IRCN: Coordinating research on bark beetle - fungal interactions in South Africa and the U.S.

世界各地的森林和树木工业日益受到侵袭性害虫和疾病的威胁，例如木材蛀皮甲虫及其相关真菌。更好地了解树皮甲虫和真菌之间的互利或共生关系对全球森林的长期健康和可持续性至关重要。然而，目前对树皮甲虫与真菌的共生关系了解甚少，导致控制树皮甲虫在全球森林中的传播和影响的策略有限。这个国际研究协调网络（IRCN）项目由美国国家科学基金会（NSF）和南非国家研究基金会（NRF）共同资助，将协调南非和美国的森林病理学家、昆虫学家和真菌学家的研究活动，这两个国家是世界上最富有成效的森林健康研究社区。IRCN将连接14个机构，由22名个人研究人员代表，以批判性地评估树皮甲虫及其真菌同伴目前的研究情况，以及如何改进这项研究。作为实验室交流项目的一部分，美国和南非的本科生和研究生将接受广泛的培训，以加强两国之间的研究协调。超过一半的项目参与者在科学领域的代表性不足，包括女性、少数民族和早期职业科学家。自然资源管理者和公众将根据网络成员之间新合成的数据，帮助制定更好的管理策略，并通过在线视频和其他媒体广泛传播树皮甲虫-真菌共生的信息。这个美国-南非IRCN项目旨在重新评估、振兴和协调树皮甲虫-真菌共生的研究。该网络的具体目标包括采用新的数据标准，以提高病媒真菌关联数据的移动性，并加强已建立的存储库之间的数据库共享，以促进各种树皮甲虫和真菌数据的合成。参与实验室之间的交流将促进研究网络中新技术的引进，并有助于协调树皮甲虫-真菌共生模式的冲突。该网络还将维护一个公开可用的社交媒体门户网站，讨论树皮甲虫/真菌共生的研究，并为研究共生的全球研究人员发布一份综合报告。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Forests and tree industries around the world are increasingly threatened by invasive pests and diseases, such as wood boring bark beetles and their associated fungi. A better understanding of the mutually beneficial -- or symbiotic -- relationship between bark beetles and fungi is critical for the long-term health and sustainability of global forests. Currently, however, bark beetle-fungal symbioses are poorly understood resulting in a limited number of strategies to control both the spread and impact of bark beetles in forests worldwide. This International Research Coordination Network (IRCN) project, co-funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) and South African National Research Foundation (NRF), will coordinate the research activities of forest pathologists, entomologists and mycologists throughout South Africa and the U.S. -- two of the world's most productive forest health research communities. The IRCN will connect 14 institutions, represented by 22 individual researchers, to critically assess how bark beetles and their fungal associates are currently studied and how this research could be improved. U.S. and South African undergraduates and graduate students will be trained broadly as part of a laboratory exchange program to enhance research coordination between the two countries. More than half of the project participants are under-represented in science, including females, minorities, and early-career scientists. Natural resource managers and the public will be engaged to help formulate better management strategies based on newly synthesized data among the network members, and information on bark beetle - fungal symbioses will be disseminated broadly via online videos and other media. This U.S. - South African IRCN project aims to re-evaluate, invigorate and coordinate research on bark beetle - fungus symbioses. Specific aims of the Network include adoption of new data standards to improve mobility of vector-fungus association data, and enhanced sharing of databases among established repositories to facilitate synthesis of diverse bark beetle and fungal data. Exchanges among participating laboratories will facilitate the introduction of new technologies across the Research Network and help reconcile conflicting bark beetle - fungal symbiosis paradigms. The Network will also maintain a publicly available social media portal discussing research on bark beetle/fungal symbioses and publish a synthesis for the global community of researchers studying symbioses.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.