OPUS: RUI - Promoting and preserving the study of scaled chrysophytes with an emphasis on global climate change, evolutionary stasis, phylogeny and biogeography

鳞片金藻是所有淡水环境中常见的微生物。 大多数物种在非常特定的条件下生长，使它们成为环境变化和它们所生活环境健康的极好指标。 这些生物之所以如此命名，是因为它们在玻璃外形成了高度华丽的结构，称为鳞片，每个物种的设计都是独一无二的。 这些水垢在沉积物中积累，以后可以回收，并用于拼凑水体的历史。 由于缺乏可供新研究人员使用的分类学资源，结垢金藻的研究，包括作为生物指示剂的使用受到阻碍。 该项目的主要目标是综合三十年来对北美东海岸沿着数千个收藏品中的金藻的研究，并将国际博物馆中所有样品的相应材料存档。综合的数据，预计将产生洞察力的新的研究举措，对全球气候变化和解决生物多样性和进化的问题。世界范围内的分类专业知识在规模金藻在过去十年中显着下降，这一事实已经破坏了这些生物的重要性和使用，以推进我们的知识的关键环境问题，如全球气候变化。 此外，与大多数生物群体不同，没有博物馆收藏可供新研究人员使用。 这些事实为该项目提供了主要动力，即制定一份生物体综合指南，同时在国际公认的博物馆中保存与指南直接对应的档案材料和标本。

Scaled chrysophytes are microscopic organisms common to all freshwater environments. Most species grow under very specific conditions, making them excellent indicators of environmental change and of the health of the environments in which they live. These organisms are so named because they form highly ornate structures out of glass, called scales, which are unique in design for each species. These scales accumulate in sediments where they can be recovered later and used to piece together the history of the water body. Study of scaled chrysophytes, including use as bioindicators, has been hampered by the lack of taxonomic resources available to new researchers. The primary objective of this project is to synthesize three decades of research on scaled chrysophytes from thousands of collections made along the east coast of North America, and archive corresponding materials from all samples in international museums. A synthesis of the data is expected to yield insights for new research initiatives on global climate change and for addressing biodiversity and evolutionary questions.Worldwide taxonomic expertise in scaled chrysophytes has significantly declined over the last decade, a fact that has undermined the importance and use of these organisms for advancing our knowledge of key environmental issues such as global climate change. In addition, unlike most groups of organisms, there are no museum collections available to aid new researchers. These facts provided the primary stimuli for this project, namely to develop a comprehensive guide to the organisms and simultaneously archive materials and specimens that directly correspond to the guide in internationally recognized museums.