CAREER: A Faunistic and Phylogeographic Survey of Beetle Diversity in the California Floristic Province Hotspot

这个位于圣巴巴拉自然历史博物馆的CAREERS项目将为加利福尼亚植物区系丰富的甲虫区系的综合研究奠定基础。它将使PI成为这个日益濒危地区为数不多的节肢动物生物多样性专家之一。该项目以南加州横向山脉为重点，整合了基于实地的库存工作、基于dna的地理变异研究和前沿的生物信息学平台，以发展对该地区生物多样性的独特深入了解。加州植物省是国际公认的生物多样性热点，但其最多样化的居民，甲虫和其他节肢动物，仍然知之甚少。该项目将发现数百种未被描述的甲虫物种，揭示该地区遗传多样性的程度，并以前所未有的细节记录数千种物种的分布。本研究所得数据将具有深远的应用价值。该地区长期以来一直被认为是研究进化的重要自然实验室，为物种形成过程提供了重要的见解。但这些研究在分类学上是有限的。通过对区域甲虫的研究来扩展这一工作体系，将使这些过程得到真正的概括。此外，尽管无脊椎动物具有重要的生态意义，但由于缺乏适用和可获取的数据，无脊椎动物在该地区的土地利用管理中很少得到考虑。这个项目将产生这些数据和一个用于访问它的在线系统。促进对该地区昆虫生物多样性的认识和认识是该项目的主要目标之一。高中、本科和博士后阶段的学生将直接参与研究。他们将获得野外生物学、现代分子系统学技术和生物信息学方法论方面的经验。所有项目人员都将通过在博物馆的公开演讲、在国际会议上的专业演讲以及一个吸引人的、用户友好的项目网站来分享研究成果。该网站将提供直接访问项目数据的主要门户。底层数据库将容纳数千个地理参考标本记录，使基于gis的制图和分布分析成为可能。这些数据也可以从远程服务器上自动查询，这些服务器组装了一个全球生物多样性数据架构。对于一般用户，该网站将提供自然历史信息和他们可能在该地区发现的许多物种的照片。还将作出特别努力，使小学生和教育工作者能够方便地使用这些信息。

ABSTRACTMichael CaterinoDEB 0447694This CAREERS project, based at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History,will build a foundation for synthetic study of the rich beetle fauna of theCalifornia Floristic Province. It will establish the PI as one of a verysmall number of arthropod biodiversity specialists of this increasinglyimperiled region. Focusing on the southern Californian Transverse Ranges,this project integrates field-based inventory work, DNA-based studies ofgeographic variation, and a cutting edge bioinformatics platform to developa uniquely deep understanding of the area's biodiversity. The CaliforniaFloristic Province is an internationally recognized biodiversity hotspot,yet its most diverse inhabitants, beetles and other arthropods, remain verypoorly known. This project will discover hundreds of undescribed beetlespecies, will reveal the extent of genetic diversity across the region, andwill document the distributions of thousands of species in unprecedenteddetail. The data developed through this study will have far-reachingapplication. The region has long been recognized as an important naturallaboratory for studying evolution, providing important insights into theprocess of speciation. But these studies have been taxonomically limited.Expanding on this body of work through studies of regional beetles willallow real generalizations to be made about these processes. Additionally,despite their ecological significance, invertebrates have received littleconsideration in land use management in the region, due principally to alack of applicable and accessible data. This project will produce this dataand an online system for accessing it. Promoting knowledge and appreciation of insect biodiversity in the region isone of the project's primary goals. Students at high school, undergraduate,and postdoctoral levels will be directly involved in the research. They willgain experience in field biology, modern molecular systematics techniques,and bioinformatics methodology. All project personnel will share findingsthrough public presentations at the Museum, through professionalpresentations at international conferences, and through an attractive,user-friendly project web site. The web site will provide the primary portalfor direct access to project data. The underlying database will housethousands of georeferenced specimen records, enabling GIS-based mapping anddistributional analyses. These data will also be accessible to automatedqueries from remote servers assembling a global biodiversity dataarchitecture. For general users the web site will provide access to naturalhistory information and photographs of many species they may find in thearea. Special effort will be also made to make this information readilyuseful by primary school students and educators.