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，是五颜六色的，快速飞行的昆虫，很容易找到和识别。它们的进化延伸了300 Mya，在世界几乎所有地区都发现了约6200种已知物种。它们是理解飞行进化的核心，因为它们的祖先是最早飞行的动物之一。虽然飞行进化得很早，但它们是显着的空中伏击捕食者，在社区中扮演着关键的生态角色，作为捕食其他昆虫的捕食者，如叮咬苍蝇（例如，蚊子）。蜻蜓也是为数不多的几种生活在淡水和陆地上的动物之一，因此它们是健康淡水系统的关键指标。它们受到了很多科学兴趣，但关于它们的系谱、生态和分布的信息并不集中在任何一个来源。这项研究很重要，因为它将收集几乎所有物种的信息，并将其放入公众和研究人员都可以使用的在线数据库中。这将是第一个针对整个昆虫的数据库。它将使蜻蜓和豆娘更多地用于环境，生态和进化研究。这项研究还将有助于教育公众了解昆虫，更广泛地说，昆虫，进化，生态和保护。它将收集系统发育、生态和地理空间数据，通过OdonataCentral网站提供给更广泛的科学界。其次，这些数据将被用来研究历史上的影响，流动性，栖息地，生态位，颜色和分布的齿科动物的多样化和多样性模式在全球范围内。该项目将汇集蜻蜓目昆虫遗传学、生态学、地理学以及信息学和公民科学领域的领导者，并将：（1）发展现存和化石蜻蜓目昆虫的强大的、物种水平的分子和形态学系统学;（2）积累生态特征，特别是丰富的关于龙和豆娘颜色的信息，并发展完整的全球分布和环境生态位信息;（3）测试有关蜻蜓目多样性的进化假设，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，基于网络和移动应用程序的工具和推广吸引公众。蜻蜓依赖于淡水，这是一种目前资助的研究普遍不足的栖息地类型，但对人类福祉至关重要。我们的努力将为蜻蜓提供工具，使其成为全球变化和栖息地丧失中濒危淡水栖息地的全球生物指标标准。该奖项反映了NSF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.