RUI: Collaborative Research: Microbiological Survey and Inventory of Gregarines Parasitizing Aquatic and Riparian Insects of the Texas Big Thicket

德克萨斯大灌木丛中寄生水生和河岸昆虫的绿毛虫的微生物调查和清查：生物学的基本问题仍然是“它是什么？”“它是做什么工作的？”生物多样性研究通过调查一个地区的生物并试图了解这些生物如何促进系统的稳定性和多样性来回答这些问题。这个项目是对生物多样性的研究，目标是一个未被充分研究的群体，具有深远的科学意义：地球上最常见的动物（昆虫）中最常见的寄生虫（格林原生动物）。尽管科学家估计存在超过500万种格林寄生虫，但目前已知的不到2000种，因此该项目将发现大量新的寄生物种，这些物种在德克萨斯州东部大灌木丛的水生和河岸（海岸线）栖息地的稳定性和多样性方面发挥着重要的生态和进化作用。该项目的重点是大灌木丛，有时被称为“美国的生物十字路口”，因为来自3个不同生活区的动植物都出现在该地区，因为没有对大灌木丛中的昆虫生活进行彻底的调查。大灌木林是一个永久濒危的栖息地，其生物多样性被保存在一系列走廊公园中，形成了大灌木林国家保护区。该项目将在公共标本基地的基础上，为这个脆弱且受广泛影响的联邦保护区的理论研究和管理决策提供一个可靠的水生和河岸昆虫多样性估计，为生态系统和群落数据提供依据。该项目将收集寄主和寄生虫标本，保存组织标本以供将来的遗传分析，以及电子和印刷形式的分类描述和鉴定文件。电子描述、数字图像和项目数据库可通过该项目的WWW网站http://science.peru.edu/gregarina获得。该项目将使现有的绿雀花标本数量增加一倍以上，为绿雀花多样性模式的荟萃分析提供数据支持，并为未来对新北极绿雀花的系统修订提供框架。由于科学和基础设施的原因，这个项目在更大的社会背景下都很重要。从科学上讲，该项目不仅提供了有关昆虫及其寄生虫的重要信息，还提供了有关创造和维持寄生虫多样性的因素的重要信息。因此，其科学意义从新出现疾病的理论生态学延伸到美国公园和保护区联邦、州和地方生物多样性管理策略的设计和评估。也许更重要的是，该项目在研究的各个阶段都重视本科生的培训。这些培训机会将增加科学领域的多样性：历史上，超过50%的本科研究人员来自代表性不足的群体。该项目旨在培养新一代科学家，以满足新千年美国科学的需要，同时为公共教育和广大公众开发和提供新的互联网资源。生物指标数据可供下载，并用于制定公共政策和资源管理战略。

Microbiological Survey And Inventory Of Gregarines Parasitizing Aquatic And Riparian Insects Of The Texas Big Thicket: The fundamental questions of biology remain "What is it?"; and, "What does it do for a living?" These questions are answered by studies of biodiversity that survey the organisms of a region and try to understand how these organisms contribute to the stability and diversity of the system. This project is a study of biological diversity that targets an understudied group with profound scientific implications: the most common parasites (gregarine protozoans) of the planet's most common animals (insects). Although scientists estimate that over 5 million species of gregarine parasites exist, less than 2,000 species are currently known, thus the project will discover a large number of new parasitic species that play an important ecological and evolutionary role in the stability and diversity of aquatic and riparian (shoreline) habitats in the Big Thicket of eastern Texas. The project focuses on the Big Thicket, sometimes called the "Biological Crossroads of America" because plants and animals from 3 distinct life zones all occur in the region, because no thorough survey of the insect life in the Big Thicket exists. The Big Thicket is a permanently endangered habitat whose biodiversity is preserved in a series of corridor parks forming the Big Thicket National Preserve. The project will provide a robust estimate of aquatic and riparian insect diversity in the Big Thicket predicated on a public specimen base yielding both ecosystem and community data for theoretical studies and management decisions in this fragile and broadly impacted federal preserve. The project will produce host and parasite specimen collections, preserved tissue specimens for future genetic analysis, and taxonomic descriptions and identification documents in both electronic and printed form. Electronic descriptions, digital images, and project databases are available through the project's WWW site http://science.peru.edu/gregarina. This project will more than double the existing gregarine specimen base, providing data to support meta-analysis of gregarine diversity patterns and provides a skeleton for future systematic revision of the Nearctic gregarines.This project is important in a larger societal context for both scientific and infrastructural reasons. Scientifically, the project provides important information no only about insects and their parasites, but about the factors that create and maintain parasite diversity. Thus the scientific implications extend from the theoretical ecology of emerging disease to the design and evaluation of federal, state, and local biodiversity management strategies in America's parks and reserves. Perhaps more importantly, the project places a premium on undergraduate training through all phases of the research. These training opportunities will increase diversity within science: historically over 50% of our undergraduate researchers are from underrepresented groups. The project is designed to train a new generation of scientists to meet the needs of American science in the new millennium while developing and providing new Internet resources for public education and the public at large. Biological indicator data is made available for download and use in formulating public policy and resource management strategies.