Collaborative Research: Plant discovery in the southern Philippines

菲律宾群岛由7500多个岛屿组成，已知拥有高度独特的动植物多样性，但其中几个岛屿，特别是该国南部的维萨亚岛和棉兰老岛，仍需进行密集采样。许多动植物物种，包括潜在的农作物，都在等待发现和描述，尽管大片地区正受到森林砍伐的威胁。这个为期四年的项目将通过一系列大型实地考察记录和描述菲律宾南部的陆地植物和地衣多样性，然后进行分类研究和正式描述。该项目团队将通过博物馆实物收藏和高分辨率照片相结合的方式，记录各种植物物种的发生和丰富。所有图像和地点数据都将以易于搜索的格式放在网上。该项目还将为未来的家谱研究开发一个DNA储存库，其中包括实地考察期间收集的藏品。项目数据将用于收集菲律宾南部不同地区的物种清单，以确定生物多样性热点并确定土地管理决策的优先顺序。将为德克萨斯州和北卡罗来纳州的本科生和研究生提供不同的实地和实验室方法培训，为他们从事不同的科学职业做好准备。美国高中生将通过基于项目的课程学习生物多样性，其中包括接触收藏、数字数据和空间分析。包括通过德克萨斯州植物研究所(BRIT)的在线互动计划在内的推广活动，将在美国和菲律宾向科学家和公众广泛传播研究成果。这项菲律宾南部的植物学调查将通过八次主要的野外考察进行。标本馆标本将被数字化，并与相关的元数据和图像一起免费传播，活体标本和博物馆标本都是从该项目产生的收藏品中获得的。将使用形态和分子系统方法相结合的方法对藏品进行分析，以产生各种分类产品，包括修订、地区性注释清单和多条目检索表。项目数据将被用来描述物种丰富度和地方性的模式，并测试与更新世陆地构造对菲律宾植物区系影响相关的生物地理假说。该项目将发现新物种，重新发现鲜为人知的物种，并记录菲律宾的新物种记录。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The Philippines archipelago, comprising over 7500 islands, is known to contain high levels of unique plant and animal diversity but several of the islands, especially Visayas and Mindanao in the south of the country, still need to be intensively sampled. Many animal and plant species, including potential crop plants, await discovery and description even as extensive areas are threatened by deforestation. This four-year project will document and describe land plant and lichen diversity in the southern Philippines through a series of large field expeditions followed by taxonomic study and formal description. The project team will document the occurrence and abundance of diverse plant species through a combination of physical museum collections and high-resolution photographs. All images and locality data will be placed online in easily searchable formats. The project will also develop a DNA repository of collections made during the field expeditions for future genealogical studies. Project data will be used to assemble species inventories in different areas of the southern Philippines to both identify biodiversity hotspots and prioritize land management decisions. Diverse training in field and laboratory methods will be provided to undergraduate and graduate researchers in Texas and North Carolina to prepare them for diverse science careers. U.S. high school students will learn about biodiversity through a project-based curriculum that includes exposure to collections, digital data, and spatial analysis. Outreach, including online interactive programs through the Botanical Research Institute of Texas (BRIT), will disseminate research findings broadly within the U.S. and the Philippines to both scientists and the public.This botanical survey of the southern Philippines will be conducted through eight major field expeditions. Herbarium specimens will be digitized and freely disseminated along with associated metadata and images of both living in-situ and museum specimens derived from the collections generated by the project. Collections will be analyzed using a combination of morphological and molecular systematic approaches to produce a diversity of taxonomic products, including revisions, regional annotated checklists, and multi-entry keys. Project data will be used to characterize patterns of species richness and endemism and test biogeographic hypotheses associated with the effect of Pleistocene land conformations on the Philippine flora. The project will discover new species, rediscover poorly known species, and document new species records for the Philippines.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.