RUI Collaborative Research: Systematics and Biogeography of Mite Harvestmen of the Australian Wet Tropics

RUI 合作研究：澳大利亚湿热带地区螨虫收获者的系统学和生物地理学

• 批准号: 1020426
• 负责人: Kenneth Kozak
• 金额: $ 3.4万
• 依托单位: University of Minnesota-Twin Cities
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2010
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2010-09-01 至 2014-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1020426&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: RUI; Collaborative; Research; Systematics; Biogeography

Why do rainforest habitats support such a large diversity of animal life? One way to approach this question is to test hypotheses about the evolutionary origins of that diversity. This research project will use modern genetic tools to test the hypothesis that fragmentation of forest habitats during the Last Glacial Maximum approximately 18,000 years ago drove the speciation process in a group of tiny arachnids, the mite harvestmen, in the Wet Tropics of Queensland, Australia. In addition, the researchers will name and describe many species of this poorly known animal group that are new to science. Specimens will be deposited in the Queensland Museum and the Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology, and will be available to professional biologists through loans from the museums.Over the course of this project, six undergraduate students will participate in fieldwork in Queensland, and at least 20 undergraduates will be trained in lab research techniques such as scanning electron microscopy and DNA sequencing. Student learning will happen both during the summer months, when students will be supported to work full-time on independent research projects, and as part of coursework at Macalester College. In addition, the researchers will work with outreach staff at the Bell Museum of Natural History (University of Minnesota) to disseminate the results of this work to the public through talks and exhibits.

为什么雨林栖息地支持着如此丰富多样的动物生活？解决这个问题的一种方法是检验关于这种多样性的进化起源的假设。这个研究项目将使用现代遗传工具来检验一个假设，即大约18000年前末次冰期高峰时期森林栖息地的破碎，推动了澳大利亚昆士兰湿热带地区一群小型蛛形纲动物——螨虫收割机的物种形成过程。此外，研究人员将命名和描述这个鲜为人知的动物群体的许多物种，这些物种对科学来说是新的。标本将存放在昆士兰博物馆和哈佛比较动物学博物馆，并将通过从博物馆借来的方式供专业生物学家使用。在这个项目的过程中，6名本科生将在昆士兰参加实地考察，至少20名本科生将接受实验室研究技术的培训，如扫描电子显微镜和DNA测序。学生的学习将在夏季进行，届时学生将被支持全职从事独立研究项目，并作为麦卡莱斯特学院课程的一部分。此外，研究人员将与贝尔自然历史博物馆（明尼苏达大学）的外联工作人员合作，通过讲座和展览向公众传播这项工作的成果。