CSBR: Natural History: Stabilization and Accessibility of the National Water-Quality Assessment Macroinvertebrate Collection

生活在河流和溪流中的水生昆虫和其他无脊椎动物帮助我们衡量我们国家水域的质量和健康。健康的水域支持更多种类的物种，水资源管理者使用物种多样性的测量方法以及化学分析来评估水体是否受到污染。在近25年的时间里，美国地质调查局(USGS)从全美2300条溪流和河流中收集了100多万种水生大型无脊椎动物，并使用这些样本建立了水质的基准参考条件。这些资料是关于生物多样性、水质评估和管理以及水生生态的当代信息和未来研究的宝贵资源。这些藏品由美国地质调查局捐赠给明尼苏达大学，以确保其继续存在，尽管它在历史和当代具有重要意义，而且条件优越，物种多样性，地理覆盖范围广，但仍计划进行处置。这一奖项有助于将这一收藏添加到大学现有的昆虫收藏中。此外，与标本相关的信息，如采集地点和时间，将被建立数据库，供研究人员、教育工作者和公众使用。目标标本最初存放在科罗拉多州丹佛市的美国地质调查局设施中，然后转移到明尼苏达大学。明尼苏达大学通过提供物理空间来存放标本和档案柜，表明了对该项目的支持和承诺。该奖项促进了该项目现在的目标是拆开包装、重组、数据库，并将材料物理地整合到明尼苏达大学昆虫收藏中。该大学将实施一个新的数据库应用程序，具有一个用户友好的界面，这样就可以访问与标本有关的信息，用于研究和教育。大部分工作将由一名全职策展助理在本科生的协助下进行。此外，一名硕士研究生将得到该项目的支持，以协助项目管理和标本保管，并将接受收藏管理、生物多样性评估和水生昆虫分类学方面的高级培训。该项目的结果和对数据库的访问将通过明尼苏达大学昆虫采集网站http://insectcollection.umn.edu/.提供

Aquatic insects and other invertebrates that live in rivers and streams help us gauge the quality and health of our Nation's waters. Healthy waters support a higher variety of species and water resource managers use measures of species diversity, along with chemical analyses, to assess whether a body of water is polluted or not. For almost 25 years, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) collected over 1 million aquatic macroinvertebrates from 2,300 streams and rivers across the United States and used these samples to establish baseline reference conditions of water quality. This collection serves as a valuable resource for contemporary information and future research on biodiversity, water quality assessment and management, and aquatic ecology. The collection was donated to the University of Minnesota by the USGS to ensure its continued existence, as it was slated for disposal in spite of its historical and contemporary importance and its excellent condition, diversity of species, and geographic coverage. This award facilitates the addition of this collection to the University's existing insect collection. Also, information associated with the specimens, such as where and when they were collected, will be databased and made available for use by researchers, educators, and the general public.The targeted specimens were originally housed at the USGS facility in Denver, Colorado, prior to their transfer to the University of Minnesota. The University of Minnesota has demonstrated support and commitment to this project by providing physical space to house the specimens and cabinets for archival storage. This award facilitates goals of the project are now to unpack, reorganize, database, and physically integrate the material into the University of Minnesota Insect Collection. The University will implement a new databasing application, with a user-friendly interface, so that information associated with the specimens can be accessed for research and education. A full-time curatorial associate, assisted by undergraduate students, will carry out most of the work. In addition, a Master's level graduate student will be supported by the project to assist with project management and specimen curation, and will also receive advanced training in collections management, biodiversity assessment, and aquatic insect taxonomy. Results of the project and access to the database will be made available through the University of Minnesota Insect Collection website at http://insectcollection.umn.edu/.