RUI: SBBI: Phylogenetic effect on host use within generalist herbivores: a case study using marine amphipods in the family Ampithoidae (Crustacea: Amphipoda)

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"This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5)."Amphipods are common herbivorous crustaceans found in both marine and freshwater habitats. As a rule, all herbivores consume a restricted subset of available plants, and our ability to predict herbivore impacts on natural systems depends on understanding the evolution of these diet choices. Although most marine herbivores and many terrestrial insects are diet generalists, the influence of evolutionary lineage on plant choices are tested rarely. The current project will generate DNA data to examine evolutionary relationships of amphipod herbivores in the family Ampithoidae in order to assess the evolution of diet and anatomical features in this group.The proposal will have several broader impacts. First, the work advances the systematics of an ecologically-important group of marine invertebrates. Second, the grant will train and employ several young scientists, including four undergraduate students and a Masters student from the College of Charleston, in biodiversity research. With limited numbers of staff in museums worldwide, there is an urgent need for training scientists in the molecular tools of taxonomic research. Third, this proposed work extends international collaborations with developing and developed countries. We plan to disseminate our data within peer-reviewed journals and the web, including a globally important center of taxonomic information for crustacean biologists (http://crustacea.net), and to add taxonomic information for ampithoids from the geographic regions that remain under-represented.