Digitization TCN: Collaborative Research: Building a global consortium of bryophytes and lichens: keystones of cryptobiotic communities

数字化 TCN：合作研究：建立苔藓植物和地衣的全球联盟：隐生菌群落的基石

• 批准号: 2001431
• 负责人: Brent Mishler
• 金额: $ 28.16万
• 依托单位: University of California-Berkeley
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2020
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2020-09-15 至 2024-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2001431&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Digitization; TCN; Collaborative; Research; Building

This collaborative project comprised of ten awards will integrate information about bryophytes and lichens, with each other and with their commensal organisms, including fungi, on a worldwide scale. Bryophytes and lichens are functionally related as the main hosts for cryptobiotic communities forming minute "forests" that provide a matrix of habitats for many microscopic organisms, including tardigrades, mites, rotifers, micro-mollusks, microalgae, microfungi, and prokaryotes. These communities have global relevance and perform essential functions on our planet, for example, the biological soil crusts that harbor these communities form a "living skin" covering approximately 12% of Earth's terrestrial surface. In addition, professional training will be provided for a large number of undergraduates, with a focus on leveraging local resources to promote underrepresented students in STEM fields. Students will be trained in digitization and collections management, and will contribute to the education and public outreach components of the project. Through this collaboration, twenty-five US herbaria will image and digitize associated metadata for almost 1.2 million bryophyte and lichen herbarium specimens held in US institutions. Imaging the physical specimens of these organisms and integrating data from comparative genomics, nucleotide sequence data, and other resources is unprecedented on this scale. These integrated data will form a critical resource for evolutionary and ecological studies, that may, in turn, lead to a deeper understanding of (1) how biocrusts perform their ecosystem functions, (2) the roles of bryophytes and lichens in carbon/nitrogen cycling, (3) the dynamic evolution of symbioses in space and time, (4) the historical and contemporary drivers of endophyte co-diversification, and (5) the evolution of biodiversity using spatial phylogenetics. Deep-learning approaches using repurposed digital images may also provide powerful new investigative tools. Digitized data will be shared with iDigBio.org and other repositories. A multi-pronged approach to broader impacts spans from K-12 to participatory citizen science initiatives. These include (1) diverse digital, interactive, and object-based learning outreach programs; (2) online lesson plans; (3) science youth groups; (4) Science Clubs and public educator workshops; and (5) a series of videos using Learning Glass – which collapses the perspectives of viewer and presenter into one shared perspective. In addition, the PIs and collaborating institutions will host WeDigBio and K-12 clubs hosting label transcription crowdsourcing events during the award period. The project also partners with Zooniverse, leaders in online citizen science, where we will develop an online platform for citizen scientists to make observations on character traits that can then enhance metadata not always on the scientific label data.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.

这个由十个奖项组成的合作项目将在全球范围内整合有关苔藓植物和地衣彼此以及它们与包括真菌在内的共生生物的信息。苔藓植物和地衣作为形成微小“森林”的隐生菌群落的主要宿主，在功能上是相关的。为许多微生物提供了栖息地基质，包括缓步动物、螨虫、轮虫、微软体动物、微藻、微真菌和这些群落具有全球意义，并在我们的星球上发挥着重要作用，例如，容纳这些群落的生物土壤结皮形成了覆盖地球约 12% 陆地表面的“活皮肤”。大量本科生，重点是利用当地资源来促进 STEM 领域代表性不足的学生，学生将接受数字化和馆藏管理方面的培训，并将为该项目的教育和公共宣传做出贡献。通过此次合作，25 个美国植物标本馆将对美国机构保存的近 120 万份苔藓植物和地衣植物标本馆标本的相关元数据进行成像和数字化，对这些生物体的物理标本进行成像，并整合来自比较基因组学、核苷酸序列数据和其他资源的数据。这些综合数据将成为进化和生态研究的关键资源，进而可以更深入地了解（1）生物结皮如何发挥其生态系统功能，（2）苔藓植物和地衣在碳/氮循环中的作用，(3) 时空共生的动态演化，(4) 内生菌共同多样化的历史和当代驱动因素，以及 (5) 利用空间系统发育学的生物多样性演化使用重新利用的数字图像的深度学习方法也可以提供强大的新研究工具，并将与 iDigBio.org 和其他存储库共享。多管齐下，以实现从 K-12 到参与性公民科学倡议的更广泛影响，其中包括 (1) 多样化的数字、互动和基于对象的学习推广计划；(3) 科学青年团体； (4) 科学俱乐部和公共教育研讨会；以及 (5) 使用 Learning Glass 的一系列视频，将观众和演示者的观点融合为一个共同的观点。 K-12 俱乐部在颁奖期间举办标签转录众包活动，该项目还与在线公民科学领域的领导者 Zooniverse 合作，我们将为公民科学家开发一个在线平台，以观察性格特征，从而增强元数据。该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。