PLoS Biology发表了一篇关于生命之树与生物多样性的观点论文。题目是： Walking and talking the tree of life: Why and how to teach about biodiversity。想想就很浪漫的一件事，生命之树重构的是生命从发源到现在的历史长河。作为有幸从事分类学、系统发育研究的科研工作者，可以在这棵树的一个分支上做一点点工作。闲来无事，在咖啡时间还可以到其它分支上去漫步，和其他同行讨论、讨论。 多样性的分类学细节是生物学教育的关键骨架。但是现在生物教科书中关于生命之树的教学方法，虽早已过时，仍被广泛应用。作者在论文中比较了传统方法和分支方法的不同：前者展示的进化关系 模糊 、不能明确表示出重要的生命进化节点、过多依赖于对分类学阶元信息的记忆；后者则相反，关注共同祖先、单系类群和近裔功能性状。分支方法明确基于达尔文有变化的后裔“的观点，为学生掌握生物多样性结构性细节提供了理论框架，并有助于他们主动学习。作者提倡反映生命之树的系统发育分类系统，这样可以在 教学 逐渐增加 复杂性，展示 阶元并应用主动学习的技术和策略。 目前国内动物学、植物学、昆虫学等教科书，基本还是采取经典的分类学展示方法。以动物学为例，每个章节涉及一个门类，从形态结构功能到分类系统。一般在一个章节讨论进化关系。然而相较于形态学、分类学，系统发育在过去的50余年发展迅猛。很多类群的系统发育关系均有深入研究，至少部分改变了过去单纯从形态的角度提出的观点。但是这部分的内容比重却少有增加，和学科发展不相称，没有反映新思路、新学说和新技术。本科生和研究生对这些学科的理解，自然就停留在背诵记忆为主的水平，难以在进化生物学的框架内去开展科学思维和探索活动。 教科书只是知识集成和传播的一种形式，有助于提供标准答案，但少于创新思维启迪。我读硕士研究生期间，讲课好的老师基本上都用投影胶片的方式，尽量收集学科新进展。学生难以跟上授课，难以把握知识点，但确实培养了主动学习、主动探索的习惯和能力。现在，互联网时代，编著者和学生等受众互动，应该形成更加多元、多角度并可以及时更新的知识库。有了学科前沿的展示窗口，自然会吸引年轻人。 PERSPECTIVE Walking and talking the tree of life: Why and how to teach about biodiversity Cissy J. Ballen , Harry W. Greene （http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.2001630） Abstract Taxonomic details of diversity are an essential scaffolding for biology education, yet outdated methods for teaching the tree of life (TOL), as implied by textbook content and usage, are still commonly employed. Here, we show that the traditional approach only vaguely represents evolutionary relationships, fails to denote major events in the history of life, and relies heavily on memorizing near-meaningless taxonomic ranks. Conversely, a clade-based strategy—focused on common ancestry, monophyletic groups, and derived functional traits—is explicitly based on Darwin’s “descent with modification,” provides students with a rational system for organizing the details of biodiversity, and readily lends itself to active learning techniques. We advocate for a phylogenetic classification that mirrors the TOL, a pedagogical format of increasingly complex but always hierarchical presentations, and the adoption of active learning technologies and tactics.
Why Scientific Nomenclature is So Important: QA With ICZN Commissioner Frank Krell February 16, 2017 by Entomology Today Leave a Comment 1730 次阅读|1 个评论
Dr. Bob came to talk about AXIOS Robert Murphy（Bob）博士、教授，是加拿大皇家安大略省博物馆馆员，多伦多大学教授，世界著名的两爬系统学家。2003年2月，我有幸得到国家留学基金委的资助，到他的实验室访学。从此开启了昆虫分子系统学研究的窗口。十多年来，Bob几乎每次在北京转机，都来动物研究所和包括我在内的老朋友交流科研进展和心得，并开展合作研究工作。 此次来京，Bob和我们分享了他长期投稿过程中经历的一些问题和对AXIOS系统的想法。AXIOS系统是Molecular Ecology和其它一些生态和进化生物学领域的编辑们，为提高作者投稿效率，提出的一套新思路：在作者投稿到专业期刊之前，评估最合适的候选刊物。这个思路，可以避免作者被拒稿后，不断修改论文格式，并占据编辑和审稿人宝贵的科研时间。在投稿量较低的情况下，这样的情况不算太严重；但在很大的投稿量情况下，每年投稿人、编辑、审稿人在质量不高、反复拒稿或修改稿件格式的过程中浪费了海量而宝贵的科研时间。 What’s is AXIOS? Axios Review is an independent peer review service for evolutionary biology and ecology. We aim to eliminate rejections on the basis of novelty or scope. http://axiosreview.org/about-axios/ 下面引用了2001年，Bob在科学杂志上的一段评述（www.sciencemag.org/careers/2001/06/curator-new-millenium）。在这段评述中，Bob和大家分享了他的职业生涯中一些重要的阶段、经验和对传统博物馆分类学馆员的见解。 A Curator in the New Millenium F or as long as I can recall, I have wanted to be a museum curator. Blessed or cursed, I have the “collecting gene.” After I completed my B.A., I interviewed with a potential graduate adviser, Alan Leviton, a renowned herpetology curator at the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco. He asked when I expected to graduate with a planned Ph.D. “About 1980, sir,” I replied. Next, he asked me to name every major North American natural history museum. This was easy. He seemed to be impressed. Then he asked the names and approximate ages of all herpetology curators. The names were easy, but the ages presented some problems. He then noted, “So you see, young man, you don’t stand a snowball’s chance in hell of getting a job in a museum, because no one will retire when you graduate!” To this I responded, “But wasn’t the same true for you?” I became his student and 10 years later a curator at the Royal Ontario Museum. Museum curatorial positions are very rare. In North America, there are only about 20 herpetological curator positions in what can be termed major museums, and yet there are far more than 600 herpetologists in academic positions. When a new position is offered, it’s news that everyone watches. Competition tends to be fierce. After all, what other academic position requires fieldwork and usually provides some or all of the funding to accomplish the task? Major museums with herpetological curatorial positions linked to faculty slots at leading universities are even more rare: the University of California, Berkeley; Harvard University; University of Michigan, Ann Arbor; University of Kansas, Lawrence; McGill University in Montreal, Canada; and the Royal Ontario Museum with the University of Toronto, Canada. In contrast, the other major natural history museums do not have direct faculty ties: the Field Museum in Chicago, California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco, the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., American Museum of Natural History in New York City, Carnegie Museum in Pittsburgh, and Los Angeles County Museum, although many curators have adjunct faculty appointments. For a curator, both direct academic ties and graduate student supervision are critical. As Al Leviton once aptly commented, “You won’t stay current if you don’t have students to teach you new tricks.”Getting a curatorial job is tough. It takes a combination of self-marketing, academic training, interview skills, politics, and a whole lot of pure luck. Applicants must market themselves by publishing in the appropriate, leading journals and in traditional museum publications. Publications need to have a systematics and evolution orientation and be novel or environmentally relevant or both. Visibility is almost as important as academic pedigree; the chosen topic must have intrinsic appeal and should have demonstrable innovation. Students with a background in museum-based research and collection management have a distinct advantage over those who do not, but essential experience also can be gained through part-time employment or volunteering. Interview skills are no less important. Regarding pure luck, usually someone must retire just as you graduate, and your research organisms may need to be from a particular geographic region. Collections tend to have geographic orientations, and many positions are tied to the strengths in the museum’s holdings, whether in Canada, Latin America, Asia, Africa, or the Caribbean.Perhaps politics is most important of all, and from this no one ever escapes-ever. It can range from committee meetings, confidential telephone calls, and e-mails to pure, unadulterated, uncensored gossip and spiteful power struggles. The curators of the major museums know each other well, and they rely on each other for research, exchanges, loans, assistance, and information, even about one another. Politics can make you, break you, promote or fail you, fund you, or leave you selling used cars, regardless of your qualifications or the tenure of the incumbent. It’s just like poker if you’ve got the ante to play: You are rarely dealt a royal flush, but you don’t need one to win. Winning, and the amount you win, depends as much on the cards you hold as on how well you play them.Academically successful curators spend the most time on research-related endeavors, including acquiring research funding. The mere description of new species is no longer viewed as indicating original research. Today’s life science curators are expected to reconstruct the phylogenetic relationships of organisms and interpret the evolution of particular features based on their history, apply their phylogenies to conservation issues, and be involved in bioinformatics. The description of new species is secondary. Research is quickly shifting toward applied conservation issues–not only the documentation of species diversity, but also fine-grained DNA analyses of geographic variation for species management and status assessment. Research has become very molecular and, unfortunately, traditional anatomical studies have become rather passé. The most productive research programs invariably involve graduate student training, and for me, work with visiting colleagues from developing countries, such as Mexico and China. The traditional requirements of fieldwork and collection acquisition continue today, consuming 2 or more months per year. To this add a proverbial mountain of manuscripts and grant proposals to review. There is considerable variation among individual curators in terms of research, exhibits, and administration, and no two are alike. Some curators do not have academic appointments, and thus have neither a cohort of graduate students, external research funding, nor active research programs. The future of museums is uncertain, certainly far more so than equivalent university professorial positions. For example, the Smithsonian Institution just announced plans to reduce its research staff by 350 positions. We are in a biodiversity crisis, and highly qualified systematists and museums are desperately needed to study and evaluate environmental trends and to help document priorities for conservation. Yet, there has been no significant expansion of museum positions. Many museums are suffering from frozen or reduced budgets and vacant or terminated curatorial and support positions. The number of curatorial positions has dwindled recently in many countries, including in Canada and the United Kingdom, and yet globally the human population, potential resources, and environmental needs have all grown at an alarming rate. There is a paradox between granting agencies putting large amounts of additional financial resources into biodiversity and conservation research, and the trend for stagnation or cutbacks at museums. For the optimist, this presents a great challenge to excel in research relevant to all of society. Although I sometimes wonder about the future of museums, the positive aspects of being a museum curator far outweigh such concerns. Dr. Robert Murphy is a senior curator of herpetology at the Centre for Biodiversity and Conservation Biology, Royal Ontario Museum, and a professor of zoology at the University of Toronto.
对于分类学实践来说，比较理想的分类特征应该在各子类群之间可以被明显区分为不同类型（间断变异）、而在各子类群内部为同一种类型（状态稳定），如果该特征还与近缘关系直接关联（衍征apomorphy，甚至是独征autapomorphy）而不只是表面相似（非同源相似homoplasy、趋同convergence），那就更理想了。 这样的特征并不少见，例如脊椎动物的脊椎，六足动物的3对胸足，等等。但是相对于极为庞大的物种多样性和进化树来说，这样的特征仍然非常稀缺。相对于形态特征来说，分子特征数量要大很多，在分子系统学以往的研究中这更多体现在依靠分子数据量的优势去降低重建系统发育过程中的随机误差、提升系统发育推断的可靠性；不过另一方面，其实分子特征的庞大数量同时也使其成为挖掘理想的分类特征的新来源。虽然这在以往的研究中案例不是很多，但是已经有一些案例开始显示分子特征作为分类学特征的价值。 蝽总科是蝽类昆虫中的第3大总科，从中文“椿象”名称的源起到人们在生产生活实践中所认知的“臭屁虫”（或者西方人所说的stink bugs），其实主要就是这类昆虫带给人们的感觉。蝽总科被划分为十余个科，这些科的体形大体上可以分为两类，一类是比较典型的“半鞘翅”的形象，而另一类则是“甲壳虫”式的形象（图1）；后一类型是由于中胸小盾片极度扩展而成，能覆盖腹部背面的绝大部分甚至全部。有趣的是，属于后一类型的类群在蝽总科中还非常丰富，单纯从科的数量来说能占到近一半，例如Aphylidae、Canopidae、澳丝蝽科Lestoniidae、Megarididae、Corimelaenidae、龟蝽科Plataspidae、盾蝽科Scutelleridae、隆背蝽科 Thyreocoridae，此外还有蝽科Pentatomidae中的若干属。 图1. 蝽总科中小盾片发达的类群举例（各图版来自互联网，版权归原作者所有） 澳丝蝽科是一个澳大利亚特有科，在以往的分类学研究中，对于其近缘类群主要存在2个观点。一个是根据雄成虫生殖器、毛点等构造认为其与盾蝽科近缘；另一个是认为其雌成虫腹面的盘状器（disk-like organ）与同蝽科Acanthosomatidae雌成虫腹面的潘氏器（Pendergrast's organ）同源，因此这两个科近缘（其实潘氏器这个特征在同蝽科内部并不稳定，谢强注）。Wu et al.（2016）基于18S和28S rDNA的近全长序列，对包括的澳丝蝽科在内的蝽总科的十余个科进行了rRNA二级结构比较研究和分子系统发育重建（ http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/zoj.12385/abstract ）。结果表明澳丝蝽科与同蝽科亲缘关系最近，并且两者在rRNA二级结构的多个局部特异性地共有一些寡核苷酸特征（图2）或单核苷酸特征，这些特征可以作为分子独征很好地支持分子系统发育的重建结果（这些位点在进行系统发育推断之前已经从矩阵中去除，因此两者是互相独立的证据）。 图2. 蝽总科在18S rRNA长度变异区段E（A）和28S rRNA长度变异区段D3-1（B）的寡核苷酸片段特征，两列最上方的2个科是同蝽科和澳丝蝽科 rRNA二级结构中的分子衍征在系统发育重建研究中的应用还有其他案例，例如缺翅目Zoraptera与网翅总目Dictyoptera之间的近缘关系（Wang et al., 2013）等。 参考文献 Wang Y-H†, Engel MS†, Rafael JA†, Dang K, Wu H-Y, Wang Y, Xie Q*, Bu W-J*. 2013. A unique box in 28S rRNA is shared by the enigmatic insect order Zoraptera and Dictyoptera. PLOS ONE 8: e53679. Wu Y-Z†, Yu S-S†, Wang Y-H †, Wu H-Y, Li X-R, Men X-Y, Zhang Y-W, Rédei D*, Xie Q* , Bu W-J. 2016. The evolutionary position of Lestoniidae revealed by molecular autapomorphies inthe secondary structure of rRNA besides phylogenetic reconstruction (Insecta:Hemiptera: Heteroptera). Zool. J. Linn. Soc. DOI: 10.1111/zoj.12385.
去年浙江古田山采集到的蚁墙蜂的新种 （ Deuteragenia ossarium ） 发表以后，国外媒体广泛报道。其新、奇、特和故事性都比较强。能否进入新一期的十大新种榜单？ 中国物种多样性丰富，还有大量的物种有待研究和发表。期待中国学者发现更多新物种并带给世界更有趣的故事和更美妙的文化。 Top 10 New Species of 2014 January 1, 2015 | by Lisa Winter http://www.iflscience.com/plants-and-animals/top-10-new-species-2014 photo credit: Ohl et al. As 2014 draws to a close, let's take a look back and celebrate the top 10 announcements of newly discovered species from the past year. These aren't presented in any particular order, because they're all pretty great. Click on the titles of each species to learn more about the discoveries. River Dolphin Image credit: Nicole Dutra When the discovery of a Brazilian river dolphin was announced in January, it was the first new species of river dolphin that had been described since World War I. Inia araguaiaensis was originally believed to be members of I. geoffrensis, until genetic analysis of the mitochondrial DNA and closer examination of the skulls proved otherwise. The dolphins were named in honor of the Araguaia River basin, where they live. 第一次世界大战以来首次描 述的淡水豚。科学家应用线粒体基因和头骨数据，界定了这个新物种。 Pseudoscorpion Image credit: J. Judson Wynne Inside a tiny cave in the north rim of the Grand Canyon renowned for its biodiversity, researchers discovered two species of tiny blind pseudoscorpions. Though they have front pincers like scorpions, they have a rounded body, rather than a venomous stinger tail. The specimens were originally collected between 2005 and 2007. In addition to describing the new species, the researchers recommended that the cave in which they live continue to be under protection, forbidden from entry by tourists who could harm the ecosystem. 大峡谷洞穴中发现伪蝎。 New York Frog Image credit: Brian Curry A new species of frog from New York City was formally described in October, which is the first time the metropolitan area has had a new frog species since 1882. The frogs have a fairly large range, spanning from New York down the coastline down to North Carolina. The frog was originally suspected to be a unique species by Carl Kauffeld in 1937, though the idea didn't gain much traction and was later forgotten. The species was named Rana kauffeldi in his honor. 1882年以来首次在大都市里发现蛙类新种。 Harry Potter Wasp Image credit: Ohl et al. Remember the terrifying ghost-like creatures known as dementors from the Harry Potter series? They have been immortalized in the scientific literature after Ampulex dementor, a wasp native to Thailand, was described earlier this spring. The name was chosen after a public voting campaign held by the Natural History Museum in Berlin. The wasp reminded many of the dementors due to its terrifying way of getting into its prey's head, literally. Females of this species lay eggs inside the head of a cockroach, turning them into zombie-like incubators. The offspring later hatch and then eat their way out. 这种泥蜂的雌性将卵产在蟑螂的脑袋里，并使之成为一个僵尸一样的孵化器。新种的名字， Ampulex dementor 是有柏林自然历史博物馆通过公众投票选出来的。 Supersonus Image credit: University of Lincoln Though they be but little, their mating call is fierce. A paper published in June described a new genus of insect which has a record-setting mating call. Supersonus, as the genus was named, emits an ultrasonic mating call that can be heard by other members of the species, but is outside of the frequency which can be heard by potential predators. These insects, which are related to katydids, live in South America. 南美的这个新种可以发出超声波。这种声波只能被物种内的个体收到，而它的捕食者则不能。 Deep Sea 'Mushroom' Image credit: Just et al. These organisms proved to be a phylogenetic oddity, not quite fitting in with Cnidarians or Ctenophorans. Proper categorization could prove to require a major overhaul of the tree of life, as it would require the addition of an entirely new phylum. Though they look a lot like mushrooms, these are actually animals who live in the deep sea. The specimens were originally collected in 1986, but were luckily preserved well enough to make the proper description nearly 30 years later. 这些标本采集于1986年，看上去很象蘑菇。实际上它们是一类居住在深海的动物，代表了动物界的一个新门。 Praying Mantis Image credit: Gavin Svenson/Cleveland Museum of Natural History A paper published in March described nineteen new species of bark mantis, which span eight countries throughout Central and South America. The coloring of the mantises allows them to blend in with foliage and litter on the forest floor, allowing them to quickly sneak up and attack their prey. Two of the new species were named after the lead author's daughters, and tributes were paid to former Vice President Al Gore, explorer James Stephen Fossett, and TV hosts Chris and Martin Kratt as well. 这篇论文发表了19个螳螂新种。这些物种有很好的隐蔽色，有助于它们快速捕食。 Deep Diving Whale Image credit: Lisa Thompson The first specimen of this new species of deep-diving whale was actually collected over 50 years ago, but the species proved to be so elusive, another would not wash onto the shore for two more years. It was originally predicted to a member of another species, but when another specimen washed ashore recently, scientists were able to perform genetic analysis, and identify the whale as a distinct species. 海浪帮助科学家采集到一头罕见的深潜鲸类。该新种的第一头标本采集于50年前。 Marriage Equality Snail Image credit: Chih-Wei Huang It was announced in October that a species of snail that was originally believed to be a similar species originally described in 1884 was discovered in Taiwan. The species was named in honor of marriage equality, and was dubbed Aegista diversifamilia. Diversi- comes from the Latin diversus meaning different, while familia comes from the female form of the Latin word for family. As the snails are hermaphroditic, the researchers paid tribute to the fact that there are all kinds of different families that exist in the world. 台湾发现一个蜗牛新种，和1884年的另外一种近似。 Threatened Birds Image credit: Steve Garvie In July, the wildlife group BirdLife International announced the recognition of 361 new distinct species of bird. Many of these birds were assumed to have been other species, which meant that they were not given the conservation assessment they may have needed. In fact, about a quarter of the newly-identified species were designated as threatened. However, now that researchers know more about the biodiversity of these birds, more can be done to protect them and preserve the species. BirdLife International认定了361个鸟类新物种。这些鸟类，大部分曾经被认为是其它物种。
保护濒临灭绝的生物分类学家【原题】 近日英国伦敦自然历史博物馆启动了一个名为“Identification Trainers for the Future”的项目，旨在为英国培训一批年轻的物种鉴定专家，并希望将传统的物种鉴定方法得以传承。项目指出了目前能够掌握传统分类鉴定方法的专家正在急剧减少，许多生物类群的鉴定已无专家研究，这一趋势严重阻碍了生物多样性、保护生物学等方面的研究。 中国是生物多样性大国，与发达国家相比，很多类群的相关研究近乎空白。分类学家作为揭示生物多样性的主力军，在当前国内学术生态大环境下，正在以难以置信的速度濒临绝境。在昆虫分类圈子里，一些有很好研究基础的团队逐渐放弃传统分类而投入到了轰轰烈烈的所谓的生物系统学领域中，大批研究生不采标本，不懂分类，学了几年只学会了PCR、测序、建树，在缺乏对一个类群深入理解的基础上根据自己结果提出结论，以致高阶关系五花八门，分子种形态种分分合合。虽然论文点数越发越高，但最后的结果真的是我们需要的吗？前两年我在日本做博后的实验室教授退休，空出的位置全国招聘，大批做昆虫分子系统学的学者前来应聘，最后的位置却提供给了一个虽然年轻但形态分类做得很好的蚁类专家。在感叹其运气的同时，其背后的现象值得深思。 昨日惊悉中科院动物所著名鞘翅目分类学家虞佩玉先生辞世，哀叹又一位老先生离去的同时，却不免羡慕他们这一代人至少可以全身心的投入到自己挚爱的事业中去。而在80、90后这一代人中又能诞生多少这样的昆虫分类专家？还有多少年轻人愿意从事传统分类并能够坚持奋斗？昆虫分类学家就和他们热爱的昆虫一样，生境的破坏直接导致昆虫灭绝，而科研环境的巨变必然导致传统分类的衰亡。中国生物分类学科的发展何去何从？ 附“Identification Trainers for the Future”项目简介链接： http://www.nhm.ac.uk/our-science/our-work/science-society-and-skills/saving-species-experts-from-extinction.html 该网站可能打不开，具体内容如下： Saving species experts from extinction Max Barclay, Museum Coleoptera collection manager and species identification specialist, at work Species identification experts are a rare breed, but the Museum has a plan to train new specialists for the future. The UK’s plants and animals have never been under greater threat from environmental change and habitat loss. At the same time, critical skills for identifying organisms have been waning, hampering much-needed monitoring and conservation efforts. Fortunately scientists in the Museum’s Angela Marmont Centre for UK Biodiversity have designed a new work-based traineeship called Identification Trainers for the Future , which aims to pass on the complex skill of species identification to the next generation. The project is funded by a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund ’s Skills for the Future programme and is being delivered in partnership with the Field Studies Council and the National Biodiversity Network Trust . The Museum is the ideal venue for the course because it has world-leading experts in species identification, along with fantastic specimen collections and training facilities. Project manager Stephanie West explains: 'The decline in identification skills is particularly true for some of the harder-to-reach groups, some of the more complex taxa. Groups like true flies and earthworms are often overlooked but vitally important to ecosystems.' A dying breed The species identification specialist is an endangered expert and increasingly this is being recognised across the ecological sector and beyond. In 2010, the Museum led a NERC -funded review of the current status of taxonomy and systematics within the UK. The review highlighted serious concerns over the training and recruitment of the next generation of taxonomists. More recently, The Chartered Institute for Ecology and Environmental Management (CIEEM) stressed the effects that declining skills in species identification are having on the professional ecology sector within its 2011 publication Ecological Skills: Shaping the profession for the 21st Century . West agrees with the institute’s bleak findings: ‘Our most highly skilled species identifiers and taxonomists are often amateurs and many of them are at, or beyond, retirement age. Younger ecologists are leaving universities with great qualifications but without the detailed knowledge of a true specialist. Expertise of course can only come with time and perseverance, but often graduates leave university with very little idea of how to start developing their skills in this area and very little exposure to field recording. We want to help turn this situation around via our traineeship scheme.’ Saving precious habitats The species identification skills gap is having a big impact on valuable habitats, ecosystems and biodiversity in the UK. For example, identification experts often act as ecological consultants - assessing the biodiversity value of land earmarked for development. The results of these consultations can often save a precious habitat, but West thinks the current skills gap and lack of experience in species identification can result in the loss of valuable sites. ‘The land can have value to biodiversity that is easy to miss if you do not know what you are looking for. There was one site I worked on where a high value acidic grassland was completely missed because the previous ecological consultancy did not recognise the particular species indicating the quality of the habitat. By identifying the grassland we were able to ensure the habitat was retained and enhanced through the development plans’. Species-rich lowland acidic grasslands are declining throughout the UK due both to increasing urbanisation and agricultural activity. Their classification relies on the identification of certain indicator species within the sward (an expanse of short grass) and they are also important ecosystems supporting a diverse range of specialist wildlife. Museum scientist inspecting botanical specimens on the Isles of Scilly A special passion As part of the project, the Museum will be offering 15 work-based traineeships over three years, training five students each year. West explains what is expected of each candidate: ‘We are looking for very motivated individuals, passionate about UK wildlife with the drive to become genuine experts.’ The traineeships are designed to do more than train a select group of individuals though. The project also aims to turn its trainees into trainers themselves, ready to pass on their skills through public outreach and the development of identification guides and toolkits. Training materials produced throughout the project will be made freely available to all and will be targeted at a range of interest groups, from beginners to experienced experts who are looking to further develop their skills. Plenty of amateur experience including involvement with national recording schemes and the ability to articulate concepts to others will help any applicant towards a place on the course. West is keen to point out that if a candidate has the passion and a flair for the subject it doesn’t matter if they have a degree or not. ‘We are looking for people with an underlying passion for species identification and who want to make it their career,’ she says. The Museum is investigating options to develop professional accreditation for identification skills. If successful, this will help to demonstrate and quantify identification expertise across the professional UK biodiversity sector. Future direction Once trainees have been accepted they will be taken through a series of workshops which will give them basic skills and knowledge that they will use throughout their work, including handling and using Museum collections, planning and undertaking field work, and an introduction to taxonomy. Throughout their time at the Museum, trainees will receive specialist training from Museum experts, concentrating on the identification of flowering plants, bryophytes, lichens and entomology groups such as true flies, earthworms, moths, bees, ants and wasps. Trainees will also get hands-on experience in the Museum’s Angela Marmont Centre for UK Biodiversity . Here, they will divide their time between working within the Identification and Advisory Service, taking calls from the public and the commercial sector, and working on the citizen science projects and events that are run by the centre. A student identifying species in the Museum's Angela Marmont Centre for UK Biodiversity The trainees will also spend time working with the Museum’s incredible collections in their chosen specialist area. They will handle specimens, collect material from the field and practice species identification with the curation team. This will give the trainees an unrivaled opportunity to develop their own specialism with their chosen group of species. Before the course is over the students will learn how to pass on their new skills to others, with help from our education and learning teams. The idea is that students will be able to communicate their scientific knowledge to audiences ranging from young children to adults, other scientists, and amateur and professional groups. The final challenge of the course is for the trainees to design and produce an identification training course (either to be delivered face to face or online), based on their species specialism. These resources would then be made freely available to anyone who wants to learn more about that specialist area of species identification. The goal of the course is ultimately to nurture and grow a new generation of species identification experts in the UK, passing on skills, knowledge and expertise for years to come. Apply here Museum team Primary investigator John Tweddle Co-investigator Lucy Robinson Project manager Stephanie West Publications The Management Standards Consultancy Ltd. (2011) Ecological Skills: Shaping the profession for the 21st Century . Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management: Hampshire 1- 9. Related information ID Trainers for the Future Angela Marmont Centre for UK Biodiversity Chartered Institute for Ecology and Environmental Management (CIEEM) National Biodiversity Network Trust Field Studies Council Funded by Related projects - See more at: http://www.nhm.ac.uk/our-science/our-work/science-society-and-skills/saving-species-experts-from-extinction.html#sthash.tknAeTmE.dpuf
1. Introduction to Nematology 作者 B.G. Chitwood and M.B. Chitwood，最早一本综合系统的线虫学书籍，五十年代出版。作者业界名气很大，目前根结线虫里面一个非常重要的检疫性线虫就是以他命名的(Meloidogyne chitwoodi) 2. General Nematology 作者：Armand Maggenti，UCD 教授，现已退休，研究线虫范围较广，植物寄生，动物寄生，腐生都有涉及，最有名的是他六十年代根据不同类群食道结构所构建的进化树。此书图非常精美，是一个经典之作。 3. The structure of Nematodes 作者：Alan F. Bird Jean Bird，线虫细微结构方面最经典的著作。运用大量绘图和电镜照片，仔细阅读后会发现能够解决你很多结构上的困惑。缺点是实在太专业，里面动物学术语太多太精细，对于绝大多数只需要掌握常见普通结构的读者来说只会越读越糊涂。 对于一般结构的了解，推荐Frida Decreamer编辑的线虫形态学教材。 4. The Biology of Nematodes 作者 Donald Lee，很新的一本书，2002年出版。很多人推荐，但还没看过 5.Nematodes: structure, development, classification and phylogeny 作者 Malakhov,V.V，好像有好几版，我见过的是蓝色封皮的一本，但网上没找到合适的图。1994年出版，特点是加进去很多精细结构，轻分类学，种发育与结构。引用秀丽隐杆线虫细胞发育最新研究，是一本非常细致而专业的书籍。可惜此书极其不好买。 6. Nematology advances and perspectives 最近才出版的线虫学书籍，一共一和二两卷，本人虽然没看过但据说还挺不错，加进去很多生理学研究，而且作者是两个中国人，在美国也很有名气，实在难得，所有必须得支持下。
前天刚开过Zoological Systematics（原动物分类学报）的编委会。会上，作为新编委成员，我建议开辟专栏，邀请专家围绕动物系统学的概念、理论、方法等方面的进展和对其它学科的贡献等进行述评。学术期刊是分享科学发现、研究成果的地方，更应该是学术观点纷呈的园地。 恰好最近英国皇家学会会刊发表了一篇传粉者多样性的论文。该论文弱化了最关键的物种鉴定部分，把作出重要贡献的分类学工作者放到了致谢中，忽略了他们在整个项目中的作用和投入的时间。这在蜜蜂分类学者圈中引起了较为热烈的讨论。我把问题也转到昆虫分类鉴定群、ResearchGate、LinkedIn等，期待同行的关注和思考。 实际上，这样的问题不仅仅出现在蜜蜂的研究工作中。以传粉者为例，膜翅目、鞘翅目、双翅目、鳞翅目等四大目物种数量仍然占多数。每个类群的分类、鉴定都是建立在长期的积累基础之上。而到了物种水平，分类学者的结果是慎之又慎。英国拥有英国自然历史博物馆这样超级分类学机构，拥有丰富的模式标本和一流的分类学家。但是，即便是在那里，也有许多类群无法得到轻易的鉴定。以蜜蜂总科为例， Hylaeus ， Lasioglossum 、 Nomada 、 Sphecodes 等种类仍然有大量的种类有待研究并定名。 如何优化分类学者和其他学科队伍的科学合理的互动？ 其他学科工作者对分类学有什么样的需求？ 分类学者本身有哪些环节有待改进？ 分类学者和爱好者之间可以如何进行互动？ 关于最后一点，引用Science上最近一篇综述的部分内容： 虽然 GBIF 是存放其它生物多样性来源数据的数据库，但是这些来源有待更多的注释。有些比如 Tropicos 很专业，拥有 420 万号标本。物种分布知识中增长最快的资料库来源于大量的爱好者提供数据。观鸟者是数量最多的， eBird 成为了一个国际储蓄库。在 2010 年已经有超过 10 万观鸟者和超过 1 亿的观测记录。这就允许做精密的动物分布图和以月份为单位的动物分布的动态变化。如此丰富的数据扭曲了更加全面的生物多样性的统计和评估，但也推动着其它非明星类群的研究。 要想做到有效，观测需要鉴定，而鉴 定需要训练和技能的掌握。最近在图片共享技术和社交网络提供新的机遇和进展。就拿 iNaturelist 来说，应用程序让业余的观测者和专业工作者之间进行分工。前者通过智能手机熟练地分辨并上传图片，后者鉴定并编目，形成观测结果。在业余观察者和专家的合作中，现在在不同的分类单元中有了高质量的产物。 iNaturalist 已经记录了超过了 50 万条记录，而且也成为了较受欢迎的应用程序。 自：Science 30 May 2014: Vol. 344 no. 6187 DOI: 10.1126/science.1246752 我在ResearchGate、LinkedIn上发起讨论： https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Chao-Dong_Zhu/questions Being a taxonomist, how and what do you contribute to teams or projects in other fields? I'm conceiving a few paragraphs to discuss on contributions from taxonomists, demands from other topics and gaps between taxonomists and other researchers. Here, taxonomists are not limited to alpha level who focus mainly on species identification and classification. Certainly, taxonomists have been spending much valuable time and rich expertise to contribute a lot to some important projects, especially those on biodiversity, ecology, evolutionary biology, invasion biology, plant protection, conservation biology, and emerging genome biology. Also, governments demands more for quarantine of pests. However, there is a trend that more and more teams appreciate taxonomists' contributions only in the acknowledgement part of papers. Why? How to fill in the gaps? How to optimise the interactions between taxonomists and other researchers? Your answers/comments are mostly welcome. If you are willing to act as the coauthor(s) of this potential manuscript to Zoological Systematics, please kindly email me at sea@ioz.ac.cn. 转自John Ascher博士在论坛的内容 Where is the UK's pollinator biodiversity? The importance of urban areas for flower-visiting insects Katherine C. R. Baldock , Mark A. Goddard , Damien M. Hicks , William E. Kunin , Nadine Mitschunas , Lynne M. Osgathorpe , Simon G. Potts , Kirsty M. Robertson , Anna V. Scott , Graham N. Stone , Ian P. Vaughan , Jane Memmott DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2014.2849 Published 11 February 2015 http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/282/1803/20142849 Insect pollinators provide a crucial ecosystem service, butare under threat. Urban areas could be important for pollinators, though theirvalue relative to other habitats is poorly known. We compared pollinatorcommunities using quantified flower-visitation networks in 36 sites (each 1 km2)in three landscapes: urban, farmland and nature reserves. Overall,flower-visitor abundance and species richness did not differ significantlybetween the three landscape types. Bee abundance did not differ betweenlandscapes, but bee species richness was higher in urban areas than farmland.Hoverfly abundance was higher in farmland and nature reserves than urban sites,but species richness did not differ significantly. While urban pollinatorassemblages were more homogeneous across space than those in farmland or naturereserves, there was no significant difference in the numbers of rarer speciesbetween the three landscapes. Network-level specialization was higher infarmland than urban sites. Relative to other habitats, urban visitors foragedfrom a greater number of plant species (higher generality) but also visited alower proportion of available plant species (higher specialization), bothpossibly driven by higher urban plant richness. Urban areas are growing, andimproving their value for pollinators should be part of any national strategyto conserve and restore pollinators. Acknowledgements We would like to thank Mark Pavett, John Deeming, Brian Levey, Mike Wilson, Ray Barnett, Roger Ball and Stuart Morris for taxonomic expertise, along with land owners and managers for access to sites. We thank Daniel Montoya, Ian Cleasby and Beth Atkinson for statistical advice and the following field assistants: Sally Donaldson, Peter Harris, Joe Hicks, Jasmine King, Olivia Norfolk, Mark Otieno, Despoina Roumpeka and Juan Carlos Ruiz-Guajardo. This work is based on data provided through the NERC (Centre for Ecology and Hydrology), Ordnance Survey, Office for National Statistics, UK Data Service (EDINA UKBORDERS, and Casweb MIMAS), Natural England, Countryside Council for Wales and Scottish Natural Heritage, and uses boundary material which is copyright of the Crown. rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org John Ascher ： These folks categorize bees as: bees, bumblebees, honeybees,and solitary bees. That more than one-quarter of bee species in the UK are obligate parasites does not seem to be of interest to them. I see that theyhave no known (to me) taxonomists as authors and those that were involved can,I suppose, count themselves fortunate to have their name cited in theacknowledgments. I suppose that's the formula for publishing bee ecology in agood journal Claus Rasmussen ： The issue is probably deeper than this and relates toacademic appointment and funding for taxonomists in Europe. Some of the bestbee-workers in Europe are not to be found at Universities... John Ascher ： I would say most of the best at the very least, and not inthe national collections either John Ascher ： Interesting that the most important workers publishing inthe best journals are happy to rely on amateur researchers provided they don'thave to pay them or include such troublesome people as authors John Ascher ： It certainly is important to know about parasites! Gidi Pisanty ： Two questions: 1. Most ecological bee research involves IDing bees byseveral different experts, to cover all taxonomic groups. There are not manyexperts like John that can cover so many different taxa altogether, most limittheir expertise to anywhere from family to a single genus. Here in Israel weusually send our bees to around 10 different experts each year. Should allthese appear on our papers? Or just the ones of the common groups? Where do youdraw the line? And how many people, to start with, should appear on such apaper? 2. I thought the important work of taxonomists was to dospecies revisions and similar stuff, not to ID specimens. This is why L Packerand others promote bee barcoding, and this is why Brazilian experts train otherpeople to do their IDing work (so I heard?). So you disagree with theseinitiatives? John Ascher ： 1. At least one person who has at least minimal competenceregarding bee diversity and life history should be respected. Maybe you can'tenlist Paul Westrich or Max Schwarz but at least you can get someone who has abasic understanding of these matters. Furthermore, the paper in question has 12non-taxonomist authors, which I find absurd, yet your comment implies that itwould be problematic to add a mere ten taxonomic experts. Gidi Pisanty ： I don't imply anything, I wanted to understand yourposition. Waiting for No. 2... John Ascher ： 2. The important work of taxonomists is to do speciesrevisions but this work is low impact so we can't do this if wewant to have viable careers. Statistical meta-analyses and the like are what ispermissible in good journals. Not having Stockholm Syndrome myselfI have little interest in supporting such efforts if senior taxonomists are notrespected. I am extremely disappointed by your comment as it implies that theability of those who can actually identify bees and know where they live tocontribute to an important paper is limited to trivial ID ofspecimens. On that subject, you can imagine the quality of the IDing done byparataxonomists. That's a failed model as shown by implosion of INBIO. Idisagree strenuously with any and all exploitative or ill-conceivedinitiatives! John Ascher ： To be fair to Gidi his views are generally held by thecommunity so he is not personally to blame John Ascher ： Regarding barcoding, that's another effort that, likeparataxonomy, has failed to reach its stated goals due to its fundamentaldisrespect of collections-based taxonomy and its practitioners Gidi Pisanty ： As I said, I don't really have a strong view on the subject.This is what I used to think and I fully understand your points and open tochange my view. John Ascher ： I suggest reviewing the science in good journals andprestigious status assessments asking yourself if it is correct and useful tous, policy makers, the public, and other stakeholders. If so, no worries. Ifnot, I suggest that we need to make a change starting now. James C. Trager ： Not just a problem for bees. I see this for ants, plants,grasshoppers, etc. where great ecological conclusion are proclaimed while theauthors have an appalling lack of taxonomic and natural history knowledge John Ascher ： I would ask for support from my peers in academia but few ofthese exist as they can't find jobs... John Ascher ： Wouldn't mind if scientists in general were struggling butit seems they are doing fine as long as they say as far away as possible fromanything that might be construed as taxonomy John Ascher@James C.Trager ： ants and grasshoppers are already too specific for animportant study. Don't get down in the weeds like that. Better to call themterrestrial arthropods Gidi Pisanty ： I still find it a bit odd, that even for the fauna of theUK, which is not very diverse and is so well studied and characterised inpublications including detailed keys (correct me if I'm wrong) - even thisfauna, in your opinion, necessitates IDing by the professional taxonomiststhemselves and no-one else? (I acknowledge your point about the parasitesthough) Liz Day ： IDing specimens never seemed trivial to me. John Ascher@Liz ： the PIs of important studies surely agree that specimenidentification (etc.) is really important when it's becomes a bottleneck fortheir work, and then suddenly become quite friendly, but somehow are not sowelcoming when allocating funding, leadership of important projects, andauthorship or, if you do make the cut, when sorting out the more contentiousscientific issues (what does a mere content provider have to offer,having discredited themselves by generating actual data?) John Ascher ： Point taken, Gidi, but the UK has an exceptionally small andexhaustively surveyed fauna and even there very few can hope to identify themore difficult Lasioglossum , Andrena , Nomada and Sphecodes etc.Also, we're still waiting for the definitive work on the British fauna aren'twe? Has Else published his masterwork? I thought the best European keys wereby, e.g., Scheuchl and Amiet et al., and the best photo documentation for CzechRepublic (i.e. non-British). Finally, did you miss my point that those who canidentify bees might perhaps also know enough about their behavior to preventthe 25% of parasites in the fauna being lumped in an amorphous beeor solitary bee category. The idea that professional taxonomistshave only their ID skills to offer diversity studies is ludicrous. You shouldknow better! Among other things, it is the taxonomists who bother to track downthe old literature. A lot to learn from that if you are a scholar, even if itwon't help you publish in good journals John Ascher ： Also, did you miss my comment where I said you don't needthe best or all taxonomic experts involved, but consulting (and crediting!) atleast one of the better ones wouldn't hurt. Otherwise the work suffers (see anynumber of recent projects and publications) Stuart Roberts ： As far as I am aware, every specimen collected in the UrbanBees project was identified to species by a properly paid bee specialist at theCardiff Museum. Their funding was an integral part of the bid process John Ascher ： Too bad none the species-level or even thesubfamily-level information seems to have made it into the paper.Evidently in Britain you have advanced to the point where you can outsourcethis sort of tedious work to a contract bidder, as opposed toenlisting at least one academic peer, but at a cost to the final product,wouldn't you say? How come you never see the stats outsourced to non-authors? Gidi Pisanty ： I agree that ecological community research can easilyneglect and exploit the field and experts of taxonomy which it so much reliesupon. When you send material to taxonomists, they can be reimbursed in severalways: 1) They get to keep duplicates from your material 2) They sometimes discover new species which they thenpublish 3) They benefit from the distributional data of yourspecimens 4) Some of them get paid directly for their work 5) Sometimes you add them as coauthor Our lab depends heavily on taxonomists for its work, and wemake an effort to keep up good relations with them. Some of them get paid, themajority don't. I admit that adding them as coauthors is usually not consideredan option. We could, theoretically, add one or two experts to each paper -probably those that received the majority of specimens. But since most of ourstudies are concerned with the community and not specific taxa, it then becomesa bit awkward why one is coauthor and not the other. No doubt, taxonomists are also a valuable and rare source oflife history information, which I personally acquired from them for my recentpublished paper. Specifically, the example of neglect of parasitic bees is nota sound one - this is neglect at the level of the ecologist, not thetaxonomist! Any serious bee ecologist should know and notice that, consideringthe parasitism usually characterizes whole genera or subgenera, and not onlyisolated species. John Ascher ： Gidi, there may be misunderstanding in that my concern isnot about professional taxonomists per se (hardly any of those in Europe anywayto worry about) but rather that at least one of the authors understands beediversity and life history and ensures this is not neglected. Doesn't matter ifthat person is primarily a taxonomist or an ecologist or something else. Inmuch of the world it is the collections-based taxonomists doing extensivefieldwork and possessing taxonomic libraries of old lowimpact publications who have an adequate understanding of bee diversity,not ecologists, but that may not be the case in Europe or in Israel. Also,Gidi, please consider that most taxonomists who want any sort of aviable career cannot follow the model you give above, although that may workfor retirees and amateurs or those very few who have secured a strictlytaxonomic position. Many colleagues who could be considered the besttraditional taxonomists are also deeply involved with bee ecology,conservation, molecular systematics, and other relevant fields. This is bynecessity, as even with broadly relevant skills it is really difficult toadvance in a world where sometimes you add them is a fifth optionto be employed by hypothesis-based scientists in a far superiorposition if they are so inclined. John Ascher ： The example is a very sound one Gidi, as in my experience itis always those who understand specific taxa (whatever you may wishto call such people and however they are or are not paid or employable) who cancorrectly characterize the community, networks, conservation status, etc. Ifthere is a case where someone contemptuous of specific taxa andthose who know them made a correct insight into bee community ecology pleasesend me the reprint and I'll stand corrected. John Ascher ： Gidi, when I think of ecologists I tend to think of the statisticalor theoretical ecologists who are running the show rather than seriousbee ecologists who concern themselves with trivial empirical matters likewhat tiny insects do in nature. Of course the latter would know aboutcleptoparasitic bees, but would likely be in the same leaky boat as thetaxonomists professionally (and would likely be a taxonomist at some level),i.e. hoping to be at best tacked on belatedly as option #5 for funding orauthorship by a benevolent statistician. John Ascher ： Here is what an urban ecologystudy can include when led by ataxonomist: http://eprints.lib.hokudai.ac.jp/dspace/bitstream/2115/27559/1/19%281%29_P190-250.pdf Also instructive to compare the quality of ecological work on bees led by E. G. Linsleywith modern efforts.
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