At its
meeting of April 2003, the Scientific Committee undertook a wide review of
the Survey’s activities. This summary outlines the nature and status of
the Survey and also incorporates changes and ideas resulting from the
review.
Introduction
The Biological Survey of Canada (Terrestrial Arthropods) helps to coordinate
scientific research among specialists on the Canadian fauna of insects,
mites, and their relatives. To do so it synthesizes knowledge and ideas,
focuses available expertise on to topics that are particularly significant,
and acts as a clearing-house for information. It thereby serves as a
catalyst for more efficient scientific progress and provides national
direction for work on Canada’s insect fauna. This organization is
productive and well recognized nationally and internationally in the
scientific community.
Organization
The day-to-day work of the Survey is done by a small Secretariat based in
Ottawa, supported by the Canadian Museum of Nature (CMN). Broader
consultation is done through an advisory Scientific Committee, established
by the Entomological Society of Canada (ESC), and by regular contacts with
the scientific community.
Activities
The Survey organization establishes priorities and produces synthetic
scientific works and briefs and other commentaries on subjects of particular
faunal interest. Research on the fauna is done chiefly by cooperating
scientists who bring their interests into projects of a scope and scale that
would not be possible without the catalysis, organization, coordination, and
planning that the Survey provides for fieldwork, publication and other
needs. The Survey also produces newsletters, a web site and other vehicles
to assist coordination.
History
The Biological Survey was started in 1977 as a Pilot Study (through an
unsolicited proposal to the Department of Supply and Services) by the
Entomological Society of Canada. After a series of contracts – including
one primarily for production of a book about the insects of the arctic –
the Survey was established in 1980 at the Museum (at that time called the
National Museum of Natural Sciences) under a continuing partnership with the
ESC.
Scientific
Committee membership
The Committee comprises 15 individual members appointed by the ESC, the
President (or delegate) and one other representative of the CMN, the
Director (or delegate) and one other representative of the CNC-AAFC
organization [the home of the Canadian National Collection of Insects and
Arachnids at Agriculture and Agri-food Canada, currently named the Eastern
Cereal and Oilseed Research Centre (ECORC)], and the President of the ESC
(or delegate).
Individual members:
The Survey tries to balance representation from different parts of the
country, different institutions and organizations (e.g. governments,
universities), different interests in systematic and faunistic entomology,
potential interest and involvement in Survey priorities especially the
current scientific projects, and the need for some turnover of members.
Membership is constrained by the availability of potential members with
these characteristics. Members of the Committee serve for one or more
three-year terms. On average about half of the members whose terms end in a
given year are replaced. The possibility of including postdoctoral fellows,
with interest in one of the Survey’s projects, as members is being
considered.
Government representatives:
The Survey welcomes and encourages input from other government agencies, in
an attempt to learn about issues of concern and to disseminate information
about the Survey’s work. Efforts are being made to provide representatives
with a clearer statement of what benefit they might reap by attending
meetings of the Committee, including the relevance of the Committee’s
expertise and work.
Scientific
Committee meetings
Survey meetings are normally held in Ottawa twice per year (April and
October). Consideration is being given to holding meetings in association
with the annual meeting of the ESC, to try to favour attendance in the fall
when some members have difficulty attending two separate meetings. To test
this option, the 2003 meeting will be held in Kelowna after the ESC/ESBC
meeting there.
Secretariat
The Secretariat is responsible for general operation of the Survey in
addition to any general CMN responsibilities. The Secretariat obtains
information about personnel, monitors activity in the scientific community,
and acts as liaison with individual scientists and government contacts. It
publishes newsletters (e.g. BSC and Grasslands), briefs, leaflets and other
documents, acts as editor for these and some other Survey publications,
maintains a content-rich web page, and contributes reports to the ESC
Bulletin. Meeting displays have also been prepared from time to time. The
Secretariat is responsible for the organization of Scientific Committee
meetings and necessary preparations and follow-up, and assists the chair
with other matters. The head of the secretariat travels widely to discuss
and promote the Survey and its projects, giving lectures or seminars at many
of the institutions visited.
In addition,
it is important that the head of the secretariat have scientific credibility
in order to hold effective discussions with the scientific community, to
catalyze scientific projects, and to prepare lectures of potential interest.
Consequently a research scientist heads the Survey, rather than a policy
specialist or coordinator. Therefore, in addition to general Survey tasks,
the head of the Secretariat conducts research of international standard
(especially in the synthesis of information) and undertakes other
professional activities (refereeing papers, etc.).
The original
recommendations for the Survey called for a second Secretariat biologist to
spread out this work load, but the recommendation was never followed,
chiefly for financial reasons.
Relationship
with the Entomological Society of Canada
The ESC, which initiated the Survey through an unsolicited proposal in the
1970s, continues to support the Survey and remains involved in several ways.
The Society appoints the individual members of the Scientific Committee (a
committee of the society) through the President, following recommendations
made by the Chair, and processes claims and invoices for meetings of the
Scientific Committee (under an annual contract with the CMN overseen by the
ESC Treasurer and administered by the ESC administrative assistant). The
President of the Society (or delegate) is a member of the Committee. The
President submits the Survey’s Annual Report (prepared by the Secretariat
and approved by the Committee) to the CMN.
The ESC acts
as sales agent for those Survey publications produced through the Biological
Survey Foundation for which a fee is charged, a role administered by the ESC’s
administrative assistant. The Survey submits a brief report of highlights
twice yearly, to the ESC Executive and Board. A report about the Survey’s
work (prepared by the Secretariat) appears twice yearly in the ESC Bulletin.
The Survey’s web site was part of the ESC web site until 2002. It is now
represented by a link on that site. The Survey is also considering the
possibility of an ESC award sponsored by the Survey. The Survey’s
relationship with the ESC therefore is very important.
Biological
Survey Foundation
The Biological Survey Foundation exists to help develop and fund selected
publications of the Biological Survey and to ensure that they become widely
available. The Foundation was registered in 1988 as a charitable
organization by Revenue Canada (now Canada Customs and Revenue Agency), and
from time to time solicits donations for certain proposed publications.
Publications are also funded by sales of previous publications, interest
earned on investments built up through earlier activities, and publication
fees such as page charges.
The
Foundation publishes items relevant to the fauna of Canada – and typically
associated directly with Survey projects – in three series: a Monograph
Series of major works (e.g. Insect Dormancy, Insects of the Yukon); a
Taxonomic Series (keys to families of terrestrial arthropods in Canada); and
a Document Series of miscellaneous publications (certain briefs,
bibliographies, etc.).
Members of
the Foundation are the members of the Scientific Committee for the
Biological Survey, and the organization is administered by 5 Directors drawn
from the membership.
Survey projects
and priorities
A typical individual scientific project is organized by a subcommittee (led
by a chair), appointed by the Committee. Other topics may chiefly be treated
by particular individuals. Subcommittee roles include explicit promotion of
projects in the scientific community. Choice of projects is based on
decisions by the Scientific Committee about key priorities among potential
subjects, especially on the basis of a periodic review. Decisions are based
chiefly on scientific relevance, focus and feasibility. A full project
review takes place relatively infrequently (every 6 years), reflecting the
fact that rapid changes are not feasible or desirable, given the relatively
limited resources of personnel and funding available for the work.
Funding
Support for the core operations of the Survey, including the Secretariat and
the Scientific Committee, is provided by the CMN. This funding is assigned
annually by the Museum as part of its work-planning process. It is used, for
example, to run the Secretariat office, pay expenses for the Scientific
Committee (through the annual contract with the ESC), support Secretariat
travel, and produce newsletters and briefs.
The
scientific research done for Survey projects is funded chiefly through
specific funding obtained by co-operating individuals for their own work,
from various sources. However, smaller sets of funding or sponsorships are
handled through the Biological Survey Foundation, which can also act as a
source of seed funding especially for publications. Large-scale funding for
a particular Survey project (e.g. from a Foundation) has sometimes been
sought, but with little success.
The Pilot
Study recommended that a pool of funds be available for support of students
undertaking specific projects to move forward Survey priorities (and it
would also allow dedicated "Survey" postdoctoral fellows to be
established, who could rapidly move specific projects forward), but this
pool of funds was never made available. Moreover, given the way activities
in the CMN are funded from year to year, it is unlikely that this could be
achieved by internal rearrangement of funds assigned to the Survey.
The Survey
has regularly considered funding, but has concluded that existing avenues
(from co-operating individuals, Biological Survey Foundation) are the
preferred ones. It has continued to reject such methods as tailoring
projects to facilitate funding at the expense of content relevant to
characterizing the fauna, or establishing a continuing subcommittee to seek
funding and develop Survey applications on behalf of a group of cooperators.
General
strengths of the Survey
Strong
points among the activities of the Survey that are widely appreciated in
enhancing coordination, communication and visibility include:
• Major
scientific projects and reviews
• Wide
regional representation on the Scientific Committee
•
Sponsorship of symposia and workshops at entomological society meetings
• National
annual Secretariat tours of entomological centres, including seminars and
connections with students as well as established entomologists
• The BSC
Newsletter, in paper and web forms, including detailed reports of Survey
activities
Productivity
Over the 22-year period since its early contract-supported stages, in the
scientific arena the BSC has produced 13 major books (averaging 312 pp.
each, and many containing multiple refereed chapters) and 53 additional
papers as well as 15 briefs, and has contributed to or stimulated many other
papers not so directly produced by the Survey. In a more general context,
over this same period the BSC published 61 newsletters (averaging 77 pp. per
year), convened 11 workshops, and prepared numerous reports and letters to
officials. An extensive web site was developed recently, and currently
contains about 1˝ million words, including scientific and other documents.
Effort has increased recently for the web site and for newsletters, partly
associated with a current major project on grasslands. The quality of
publications and similar outputs is high as confirmed by reviews and other
commentaries.
The output of
major publications fluctuates from year to year because Survey projects
characteristically produce large publications at infrequent intervals in
addition to the ongoing production of smaller documents. The completion and
the aftermath of major books (1981, 1986–87, and 1993–94) suppressed
some other activity. The book Insects of the Yukon (1997: 1034 pp.) was
especially disruptive.
Impact
The Survey has had great influence on the direction and quality of Canadian
entomology. The Survey identifies gaps in knowledge at a national level and
its projects draw in participants, thereby attaining a scope that would not
be possible otherwise. The Survey’s interests are integrated nationally
with those of the ESC. Synthetic publications underpin future work and are
widely cited. Numerous graduate students have been steered towards Survey
projects and carry on these interests later. The Survey’s briefs are
widely used and influence the way that research is done. Survey briefs are
also used by wider audiences, such as managers or biologists charged with
local biodiversity assessments, and its web site has a very wide reach,
extending well beyond entomologists.
Efficiency
The Survey is efficient because it relies on a small Secretariat, steered by
wider disciplinary expertise, to catalyze and coordinate major projects.
Therefore, it does not require large new infrastructures or staffing.
Broader context
It was concluded by the Pilot Study, and recently confirmed by the
Scientific Committee, that the CMN is the logical home of the Survey because
the CMN alone has the mandate for the acquisition and dissemination of
knowledge on the Canadian biota (unlike "mission-orientated"
departments). The CMN has continued to support the Secretariat despite a
long period of fiscal constraint. Even so, it has not been able to expand it
beyond the core operation, with another secretariat entomologist (as
recommended by the Pilot Study) nor modules for further taxa.
The Survey is
efficient and has a high level of scientific productivity because it is a
bottom-up, individually driven entity that focusses the efforts of
individual scientists, coordinating that work with a very small central
organization. The ground-level work on faunas undertaken by the BSC differs
from the top-down "strategic" initiatives favoured by most other
organizations that have developed recently under the general umbrella of
biodiversity. The Survey continues to favour the approach of generating and
analysing data about the fauna rather than, for example, simply collating
existing data through internet platforms.