Collaborative: US-Latin America Planning Grant to Establish International Research and Education Partnerships in Coevolution of the Cecropia-symbiont Model System

这项国际计划资助将支持主要研究人员Sagers和Garwood前往六个国家（墨西哥、哥伦比亚、厄瓜多尔、秘鲁、法属圭亚那和苏里南），以便在几个新热带地区形成一个研究人员网络。对于这些国家中的每一个，调查人员都确定了相应的研究人员，他们将帮助规划这些访问的最终结果——预期的合作。两名研究生也将分别参加他们的访问。该网络的目标是研究一种著名的新热带植物属Cecropia与两类昆虫之间相互作用的共同进化动力学：一种是相互保护植物免受天敌侵害的蚂蚁，另一种是由这些蚂蚁相互保护的食草植物球虫。这项拨款的主要计划成果将是由该网络的美国成员与其外国合作者提交几份美国国家科学基金会的提案。这次访问的目的是评估国外的设施和研究地点，并与潜在的外国合作伙伴进行详细的讨论。

081359 GarwoodThis international planning grant will support principal investigators, Sagers and Garwood, to travel to six countries (Mexico, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, French Guiana and Suriname) in order to form a network of researchers in several neotropical locations. For each of these countries the investigators have identified counterpart researchers who will help to plan the expected collaboration that will be the end result of these visits. Two graduate students will also each be included in their visits. The goal of the network is to study coevolutionary dynamics of the interaction between a prominent neotropical plant genus, Cecropia, and two groups of insects commonly associated with it: ants that mutualistically defend the plants from their natural enemies, and coccoids, plant herbivores that are mutualistically defended by those ants. The primary planed outcome of this grant will be the submission of several NSF proposals by the US members of this network in collaboration with their foreign collaborators. The proposed travel will be to assess foreign facilities, and study sites, and to have detailed discussions with prospective foreign partners.