OPUS: RUI - Promoting and preserving the study of scaled chrysophytes with an emphasis on global climate change, evolutionary stasis, phylogeny and biogeography

鳞虫是所有淡水环境中常见的微生物。大多数物种在非常特殊的条件下生长，这使它们成为环境变化和它们所生活环境健康状况的极好指标。这些生物之所以如此命名，是因为它们用玻璃形成了非常华丽的结构，称为鳞片，每个物种的鳞片设计都是独一无二的。这些鳞片积聚在沉积物中，之后可以被回收，用来拼凑水体的历史。由于缺乏可供新研究者使用的分类资源，对鳞片虫的研究，包括作为生物指示物的研究一直受到阻碍。该项目的主要目标是综合三十年来对北美东海岸数千件藏品中鳞片苔藓的研究，并将国际博物馆中所有样本的相应材料存档。对这些数据的综合预计将为全球气候变化的新研究计划以及解决生物多样性和进化问题提供见解。在过去的十年中，世界范围内关于鳞虫的分类技术显著下降，这一事实削弱了这些生物在促进我们对全球气候变化等关键环境问题的认识方面的重要性和利用。此外，与大多数生物群体不同，没有博物馆收藏可以帮助新的研究人员。这些事实为这个项目提供了主要的刺激，即开发一个全面的生物指南，同时存档材料和标本，直接对应于国际公认的博物馆的指南。

Scaled chrysophytes are microscopic organisms common to all freshwater environments. Most species grow under very specific conditions, making them excellent indicators of environmental change and of the health of the environments in which they live. These organisms are so named because they form highly ornate structures out of glass, called scales, which are unique in design for each species. These scales accumulate in sediments where they can be recovered later and used to piece together the history of the water body. Study of scaled chrysophytes, including use as bioindicators, has been hampered by the lack of taxonomic resources available to new researchers. The primary objective of this project is to synthesize three decades of research on scaled chrysophytes from thousands of collections made along the east coast of North America, and archive corresponding materials from all samples in international museums. A synthesis of the data is expected to yield insights for new research initiatives on global climate change and for addressing biodiversity and evolutionary questions.Worldwide taxonomic expertise in scaled chrysophytes has significantly declined over the last decade, a fact that has undermined the importance and use of these organisms for advancing our knowledge of key environmental issues such as global climate change. In addition, unlike most groups of organisms, there are no museum collections available to aid new researchers. These facts provided the primary stimuli for this project, namely to develop a comprehensive guide to the organisms and simultaneously archive materials and specimens that directly correspond to the guide in internationally recognized museums.