PurSUiT: Systematics and taxonomy of the mite lineage Uropodina

世界上的许多生物多样性仍然是未知的，特别是当它涉及小物种，如螨虫。对关系的基本理解和稳定的分类可以提供一个框架来帮助解决这个问题，在这个过程中也可以更好地评估这些生物体的作用。该项目通过对尾足螨（俗称“龟螨”）的研究来解决未被充分研究的螨虫生物多样性问题，尾足螨是一个在凋落物和土壤栖息地中有2000多种已描述物种的多样化群体。大多数“龟螨”是线虫和小昆虫的捕食者，但其他的以真菌为食，许多与昆虫有关。鉴定这些螨虫目前非常困难，特别是在热带地区，那里的螨虫种类最多。在分类上没有达成一致，中欧以外也没有好的识别工具。这个项目提出了对整个集团关系的分析。这种分析将有助于改进分类和开发易于使用的联机鉴定工具，这也将有助于农业和林业的应用研究。它还将导致200多个物种的描述，有助于缓解目前大多数物种未被描述的问题。其他更广泛的影响是培养本科生和研究生在螨虫系统学和分类学方面的能力。尾足目动物的亲缘关系将在属水平上确定，方法是采用包括广泛物种多样性的策略，并利用形态和分子特征。其目的是获得全局最优的分类，因此物种采样也必须是全局的。对于形态学，该项目使用成像技术，如共聚焦成像和显微ct扫描，以补充更传统的光学显微镜和扫描电镜图像。这些技术将允许创建三维模型，不仅具有外部特征，而且具有一些内部结构，增加了新的数据来源。这些模型也是一个很好的推广工具。采集数据、用于系统分析和物种描述的字符、图像等都将使用相同的电子基础设施进行管理，这将有助于避免重复输入数据。由于系统的所有要素都是联机的，因此便于查阅数据。这种设置易于扩展，允许在项目生命周期之外使用所建议的系统。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。

Much of the world’s biodiversity is still unknown, especially when it concerns small species, such as mites. A basic understanding of relationships and a stable classification can provide a scaffold to help address this issue, in the process also allowing better assessments of the role of these organisms. The project addresses understudied mite biodiversity with a study of Uropodina (commonly known as “turtle mites”), a diverse group of more than 2,000 described species in litter and soil habitats. Most “turtle mites” are predators of nematodes and small insects but others feed on fungi, and many are associated with insects. Identification of these mites is currently extremely difficult, especially in the tropics where they are most diverse. There is no agreement on classification and there are no good identification tools outside of Central Europe. This project proposes an analysis of relationships for the entire group. This analysis will allow an improved classification and development of easy-to-use, on-line identification tools, which will also be useful for applied research in agriculture and forestry. It will also result in description of over 200 species, helping alleviate the problem that most species are currently undescribed. Other broader impacts are the training of undergraduate and graduate students in mite systematics and taxonomy.Relationships in Uropodina will be determined at the genus-level by employing a strategy of including a wide diversity of species and using both morphological and molecular characters. The aim is to attain a classification that is globally optimal, and thus species sampling will also have to be global. For morphology the project uses imaging techniques, such as confocal imaging and micro CT-scans to supplement more traditional light microscope and SEM images. These techniques will allow creation of 3-D models featuring not only external, but also some internal structures, adding a new source of data. The models are also a great tool for outreach. Collection data, characters for systematic analysis and species description, images, etc. will all be managed using the same electronic infrastructure, which will help avoid duplication of data entry. Data access is facilitated because all elements of the system are on-line. This set-up is easily scalable, allowing use of the proposed system well beyond the lifetime of the project.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.