Bees: phylogeny, biogeography and taxonomy

蜜蜂是世界上最重要的传粉者。由于它们的高灭绝风险，它们还告诉我们环境的状况。此外，由于物种对栖息地的要求不同（饮食宽度，巢址和材料等），它们可用于监测特定生境变化的影响。虽然西方驯化蜜蜂是最常见的管理物种，但我们现在知道，其他20，400多个描述的物种中的许多在农业上往往更重要。然而，阻碍我们利用蜜蜂多样性的一个主要因素是，在任何分类学水平上对它们进行鉴定都非常困难。有几个问题导致了识别方面的挑战，包括1）物种之间的形态相似性，2）缺乏识别工具/识别工具质量差，以及3）其分类的持续变化（在属级可能是每年一次，即使在科级也过于频繁）。分类应基于形态学，但基于形态学和遗传学数据的结果之间存在很大差异。因此，我们的研究目标是：1）通过分类学上密集的全证据系统稳定蜜蜂分类，并使用结果2）了解导致当前蜜蜂分布的地质/古环境/地理事件，3）开发和提供用户友好的识别工具。1.将涉及使用我们广泛的收藏，其中包括世界上超过35%的蜜蜂物种和超过93%的属。我们将评估数百种形态特征，并将使用最近开发的方法从每个属的至少一个成员中生成数百到数千个基因序列，这些方法甚至适用于几十年前收集的微小昆虫。它将为长期分类提供坚实的基础。2.由目标1产生的突变将被时间校准，从而使我们能够检测特定地理分离何时产生。这样我们就能够寻找与这些间断相吻合的地质或古环境事件。这项工作将在世界蜜蜂的属级，智利的物种级。3.将涉及扩大蜜蜂的DNA条形码库，并为特定国家（最终是全世界）的蜜蜂属生成图像驱动的用户友好的识别指南。这些密钥将被转换为免费提供的在线应用程序，这些应用程序模仿计算机游戏，并将在文化上特定于目标国家/地区/ IMPACT的游戏风格偏好。我们研究的全球性吸引了全世界的兴趣。产生用户友好的识别工具，可以通过形态学和DNA交叉验证的实际重要性不能被夸大。全世界都非常需要这种信息。我们将开发的方法应该为任何具有挑战性的生物群的鉴定程序设定标准。

Bees are the most important pollinators in the world. Because of their high extinction risk, they also inform us about the state of the environment. Additionally, as species differ in habitat requirements (diet breadth, nest sites & materials, etc.) they can be used to monitor the effects of specific habitat changes. Although the western domesticated honey bee is the most commonly managed species, we now know that many of the other 20,400+ described species are often agriculturally more important. However, a major factor that impedes our use of bee diversity is the fact that their identification at any taxonomic level is extremely hard. Several issues contribute to identification challenges, including 1) morphological similarities among species, 2) absence/poor quality of identification tools, and 3) ongoing changes to their classifications (which can be annual at the generic level, and far too frequent even at the family level). Classifications should be based upon phylogenies, but there are large discrepancies between results based upon morphological and genetic data. Thus, our research objectives are to: 1) stabilize bee classification through a taxonomically dense total evidence phylogeny and use the results to 2) understand the geological/palaeoenvironmental /biogeographic events that led to current bee distributions and 3) develop and provide user-friendly identification tools. 1. Will involve use of our extensive collection which houses >35% of the world's bee species and >93% of the genera. Hundreds of morphological characteristics will be assessed, and we will generate hundreds to thousands of gene sequences from at least one member of each genus using recently developed methods that work even for minute pinned insects that were collected decades ago. It will provide a robust basis for a long-lasting classification. 2. The phylogeny resulting from objective 1 will be time calibrated permitting us to detect when particular geographic disjunctions originated. We will then be able to look for the geological or palaeoenvironmental events that coincide with the disjunctions. This work will be at the generic level for the bees of the world, species level for Chile. 3. Will involve augmenting the DNA barcode library for bees and generating image-driven, user-friendly identification guides for the bee genera of specific countries (eventually the whole world). These keys will be turned into freely available online apps that mimic computer games and will be culturally specific to the gaming style preferences in the target country/ies/ IMPACT. The global nature of our research attracts worldwide interest. The practical importance of generating user-friendly identification tools that can be cross-validated by morphology and DNA cannot be overstated. There is enormous need for this information throughout the world. The approaches we will develop should set the standard for identification procedures for any challenging group of organisms.