PBI: Collaborative Research: EuphORBia - A Global Inventory of the Spurges

该项目提供了一种方法来理解大型和复杂的生物群体，以大戟属（EuphORBia）为模型，全球约有2000种。研究小组将在生物多样性热点地区进行实地考察，并查阅博物馆藏品和文献资料，然后编制所有物种的最新清单和描述，为业余人士和科学家提供识别物种的工具，进行DNA测序分析以确定进化关系，分析濒危物种的分布和稀有程度，以及评估几种有害杂草的控制方法。将有一个由世界各地的大戟分类学家组成的核心团队，结果信息将由一个独立的生物信息学专家团队组织和传达。该研究主要使用基于互联网的工具，在5年的时间内对一个超过2000种的复杂植物属进行了全面的研究，将证明在其他大型和多样化的生物群体中快速获取和传播信息的可行性。该项目为从K-12到博士后水平的学生提供广泛的培训，以大戟为例的教育推广模块，以及开展科学合作的全球方法。它既研究了对有毒杂草的控制，如叶茅丛，也研究了对被CITES列为濒危物种的900多种大戟的保护。

Planetary Biodiversity Initiative (PBI): EuphORBia -a global inventory of the spurges Project AbstractThis project provides a methodology to understand large and complex groups of organisms, using the spurge genus Euphorbia, with about 2000 species worldwide, as the model. Following field work in biodiversity hotspots and examination of museum collections and literature, the research team will produce updated lists and descriptions of all species, tools for amateurs and scientists to identify species, DNA sequencing analyses to determine evolutionary relationships, analyses of the distributions and rarity of endangered species, and evaluation of control methods for several noxious weedy species. There will be a core team of Euphorbia taxonomists worldwide, and the resulting information will be organized and conveyed by a separate team of bioinformatic specialists.This comprehensive study of a complex plant genus of over 2000 species in a 5-year time frame using mainly Internet-based tools will demonstrate the feasibility of obtaining and disseminating information quickly for other large and diverse groups of organisms. The project provides extensive training of students from K-12 to the postdoctoral levels, an educational outreach module using Euphorbia as an example, and a global approach to conducting scientific collaboration. It examines both the control of noxious weeds like the leafy spurge complex and the conservation of the 900-odd species of Euphorbia considered endangered by CITES.