RUI: An Ecological Guild-Based Biodiversity Inventory and Survey of the Aquatic Non-biting Midges (Diptera: Chironomidae) of the Altai and Hangai Mountain Drainages, Mongolia

密集放牧和金矿开采威胁着阿尔泰山和杭盖山水生大型无脊椎动物的生物多样性，以及蒙古西部Uvs Nuur盆地联合国教科文组织世界遗产，这是一个独特的地区，其特点是原始和受影响的水生栖息地。 该项目将记录生物多样性，并将联合收割机多样性数据与生态数据结合起来，以确定需要保护或监测的水生生境。 研究将在一所私立大学研究所（PUI）的研究人员与蒙古水生昆虫调查（迈斯）之间进行，前者将侧重于非叮咬性蠓的生物多样性和生态学，后者将涵盖大多数其他主要水生大型无脊椎动物群体。 PUI的研究将侧重于非叮咬性蠓，因为它们通常占淡水栖息地水生昆虫多样性的50%以上，并且存在既定的采样方法，使研究人员能够将联合收割机调查与生态研究相结合。 该项目的结果将提交给蒙古政府和迈斯，用于保护和生物监测规划。 该项目将为PUI的参与者提供广泛的研究机会，并将用于增加PUI的生物多样性和生态研究活动。 实地经验将促进美国本科生与蒙古同行之间的合作。

Intensive grazing and gold mining threaten biological diversity of aquatic macroinvertebrates in the Altai and Hangai mountains, and the Uvs Nuur Basin UNESCO World Heritage Site of western Mongolia, a unique region characterized by both pristine and impacted aquatic habitat. This project will document that biodiversity and combine diversity data with ecological data to identify aquatic habitat in need of conservation or monitoring. Research will be conducted as a collaborative effort between researchers at a Primarily Undergraduate Institution (PUI) who will focus on biodiversity and ecology of non-biting midges and the Mongolian Aquatic Insect Survey (MAIS) which will cover most other major groups of aquatic macroinvertebrates. The PUI research will focus on non-biting midges because they often account for over 50% of aquatic insect diversity in freshwater habitats and established methods exist for sampling which allow researchers to combine surveys with ecological research. The results of this project will be submitted to the Mongolian government and MAIS for use in conservation and biological monitoring planning. The project will provide extensive research opportunities for the participants from the PUI and will be used to increase biodiversity and ecological research activities at the PUI. Field experiences will foster collaborations between U.S. undergraduate students and their Mongolian counterparts.