PBI: Phytophagous Insects as a Model Group for Documenting Planetary Biodiversity (Insecta: Heteroptera: Miridae: Orthotylinae, Phylinae)

摘要：美国自然历史博物馆的Randall Schuh博士和Gerasimos Cassis博士及其同事获得了植物昆虫行星生物多样性目录（PLANETARY biodiversity inventora）的资助，以开展一项全球范围内的真虫科Miridae植物食虫研究。这项工作将汇集世界范围内对农业具有重要意义并作为生物多样性指标的一类昆虫的生物多样性信息。该项目的材料将包括目前存放在世界主要自然历史博物馆的约5300个物种，其中包括55万个标本，以及项目资助的实地工作所获得的另外10万个标本。新材料将主要在南半球收集，因为世界的那一部分是最不为人所知的，但尽管如此，从各种迹象来看，它显示出巨大的物种多样性。该项目的潜在发现是描述1000多种科学新物种，记录大约4000种寄主植物，并记录该群体在全球范围内的分布模式。这项研究的更广泛影响将包括发展国际伙伴关系，包括美国、澳大利亚、加拿大、中国、日本、俄罗斯和南非。3名博士后和6名博士生将接受21世纪系统生物学相关技术的培训。他们中的每一个人都将通过实地工作、博物馆和专业会议获得大量的国际接触。科学成果将通过一个项目网站传播，该网站将包括分布的交互式地图、交互式识别密钥、与研究小组有关的文献数字图书馆以及其他研究和信息工具。项目成果和概念将通过在纽约的美国自然历史博物馆和悉尼的澳大利亚博物馆巡回展览向公众展示。在创建展览的同时，将开发用于教育辅助的专门网络材料。该项目由美国国家科学基金会国际科学与工程办公室共同资助。

ABSTRACT: DEB-0316495PLANT BUG PLANETARY BIODIVESITY INVENTORYA grant has been awarded to Drs Randall Schuh and Gerasimos Cassis at the American Museum of Natural History and their colleagues to conduct a global study of plant-feeding insects in the true bug family Miridae. The work will bring together biodiversity information on a world-wide group of insects important in agriculture and as biodiversity indicators. Materials for the project will consist of approximately 5300 species represented by 550,000 specimens currently lodged in the world's major natural history museums and an additional 100,000 specimens acquired as a result of project-funded field work. New materials will be collected primarily in the southern hemisphere because that part of the world is the least well known, but nonetheless, by every indication, shows tremendous species diversity. Potential findings of the project are the description of more than 1000 species new to science, the documentation of approximately 4000 host plants, and the documentation of distributional patterns within the group on a global basis.The broader impacts of this study will include the development of international partnerships including the USA, Australia, Canada, China, Japan, Russia, and South Africa. Three postdoctoral investigators and six PhD students will be trained in techniques relevant to systematic biology in the 21st Century . Each of these individuals will receive substantial international exposure through field work, in museums, and at professional meetings. Scientific results will be disseminated through a project website which will include interactive mapping of distributions, interactive identification keys, a digital library of literature pertaining to the study group, as well as other research and information tools. Project results and concepts will be made available to the general public via a traveling exhibit to be shown at the American Museum of Natural History in New York and the Australian Museum, Sydney. In conjunction with creation of the exhibit, specialized web materials for use as educational aids, will be developed. The project is co-funded by NSF's Office of International Science and Engineering.