Using Museum Records and Distribution Models to Reconstruct the Historical Assemblage for Midwest Plecoptera

这个奖项是根据2009年美国复苏和再投资法案(公法111-5)资助的。自然历史博物馆是不可替代的物种数据来源，它们往往是历史数据的唯一来源。然而，许多书没有得到很好的支持，使它们的内容处于腐烂或被遗弃的危险中。该项目使用数学模型、博物馆数据和新标本来重建中西部溪流栖息的水生昆虫群落。石蝇是水生昆虫中对环境最敏感的一种，是水质的有用指标。1950年后，它们的活动范围急剧缩小，损失最大的是高度农业和城市化的伊利诺伊州。这个项目的目标是利用博物馆的数据来回答几个重要的保护问题：其他中西部地区石蝇群落的变化与伊利诺伊州的经验是否一致？哪些因素可以预测石蝇群落的变化？是稀有物种还是普通物种面临更大的灭绝风险？更广泛的影响包括：政府和非政府组织利用历史预期来改善水质评估；非政府组织利用关于保护状况的《石飞红皮书》数据来设定保护优先事项；科学家和公众使用带有有效名称、分布和识别关键字的开放获取物种页面；以及对新一代进行教育以解决水生昆虫保护问题。

"This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5)."Natural history museums are irreplaceable sources of species data and they are often the only source of historical data. Yet, many are poorly supported, putting their contents in jeopardy of decay or abandonment. This project uses mathematical models, museum data, and new specimens to reconstruct an assemblage of stream dwelling, Midwest aquatic insects. Stoneflies (Insect order Plecoptera), the most environmentally sensitive of aquatic insects, are useful indicators of water quality. Their ranges shrank dramatically after 1950, the greatest losses being in highly agricultural and urbanized Illinois. Other Midwest areas appear similarly imperiled.The objective of this project is to use museum data to answer several important conservation questions: Are changes in stonefly communities in other Midwest areas concordant with Illinois' experience? What factors predict changes in stonefly communities? Are rare or common species at greater risk of loss? Broader impacts include: government and NGOs use of historical expectations to improve water quality assessment; NGOs use of 'Stonefly Red Book' data on conservation status to set conservation priorities; scientist and public use of open access species pages with valid names, distributions, and identification keys; and education of a new generation to tackle aquatic insect conservation issues.