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

摘要：DEB-0316495植物昆虫行星生物多样性基金会已授予美国自然历史博物馆的兰德尔·舒博士和格拉西莫斯·卡茨博士及其同事一笔赠款，用于对真正的昆虫家族中的食草昆虫进行全球性研究。 这项工作将汇集世界范围内一组重要农业昆虫的生物多样性信息，并作为生物多样性指标。 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个物种的550，000个标本，以及由于项目资助的实地工作而获得的另外100，000个标本。 新材料将主要在南半球收集，因为这一地区是世界上最不为人所知的，但尽管如此，从各种迹象来看，它显示出巨大的物种多样性。 该项目的潜在成果是描述了1000多个新的科学物种，记录了大约4000种寄主植物，并记录了该群体在全球范围内的分布模式。该研究的更广泛影响将包括发展国际合作伙伴关系，包括美国，澳大利亚，加拿大，中国，日本，俄罗斯和南非。 三名博士后研究员和六名博士生将接受21世纪系统生物学相关技术的培训。 每个人都将通过实地考察，在博物馆和专业会议上获得大量的国际曝光。 将通过一个项目网站传播科学成果，该网站将包括互动分布图、互动识别键、与研究小组有关的数字文献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举行的巡回展览向公众公布。 在举办展览的同时，还将开发专门的网络材料，作为教育辅助工具。 该项目由NSF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.