Using Museum Records and Distribution Models to Reconstruct the Historical Assemblage for Midwest Plecoptera

“该奖项是根据2009年美国复苏和再投资法案（公法111-5）资助的。“自然历史博物馆是物种数据不可替代的来源，它们往往是历史数据的唯一来源。然而，许多都没有得到很好的支持，使其内容处于腐烂或遗弃的危险之中。这个项目使用数学模型，博物馆数据，和新的标本，以重建溪流居住，中西部水生昆虫的组合。石蝇是对环境最敏感的水生昆虫，是水质的有用指示物。1950年后，它们的活动范围急剧缩小，损失最大的是高度农业化和城市化的伊利诺伊州。其他中西部地区似乎也面临着同样的危险。这个项目的目的是利用博物馆的数据来回答几个重要的保护问题：其他中西部地区的石匠社区的变化是否与伊利诺斯州的经验一致？哪些因素可以预测石楠群落的变化？是稀有物种还是常见物种面临更大的损失风险？更广泛的影响包括：政府和非政府组织使用历史期望值来改善水质评估;非政府组织使用“Stongland红皮书”关于保护状况的数据来设定保护优先级;科学家和公众使用具有有效名称、分布和识别键的开放获取物种页面;以及教育新一代解决水生昆虫保护问题。

"This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5)."Natural history museums are irreplaceable sources of species data and they are often the only source of historical data. Yet, many are poorly supported, putting their contents in jeopardy of decay or abandonment. This project uses mathematical models, museum data, and new specimens to reconstruct an assemblage of stream dwelling, Midwest aquatic insects. Stoneflies (Insect order Plecoptera), the most environmentally sensitive of aquatic insects, are useful indicators of water quality. Their ranges shrank dramatically after 1950, the greatest losses being in highly agricultural and urbanized Illinois. Other Midwest areas appear similarly imperiled.The objective of this project is to use museum data to answer several important conservation questions: Are changes in stonefly communities in other Midwest areas concordant with Illinois' experience? What factors predict changes in stonefly communities? Are rare or common species at greater risk of loss? Broader impacts include: government and NGOs use of historical expectations to improve water quality assessment; NGOs use of 'Stonefly Red Book' data on conservation status to set conservation priorities; scientist and public use of open access species pages with valid names, distributions, and identification keys; and education of a new generation to tackle aquatic insect conservation issues.