STS Post Doctoral Fellowship: From Morphology to DNA: Metagenomics and its Impacts on Species-Based Conservation Science and Policy

研究概述这项研究产生了一系列关于真菌学家正在进行的工作的观察结果，这些工作是为了协调生物学和更大的生物多样性保护社区内的新旧物种概念。真菌学家正在发现只有通过DNA测序才能识别的新物种。该项目使用混合方法、多地点项目方法，跟踪实地、实验室和国际会议环境中的科学家；当他们遇到时，对被确定为代表独特有机体和物种的基因序列进行处理、打包、命名、分类，并最终赋予其生物学价值。在多个尺度上同时检查知识生产的实践表明，随着生物学家倡导保护真菌多样性的想法，生物科学家和那些专注于物种保护的人之间的紧张关系日益加剧。微生物保护远远落后于世界范围内的动植物保护。如果不使用特殊技术，人类无法观察到的这些快速增长的物种数量的全部或部分是否值得保留？更广泛的影响微生物多样性的建构主义方法有可能改变我们对遗传学、科学命名法和生物信息学在生物多样性保护中作用的理解。具体地说，这项研究建立在自然科学和社会科学正在进行的合作的基础上，涉及并贡献了三个领域：真菌学、科学和技术研究以及地理。它将(1)建立跨学科学者在微生物学、保护生物学和政策之间工作的培训指南；(2)增加地理学、真菌学和保护生物学学科之间的跨学科交叉对话和合作；(3)就如何在保护政策中使用新的统计和遗传数据提出政策建议。

Description of researchThis research generates a series of observations about the work mycologists are doing to reconcile new and old species concepts within biology and the larger biodiversity conservation community. Mycologists are discovering new species that are only identified through DNA sequencing. Using a mixed methods, multi-sited project approach, this project follows scientists in the field, the laboratory, and at international conference settings; as they encounter, process, package, name, classify, and ultimately give biological value to the genetic sequences determined to represent unique organisms and species. Examining the practices of knowledge production simultaneously at multiple scales shows increasing points of tension between the biological scientists and those focused on species conservation as the biologists promote the idea of preserving fungal diversity.. Microbial conservation lags far behind floral and faunal conservation worldwide. Is it worth preserving all or some of this rapidly increasing numbers of species that are not observable to humans without the use of special technologies?. Broader Impact A constructivist approach to microbial diversity has the potential to transform our understanding of the roles of genetics, scientific nomenclature, and bioinformatics in biodiversity conservation. Specifically, this research builds on an ongoing collaboration across the natural and social sciences, and engages with and contributes to three fields: mycology, science and technology studies, and geography. It will (1) establish training guidelines for interdisciplinary scholars to work at the interface of microbiology, conservation biology, and policy; (2) increase interdisciplinary cross-talk and collaboration among disciplines of geography, mycology, and conservation biology; (3) and generate policy recommendations about how to use new kinds of statistical and genetic data in conservation policy.