The goal of this project is to document the biodiversity of marine organisms of the southern Caribbean and to train the next generation of researchers working on ecologically and economically important, but under-studied marine invertebrates (clams, sea slugs, flatworms, ribbon worms, seed shrimp, and scuds). Conceptually, this project focuses on three major challenges in understanding biodiversity: (1) documenting global biodiversity and its importance to the well-being of the nation, (2) identifying and describing new species, and (3) determining the relationships within and among animal groups. Taxonomy, the science of finding, describing and naming organisms, is vital to all biological research and to understanding and conserving biodiversity. The on-going effort to survey, inventory, and preserve the ocean's biological diversity is threatened by a shortage of taxonomic expertise. This project will train the next generation of young US STEM researchers to become experts who can document biodiversity in these groups of animals, apply novel methods to help resolve the relationships between these groups, and ultimately understand the origins of animal life. This effort will also promote conservation of marine animals, which are economically important, but are poorly documented compared to terrestrial organisms. It will also aid in the detection of invasive species. This project will produce new species descriptions for animals in the focal groups, generate species lists for Panama and the southern Caribbean, and will contribute data to an online biodiversity website and field guide.
The activities fall into three parts with complementary aims. (1) Taxonomic research will include species descriptions, taxonomic revisions, and development of regional check-lists and keys within the six taxonomic groups. This work will emphasize the integration of conventional morphological and molecular characters with non-traditional characters such as type and morphology of larvae or gametes, novel anatomical details, and 3D imaging. Established experts will work closely with experts-in-training to review and revise these animals from the Caribbean, which are in particular need of taxonomic attention. (2) The project will support six 14-day workshops mixing US and international experts and trainees at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute tropical field station in Panama. These workshops will train participants in methods for identification, improve understanding of relationships among the groups, provide hands-on experience with tropical diversity, and build lasting international collaborations to promote US biodiversity research and improve accessibility to international field locations. (3) Informatics resources will be developed to make the basic skills and vocabulary involved in taxonomy of the six groups globally accessible to expert and non-specialist workers in biodiversity and conservation. This work will involve the development of a package of online tools for each group, including a set of "how-to" videos, illustrated glossaries of anatomical terms, and checklists and digital keys of local species. This toolkit will be designed to facilitate rapid taxonomic documentation and to increase the precision of field identifications.
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.
