestras, que representan alrededor de 2530 especies de 1289 géneros y 323 familias de la biodiversidad colombiana. Las muestras están sesgadas hacia plantas (44 %) y aves (40 %), pero también incluyen otros taxones animales. Geográficamente, IAvH-CT incluye muestras de todos los departamentos colombianos, pero hay una gran variación en su cobertura. Al ser comparada con otras colecciones internacionales se encuentra que IAvH-CT cumple varios estándares de almacenamiento de muestras y de  manejo de datos, pero su gran debilidad es que varios tejidos aparentemente carecen de un ejemplar de referencia. Varios tejidos almacenados en IAvH-CT han sido incluidos en al menos 48 estudios publicados en varias revistas científicas. IAvH-CT está implementando estrategias para mejorar la curaduría, llenar vacíos taxonómicos y explorar el potencial de sus muestras para entender la impresionante biota colombiana en un marco de investigación en cooperación con otras instituciones.

Collections of tissue samples stand as keystone sources of molecular information to construct biodiversity knowledge, and are particularly useful in megadiverse countries. In 1998 the Humboldt Institute (Instituto de Investigación de Recursos Biológicos Alexander von Humboldt) began a tissue collection of Colombian biodiversity (IAvH-CT) and the aim of this work is to present a diagnostic and an historical narrative for that collection, constructed by compiling information and experiences on its management as well as by organizing and curating the information of each catalogued sample. After 16 years the IAvH-CT harbors 16469 samples, which represent around 2530 species from 1289 genera, and 323 families of the Colombian biodiversity. Samples are biased toward plants and birds (84 %), but also include other animal taxa. Geographically, IAvH-CT includes samples from all Colombian departments, but there is a broad variation in their coverage. When compared with other international collections IAvH-CT fulfills several standards of sample storage and data management, but have a major weakness that is that several tissues seem to lack a vouchered specimen. Tissues housed at IAvH-CT have been included in at least 48 studies published in several scientific journals. IAvH-CT is implementing strategies to improve curatorial standards, fill-up taxonomic gaps, and to explore the potential of its samples to understand the outstanding Colombian biota in a cooperative research frame among institutions.