RCN: Diversity of the Indo-Pacific Network (DIPnet): A collaborative research network and database for advancing marine biodiversity research

该研究协调网络项目的目标是建立一个利用遗传方法研究印度洋-太平洋海洋生物生态和进化的研究人员的国际网络，以共享数据、思想和方法。热带印度洋和太平洋包围着地球上最大的生物地理区域——印度太平洋。它横跨地球周长的一半以上，包括50多个国家和地区的专属经济区。印度太平洋也是世界上海洋环境最多样化的地区。印度-太平洋地区的巨大和多样性给试图研究该地区海洋生物学的个人研究人员和实验室带来了巨大的后勤、政治和财政障碍。遗传方法可以为我们理解从个体扩散到整个海洋群落组成和聚集的过程提供宝贵的信息。该项目将：(1)建立一个独特的开放获取的人口遗传数据和相关元数据数据库，该数据库与正在制定的基因组和生物多样性标准相兼容，用于数据归档；(2)通过国际研讨会、虚拟交流和协作网站促进来自整个地区的研究人员之间的开放交流与合作；(3)通过这些场所促进对来自发展中国家的研究人员在生态学和进化中使用遗传方法的培训；(4)利用组装的数据库解决有关印度-太平洋地区物种进化和遗传多样性储藏库的基本问题。该网络将为生物多样性研究中的国际合作网络和遗传数据库提供一个模式，这将超出该研究协调网络的成果。

The objective of this Research Coordination Network project is to develop an international network of researchers who use genetic methodologies to study the ecology and evolution of marine organisms in the Indo-Pacific to share data, ideas and methods. The tropical Indian and Pacific Oceans encompass the largest biogeographic region on the planet, the Indo-Pacific. It spans over half of the Earth's circumference and includes the exclusive economic zones of over 50 nations and territories. The Indo-Pacific is also home to our world's most diverse marine environments. The enormity and diversity of the Indo-Pacific poses tremendous logistical, political and financial obstacles to individual researchers and laboratories attempting to study the marine biology of the region. Genetic methods can provide invaluable information for our understanding of processes ranging from individual dispersal to the composition and assembly of entire marine communities. The project will: (1) assemble a unique, open access database of population genetic data and associated metadata that is compatible with the developing genomic and biological diversity standards for data archiving, (2) facilitate open communication and collaboration among researchers from across the region through international workshops, virtual communication and a collaborative website, (3) promote training in the use of genetic methodologies in ecology and evolution for researchers from developing countries through these same venues, and (4) use the assembled database to address fundamental questions about the evolution of species and the reservoirs of genetic diversity in the Indo-Pacific. The network will provide a model for international collaborative networks and genetic databasing in biodiversity research that extends beyond the results of this Research Coordination Network effort.