Collaborative Research: Genealogy of Odonata (GEODE): Dispersal and color as drivers of 300 million years of global dragonfly evolution

蜻蜓和豆娘，也被称为蜻蜓，是彩色的，快速飞行的昆虫，很容易发现和识别。它们的进化延续了300万年，在世界上几乎所有地方都发现了大约6200种已知的物种。它们是理解飞行进化的核心，因为它们的祖先是最早会飞的动物之一。虽然飞行进化得很早，但它们是卓越的空中伏击捕食者，在群落中扮演着关键的生态角色，捕食其他昆虫，如咬蝇（如蚊子）。齿形动物也是为数不多的一种动物，它们一生中有一部分生活在淡水中，另一部分生活在陆地上，因此它们是健康淡水系统的关键指标。它们在科学界引起了很大的兴趣，但是关于它们的家谱、生态和分布的信息并没有集中在任何一个来源中。这项研究很重要，因为它将收集几乎所有物种的信息，并将其放在一个公众和研究人员都可以使用的在线数据库中。这将是第一个完整昆虫目的数据库。这将使蜻蜓和豆娘在环境、生态和进化研究中得到更多的应用。这项研究还将帮助公众了解蜻蜓，以及更广泛的昆虫、进化、生态和保护。这项研究的目的有两个。它将收集系统发育、生态和地理空间数据，通过odonatcentral网站为更广泛的科学界提供这些数据。其次，这些数据将用于研究流动性、栖息地、生态位、颜色和分布在全球范围内对物种多样性和多样性模式的历史影响。该项目将汇集蜥目动物系统发育学、生态学、生物地理学以及信息学和公民科学领域的领导者，并将：(1)建立一个健全的、物种水平的现存和化石蜥目动物的分子和形态系统发育；(2)积累了丰富的生态性状信息，特别是龙和豆娘的颜色信息，并开发了完整的全球分布和环境生态位信息；(3)检验关于蛇目动物多样化的进化假说，特别是颜色进化的作用；(4)开发可视化、知识产品和分析，动态整合这三个数据层，同时通过博物馆、网络和移动应用程序为基础的工具和外展吸引公众。啮齿动物依赖于淡水，这是一种目前资助的研究普遍缺乏的栖息地类型，但对人类福祉至关重要。我们的努力将为Odonata在全球变化和栖息地丧失中成为濒危淡水栖息地的全球生物指标标准提供工具。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。

Dragonflies and damselflies, also called the Odonata, are colorful, fast-flying insects that are easy to find and recognize. Their evolution stretches 300 Mya and there are ~6200 known species found in nearly all parts of the world. They are central to understanding the evolution of flight, as their ancestors were among the first animals to fly. While flight evolved early, they are remarkable aerial ambush predators serving a key ecological role in communities as predators on other insects such as biting flies (e.g., mosquitoes). Odonates are also one of a few animal groups that spend part of their life in freshwater and another part on land, and so they are key indicators of healthy freshwater systems. They have received much scientific interest, but information about their genealogy, ecology, and distribution is not centralized in any one source. This research is important because it will gather this information for nearly all species and put it in an online database that is available to both the public and researchers. This will be the first such database for an entire order of insect. It will allow dragonflies and damselflies to be used more in environmental, ecological, and evolutionary studies. The research will also help educate the public in dragonfly, and more broadly insect, evolution, ecology and conservation. The aims of this research are two-fold. It will amass phylogenetic, ecological and geospatial data, making this available for the wider scientific community via the OdonataCentral website. Secondly, this data will be used to study the historical impact of mobility, habitat, niche, color, and distribution on odonate diversification and diversity patterns at the global level. The project will bring together leaders in Odonata phylogenetics, ecology, biogeography as well as informatics and citizen science, and will: (1) develop a robust, species-level molecular and morphological phylogeny of extant and fossil Odonata; (2) amass ecological traits, especially rich information about dragon- and damselfly color, and develop full global distribution and environmental niche information; (3) test evolutionary hypotheses regarding diversification of Odonata, especially the role of color evolution; (4) develop visualizations, knowledge products and analyses that dynamically integrate these three data layers while engaging the general public through museum, web- and mobile-app based tools and outreach. Odonates are dependent on freshwater, a habitat type that is broadly underserved by currently funded research but that is crucial for human well-being. Our efforts will provide tools for Odonata to become the standard as global bioindicators of endangered freshwater habitats in the midst of global change and habitat loss.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.