Survey of the Insects in Ghana with Systematic Studies on Spider Beetles and Dung Beetles

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NSF Proposal DEB-0430132Philips A survey of the insects of the Upper Guinean Forestsin Ghana with systematic studies on spider beetles and dung beetles The Upper West African Guinean forests are considered one of 25 biodiversityhotspots in the world and are a vital refuge and region of high speciesendemicity. Knowledge of insect diversity in this habitat is poor relative tothat found in other threatened areas in the tropics. There is extreme urgencyfor an insect survey in the Upper Guinean forests because this ecosystem is morethreatened and is disappearing more quickly than most other global hotspots.Severe pressure on these forests results from some of the highest humanpopulation growth rates, most intensive logging, and rampant bushmeat huntingfound anywhere in the world. The main goals of this project are: 1) to conductan intensive survey of insects in the Guinean forests of Ghana and twoadditional areas in savannah and sub-sahalian regions, using a wide variety ofcollecting techniques, resulting in the collection of a large diversity ofinvertebrate groups previously unavailable to systematists; 2) to develop andrehabilitate a host country authoritative reference collection thereby creatinga national insect collection and integrating it into the global systematicscommunity; 3) to educate and train students and collaborate with scientists fromGhana (University of Ghana (Legon), Centre for Scientific and IndustrialResearch, and The Ghana Wildlife Society) and students from Western KentuckyUniversity on insect sampling techniques, biodiversity studies, and insectcuration providing much needed scientific systematic expertise in Ghana; 4) topartner with The Ghana Wildlife Society and other organizations and individualsby providing web accessible databases with identification keys and images ofspider beetles and dung beetles and all available biological information on thegroup. The intellectual merit of this proposal is to ultimately better understandthe biodiversity of these poorly studied and highly threatened forests byproviding large numbers insect samples for study to improve insect taxonomy andclassifications, the cornerstone of biology, while they still exist. This workwill also result in knowledge on the diversity and evolution of two main targetgroups: 1) the spider beetles which are arguably the most poorly known group ofAfrican beetles, and 2) the dung beetles that are still very poorly known andstudied. The latter group is also ecologically unstudied in this region and isof great interest because of the complex communities and behaviors exhibited.They are also indicative of ecosystem health and hence extremely useful toconservation organizations. The broader impacts include a better understandingof African tropical forest biodiversity, its evolution, ecology, andbiogeography. Additionally, the vital aspect of student training, developing asystematics infrastructure in Ghana, partnering with the primary conservationagency in this country, and creating web accessible information on insects willlead to better education of citizens of Ghana and the United States andhopefully protection of the irreplaceable natural heritage of biodiversity inthe Upper Guinean forests of West Africa.