Collaborative Research: Caterpillars and Parasitoids in the Eastern Andes of Ecuador

合作研究：厄瓜多尔安第斯山脉东部的毛毛虫和拟寄生物

• 批准号: 0346712
• 负责人: James Whitfield
• 金额: $ 7.8万
• 依托单位: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2004
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2004-07-15 至 2007-06-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0346712&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; Caterpillars; Parasitoids; Eastern

ABSTRACTParasitoids, which are an important component of most terrestrialecosystems, are parasitic animals (mostly wasps, flies, and nematodes)that kill their hosts as part of their normal life cycle. Plants, theirinsect herbivores, and the parasitoids that attack those herbivoresrepresent more than half of all described organisms in the world."Caterpillars and parasitoids in the Eastern Andes of Ecuador" consists ofan intensive plant, caterpillar, and parasitoid inventory at the YanayacuBiological Station (YBS) in the Ecuadorian Andes. The primary objectivesare to: 1) Collect and catalog the diverse community of caterpillars andassociated parasitoids at this site and to provide specimens forsystematics (classification of organisms and their evolutionaryrelationships). 2) Disseminate this information with a searchable databaseaccessible to scientists and the public throughout the world. 3) Collectbaseline natural history information such as specialized associationsbetween plants, herbivores, and parasitoids; development rates; and otherlife cycle information for both known and undescribed species. 4) Providethe foundation for an identification key to the caterpillars of theEcuadorian Andes. Caterpillar collecting and rearing will take place in acloud forest on the eastern slope of the Andes in Napo province, Ecuador,centered around the YBS. Collecting will be conducted by carefullyinspecting selected plant species along transects and also byopportunistically collecting all caterpillars observed in the collectingarea. Caterpillars and parasitoids will be reared to adults. Adultbutterflies, moths, and parasitoids will be distributed to a network ofcollaborating specialists for identification and for descriptions of newspecies, revisions, and evolutionary studies.The intellectual merit of the proposed activity includessignificant advances in insect classification by providing specimens toexperts as well as providing a critical inventory that can be used in theconservation of biodiversity. Forests of the equatorial Andes arerecognized as a global hotspot of biodiversity that is being destroyed atan alarming rate, but conservation efforts are improving. The currentsurvey will make an important contribution towards documenting anddescribing the caterpillars and parasitoids of this threatened area, andwill increase the local value of the Andean forests by providingscientific and economic incentives for their conservation. The ecology andsystematics that are a part of this study will also be used to address avariety of basic and applied questions in ecology and evolutionarybiology, ranging from the evolution of unique plant-insect interactions tothe conservation and management of biodiversity. The broader impacts ofthis project include direct involvement of 4 local field assistants, 3Ecuadorian students, 3 Ecuadorian senior scientists, 1 postdoctoralresearcher, at least 12 collaborating insect specialists, and variousgraduate and undergraduate students. Therefore the project strengthensinternational scientific dialogue and relationships. The overall projectwill include enhancements in science education and research experienceprograms for minorities. Finally, the research will enhance training insystematics to help stem the decline in expertise that is currently havinga negative impact on all disciplines in biology.

摘要呈parasitoids是大多数陆层生物系统的重要组成部分，是寄生动物（主要是黄蜂，苍蝇和线虫），它们是正常生命周期的一部分杀死其宿主的。植物，它们的生物动物以及攻击世界上所有描述的生物的一半以上的寄生虫。主要目标是：1）收集和分类该地点的毛毛虫的多元化社区，并在此站点收集相关的寄生虫，并提供标本的外科系统学（对生物体及其进化性关联的分类）。 2）通过可搜索的数据来传播这些信息，可为全世界的科学家和公众提供。 3）收集自然史信息，例如植物，食草动物和寄生虫之间的专门关联；发展速度；以及已知和未描述的物种的其他生命周期信息。 4）提供了识别安第斯山脉毛毛虫的识别键。毛毛虫的收集和饲养将在厄瓜多尔纳波省安第斯山脉东部的阿克洛德森林中进行，以YBS为中心。收集将通过仔细介绍沿样品的选定植物物种进行进行进行，并在收集库中观察到的所有毛毛虫。毛毛虫和寄生虫将饲养到成年人。成人泡沫，飞蛾和寄生虫将分配给一个网络，以识别和描述报纸，修订和进化研究。所提出的活动的智力优点包括昆虫分类在昆虫分类中的重要进步，可以通过提供预先培养的库存来提供批判性的发明，并提供批判性的发明。赤道安第斯山脉的森林被认为是被摧毁令人震惊的速度的全球生物多样性热点，但保护工作正在改善。 CurrentsUrvey将为记录并描述这一受威胁地区的毛毛虫和寄生虫做出重要贡献，并将通过为其保护而提高安第斯森林的当地价值。作为这项研究的一部分的生态学和系统学也将用于解决生态和进化生物学中基本问题和应用问题的宣传，从独特的植物 - 互动相互作用的演变来保护生物多样性。该项目的更广泛影响包括直接参与4位当地野外助手，3位学生，3位厄瓜多尔高级科学家，1名博士后研究员，至少12名合作的昆虫专家以及各种研究生和本科生。因此，该项目加强了新的科学对话和关系。总体项目将包括对少数民族的科学教育和研究经验计划的增强。最后，这项研究将增强培训疾病，以帮助阻止专业知识的下降，而专业知识的下降目前对生物学的所有学科产生负面影响。