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ES-TAF comprises two institutes of the largest National Research Institution in Spain: Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC).

These two institutes house collections, staff and equipment for advanced studies in biosystematics, palaeobiology, ecology and geology. The MNCN and RJB are located near each other in Madrid's city centre.

Related research facilities and equipment are supplied by: Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas (CIB); Centro de Ciencias Medio-Ambientales (CCMA); Centro de Información y Documentación (CINDOC); Instituto de Química-Física; Centro Técnico de Informática (CTI); Instituto de Óptica. Together with the MNCN and RJB they form part of the same institution - Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC). They all possess state-of-the-art equipment and research facilities that will be available to all ES-TAF users, a factor that greatly increases the value of this proposal

ES-TAF provides direct access to the scientific facilities and training services offered by these institutes, as well as the accommodation offered by CSIC´s Students' Residence, which creates an excellent multidisciplinary, scientific and working environment.

ES-TAF Core infrastructure

· Natural history collections comprising 8.6 million specimens, including 64,200 types. 42,000 lots of unstudied recently collected material.

These collections encompass an accurate representation of the biodiversity of the Iberian Peninsula, Balearic and Canary Islands and Mediterranean region, but also include important materials from the tropics, particularly the Neotropics, Philippines and Equatorial Guinea.

· State-of-the-art specimen preparation.

· The most competitive research groups in Spain working on biodiversity, systematics and evolution, palaeobiology, ecology and geology, leading the main taxonomic projects on the Iberian biota.

· Facilities for macro and micro-morphological study of the specimens. Scanning Electron Microscopy laboratories with the most advanced ESEM system including EDS and WDS micro-analytical equipment and digital image processing equipment.

· Molecular laboratories providing tools for systematic and phylogenetic studies, as well as population genetic studies of endangered species.

· Histology laboratory, Bioacoustic laboratory, Conventional X-ray radiographs equipment.

· Physiological laboratory suitable for studies on parasite burden as an indication of environmental stress, and reproduction in endangered species.

· Geology laboratories: Optical microscopy with cathodoluminiscence, Capillary electrophoresis, X-rays diffraction and X-ray fluorescence.

· Field Station 'El Ventorrillo' located in the Sierra de Guadarrama, about 60 km from Madrid, with two houses, semi-natural enclosures, basic laboratory equipment and a respirometry laboratory.

· The first natural history library in Spain, containing 88,000 books and over 6,280 journals.

· Collection database containing 62% of the (MNCN) specimens.

· Database containing 437,000 botanical literature records extracted mainly from Spanish journals and referring to the Iberian Peninsula.

· Archive of 30,000 photographs (86% digitised), 10,000 of them documenting new collections of marine fauna.

· Animal Sounds Library (Fonoteca Zoológica) with more than 22,000 registers of amphibia and birds (56% indexed).

Collections & Expertise
The collections of ES-TAF are among the oldest in Europe. Their main value is not only the absolute number of specimens or types, but the degree of hot spot representation of the Ibero-Balearic and Canary Islands biota. They consist of about 8.6 million specimens including ca. 64,200 types. It is the most important representative collection of the Mediterranean Basin. There are also an additional 42,000 recently collected lots of well-documented, yet unstudied specimens from the Iberian Peninsula, Balearic and Canary Islands, which are a unique resource for studies of one of the most biodiverse areas in Europe.

ES-TAF specimens represent the cumulative efforts of more than 200 years of worldwide collecting, but especially in the Iberian Peninsula, Macaronesia and the Mediterranean Basin. Much of this material can never be collected again and thus is a unique reference point for biotic (and abiotic) studies providing spatio-temporal and systematic information.

Physically, the collections are well arranged: 62% of the specimens are catalogued and electronically databased, guaranteeing easy retrieval and examination of the desired specimens.

ES-TAF collections cover the whole range of living and fossil organisms, as well as minerals, rocks and meteorites.

Some particular strengths of ES-TAF collections.

ca. 64,200 type specimens, including 30,900 primary types of plants, fungi and animals.

Floras and fauna mainly from Iberian Peninsula and Balearic Islands . Macaronesia (Canary and Cabo Verde Islands) . Mediterranean Basin . Important materials from the tropics, mainly from Neotropics, Philippines and Equatorial Guinea

Important historical collections of animals: Iberic and North African Insecta and Crustacea (I. Bolívar) . Cuban fauna (F. Poey) . Mollusca from Philippines (J.G. Hidalgo) . Parasite Helminths from Iberian Peninsula (López-Neira) . Amphibia from South America (Jiménez de la Espada) and Spain

42,000 lots of recently collected, well documented, and not yet studied specimens of insects and marine fauna (FAUNA Oceanographic Expeditions 1990-1996 from the Iberian Peninsula, Balearic and Canary Islands are offered for study to ES-TAF visitors. They are unique for studies of one of the richest and most biodiverse areas in Europe)

Genetic Resources Collection: DNA samples . Frozen and freeze-dried tissues and specimens for molecular analyses (DNA / Allozymes) . 300,000 specimens of 2,000 species (85 type specimens)

Flowering plants: Important historical collections from eighteenth- and nineteenth-century expeditions to the tropical and temperate Americas and the Philippines (Mutis, Ruiz & Pavón, Sessé & Mociño, Isern, Vidal & Blanco), as well as from Iberia (Cavanilles, Lagasca, Pau)

Seed bank of wild Iberian plants

Fungi from Iberian Peninsula, Equatorial Guinea and Central and South America

Palaeontological collections of vertebrates, invertebrates and botanical fossils, mainly Iberian Peninsula and South America . More than 1,000,000 specimens including the important collections of Atapuerca, Cerro de los Batallones and Mammals of Spanish Cenozoic

Minerals (about 15,000) and rocks from Iberian Peninsula . Balearic and Canary Islands . some European mining districts

Geological samples from Historical Expeditions (eighteenth-twentieth centuries.) from Chile, Peru and Mexico, including rocks of Heuland brothers and Alexander von Humboldt

Collection of 300 fallen meteorites from Europe and America

'Royal Dolphin's Treasure' (gemstones, sculptures, jewelry)

Suppporting analytical facilities
ES-TAF contains all the state-of-the-art equipment necessary for studying biological and geological collections. There are two molecular systematics laboratories, two laboratories with scanning electron microscopy and analytical facilities (EDS and WDS), a histological laboratory, a physiology laboratory, biological, molecular and geological samples preparation laboratories, an X-ray radiology laboratory, a chemical analysis laboratory (atomic absorption, electrophoresis and X-ray diffraction and fluorescence), photography and digital image services, fossil restoration, etc.

Genomic material
Given that extracting DNA from older dried specimens is now routinely done, ES-TAF collections can be considered a reservoir of biodiversity at the genetic level, providing information on earlier populations, some of which are now extinct.

ES-TAF is continually adding new collections of DNA, frozen and freeze-dried tissues (including types) to the classical ones. Advanced molecular approaches are used as well to study endangered species

Collections from outside Iberia enable research on other key regions, including the Canary Islands (where 44% of terrestrial animals and 35% of plants are endemic), northern Africa, and tropical and subtropical regions of the world. The latter has inestimable historical value because it contains many tissue specimens collected in eighteenth- and nineteenth-century scientific expeditions.

Library
Together, the two public libraries of ES-TAF are the best and with most complete coverage in the Iberian Peninsula for natural history literature, both in terms of classical and recent books, and CDs. Combined, they contain more than 88,000 volumes and more than 6,000 scientific journals. These public libraries offer online access to the main bibliographical database (ALEPH) in Spain, and to other numerous catalogues and databases of natural history publications as well as to a wide range of scientific journals. The mncn has the only library in Spain with a complete series of The Zoological Record, both in paper and electronic form.

A recently created National Natural History video and digital photograph library is hosted by the MNCN.

An Animal Sounds Library, with more than 22,000 registers (56% indexed), is a powerful tool for research in animal taxonomy, life cycles, behaviour and physiology.

· ES-TAF has a Field Station 'El Ventorrillo' located in the Sierra de Guadarrama, about 60km from Madrid, consisting of two houses, semi-natural enclosures, basic laboratory equipment and a respirometry laboratory. Access is available for visitors.

Areas of expertise
Open to research visitors for their selection of their projects include:

Spanish Taxonomic Facility (ES-TAF)

Collections | Analytical facilities | Strengths of collections | Staff expertise