iDigBio, the coordinating center for NSF's Advancing Digitization of Biodiversity Collections Program, now houses more than 100 million specimen records in its online database. Now in its seventh year, iDigBio has amassed data from more than 1,900 collections from about 820 institutions in its online portal. The volume of data has reached a “critical mass” at which researchers can begin using it to investigate broad scale evolutionary and ecological questions. Researchers are using the data to explore a variety of questions, including whether pollinator communities return if their native habitat is restored, how World War II put a damper on insect collecting, and how spiders and plants colonize lava flows in Idaho. To learn more about the milestone, visit the news release.
