Collaborative Research - Toward Documenting Biodiversity Change in Arctic Lichens: Databasing the Principal Collections, Establishing a Baseline, and Developing a Virtual Flora

合作研究 - 记录北极地衣生物多样性变化：建立主要收藏数据库、建立基线和开发虚拟植物区系

• 批准号: 1023407
• 负责人: Kenneth Cameron
• 金额: $ 23.93万
• 依托单位: University of Wisconsin-Madison
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2011
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2011-12-01 至 2014-11-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1023407&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; Toward; Documenting; Biodiversity

Lichens are symbiotic organisms that are highly sensitive to environmental change, and have been used for decades as bioindicators to monitor air pollution. Their past, current, and future patterns of distribution in Arctic and Subarctic ecosystems are likely to be reflective of significant ecosystem change in temperature, water and nutrient cycling, as well as population dynamics of migratory animals such as caribou. Most of the data concerning current and historical distributions of Arctic lichens presently resides in the literature and within the natural history collections of North America, the two largest of which reside in the herbaria of the University of Alaska Museum (Fairbanks) and the University of Wisconsin State Herbarium (Madison). This project would identify, update nomenclature, barcode, georeference, and database this pair of collections. At the same time, an updated checklist of all Arctic & Subarctic lichen species will be generated, photographs will be collected, and taxonomic characters for each species will be coded for use in creating dynamic taxonomic keys and species descriptions. Together, this dataset will be integrated using the Symbiota software package to generate an online virtual Flora of Arctic Lichens. Virtual floras, with their interactive keys, color photographs, species descriptions, real-time distribution maps, and direct access to complete specimen metadata, represent a revolution in the way that biodiversity information is shared in a democratic manner with all who are interested. The creation of what promises to be a relatively comprehensive Flora will expose the discipline of lichenology to a larger community, and help to further advance an appreciation of ecological complexity within the Arctic biome. In addition to the online databases and information technology tools that will be generated, data gathered for this project will be disseminated through a series of regional and national workshops. The project will also serve as the basis for Arctic lichen-themed science camps, exhibits, lectures, and activities created for the greater public, including the K-12 student/teacher audience. Finally, the collaborative effort includes both undergraduate and graduate students who will receive training from a diverse team of researchers.

地衣是对环境变化高度敏感的共生生物，数十年来用作监测空气污染的生物指导者。它们的过去，当前和未来的北极和亚北极生态系统中分布模式可能反映了温度，水和养分循环的生态系统的显着变化，以及迁徙动物（例如驯鹿）的种群动态。目前，有关北极地衣的当前和历史分布的大多数数据都存在于北美的自然历史收藏中，其中两个居住在阿拉斯加大学博物馆（Fairbanks）和威斯康星大学Herbarium（Madison）的赫巴里亚。该项目将识别，更新命名法，条形码，Georeference和数据库这对集合。同时，将生成所有北极和亚北极地衣物种的更新清单，将收集照片，并将每个物种的分类特征编码用于创建动态的分类键和物种描述。将使用Symbiota软件包共同集成此数据集，以生成在线虚拟的北极地衣菌群。虚拟植物群及其交互式钥匙，彩色照片，物种描述，实时分配图以及直接访问完整的标本元数据，代表了一场革命，其方式是，生物多样性信息以民主的方式与所有感兴趣的人共享。有望成为一个相对全面的植物群的创造将使苔藓学的学科暴露给更大的社区，并有助于进一步促进对北极生物群落内生态复杂性的欣赏。除了将生成的在线数据库和信息技术工具外，为该项目收集的数据还将通过一系列的区域和国家研讨会来传播。该项目还将作为北极地衣主题的科学训练营，展览，讲座和活动的基础，包括K-12学生/老师的观众在内。最后，合作的努力包括本科生和研究生，他们将接受多样化的研究人员团队的培训。