1999 — 2003 |
Brown, Brian Sharkey, Michael |
N/AActivity Code Description: No activity code was retrieved: click on the grant title for more information |
Insect Survey of a Megadiverse Country: Colombia @ University of Kentucky Research Foundation
DEB-9972024 Sharkey
This project is designed to survey the insect fauna-primarily Diptera, Hymenoptera, Hemiptera, and Coleoptera--of eight of Columbia's National Parks and Wildlife Sanctuaries. Samples will be collected by local park naturalists and sorted in country by local experts. The timing is critical since Colombia is experiencing rapid forest loss and difficult social problems related to population growth, political instability, and illegal drug trade. This project is strongly interactive with the von Humboldt Institute, and the Colombian Ministry of National Parks. Field samples will be collected by local park naturalists and volunteers, and sorted in country by trained parataxonomists. Research products will include checklists, interactive keys, and fully accessible databases.
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0.915 |
2002 — 2006 |
Brown, Brian Sharkey, Michael |
N/AActivity Code Description: No activity code was retrieved: click on the grant title for more information |
Insect Survey of a Megadiverse Country Phase Ii: Colombia @ University of Kentucky Research Foundation
Insects and other arthropods are being surveyed in Colombia, one of the most biologically diverse countries in the world, and one of the most poorly sampled for arthropods and other forms of life. The arthropod fauna of 10 of Colombia's National Parks and wildlife sanctuaries are sampled employing, at each site, a number of different collecting methods in order to capture organisms in all types of microhabitats from tree canopies to forest ground litter. Samples are sent to the Alexander von Humboldt Institute in Villa Leyva (Colombia), where they are sorted and prepared. PI Sharkey travels to Colombia to collect the samples twice per year. He then sends them to almost 100 scientific collaborators across the United States and to 15 other countries around the world. The timing is critical since Colombia is the third worst country in South America in terms of rate of forest loss and the second worst in terms of population growth. Combined with political instability, the high crime rate, and the illegal drug trade, the project might appear to be urgent but impractical; however, these handicaps have been surmounted. The von Humboldt Institute, which is a branch of the Federal Department of the Environment, and the Colombian Ministry of National Parks, is collaborating to overcome the potential logistic problems. Park naturalists are operating the sampling equipment, and send the samples to the Humboldt Institute on a quarterly (or more frequent) basis, thus avoiding dangerous travel in Colombia. Insects and other arthropods constitute more than half of the species level diversity of all life. That is, there are more species of insects and other arthropods like spiders than all other species of life combined! Therefore, the study of this group is fundamental to understanding the diversity of life, which is higher in Colombia than just about anywhere else in the world, due to its varied geography and tropical location. Despite this wealth, the international scientific community has not had access to it for more than 20 years. This project results in the distribution of tens of thousands of prepared specimens throughout the world each year. Collaborating scientists describe new species and higher-level taxa. Using our quantitative sampling data, they prepare estimates of the total number of species throughout Colombia, and compare the Colombian fauna with other areas of South America and the world to obtain a clear picture of the species that are restricted to Colombia.
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0.915 |
2003 — 2009 |
Sharkey, Michael |
N/AActivity Code Description: No activity code was retrieved: click on the grant title for more information |
Atol: Collaborative Research: Large-Scale Phylogeny of Hymenoptera @ University of Kentucky Research Foundation
A grant has been awarded to Dr. Michael J. Sharkey of the University of Kentucky for a large-scale study of the evolutionary history of the Hymenoptera - the order of insects containing the ants, bees and wasps. With more than 115,000 described species, this order includes as much as 10% of the species diversity of the planet, with estimates ranging between 0.3 and 2.5 million species. Students and postgraduate researchers will be involved in a collaborative effort with a large array of international scientists. We will trace the history of this group using both anatomical and molecular data, to produce a well supported evolutionary hypothesis at the taxonomic level of family. The final analyses will have up to 2,000 species, representing all hymenopteran families and subfamilies. Because most anatomical features we will study will not vary at the taxonomic level of genus, we will implicitly be including all species that have adequate descriptions and share the anatomical traits used in the analysis. Published products will include a series of monographs and two books on the phylogeny of Hymenoptera, an interactive electronic key to Hymenoptera families, access to detailed morphological images through World Wide Web, and access to all the anatomical and molecular data for all Hymenoptera.
Economically and ecologically, Hymenoptera are one of the most important groups of organisms. Some are severe economic pests threatening both the forest industry and wheat farming (sawflies), medical and noxious pests of urban landscapes (social wasps and ants), pollinators (bees), and defenders of our agricultural crops through their ability to parasitize and control pest insects (most parasitic wasps). Knowledge of the evolution of the entire order is extremely important for placing taxa within a correct context for more limited studies of behavior, host associations and ability to discover novel pest control agents.
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0.915 |
2006 — 2010 |
Brown, Brian Sharkey, Michael |
N/AActivity Code Description: No activity code was retrieved: click on the grant title for more information |
Tiger: Thailand Inventory Group For Entomological Research @ University of Kentucky Research Foundation
The insects and spiders of Thailand, one of the most biologically diverse countries in the world, will be sampled and inventoried. Various traps will monitor these arthropods in 30 of Thailand's National Parks and Wildlife Sanctuaries over a three year period. These collections will be identified to the family level and shipped to The University of Kentucky, where they will be further identified and then shipped to about 100 collaborating scientists around the world. Access to conduct research on Thailand's biodiversity is available at an unprecedented level, making previously mysterious habitats available to investigation. A window of opportunity has opened that may not exist for a prolonged period, due to political decisions, and habitat destruction caused by rapidly growing populations.
Products of the grant will be disseminated broadly through traditional publications, databases, and web products, which will be written in both Thai and English. Bridges between the international scientific community and Thailand will be built to the mutual benefit of both, and the resulting research will be of importance to Thai conservation research, and the many applied sciences that depend on good taxonomy such as the biological control of forest and agricultural pests. Products will include species checklists, new species descriptions, interactive identification keys, bigger and better collections, and an increased ability to identify insects that are a threat to the international community as invasive pest species. The research programs of all of the 100 or more collaborating scientists will be enriched with new biological data. Graduate and undergraduate students will be trained in biodiversity management both at the University of Kentucky and in Thailand.
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0.915 |