Submitted by Patina Mendez on
Trichoptera, or caddisflies, are freshwater aquatic insects that are closely related to moths and butterflies, but have a case-building larval stage. This project integrates multiple online biodiversity resources to update existing digital infrastructure, link resources, and expand the contents of these resources. SPUR students will use information from these projects in species distribution models to revise species ranges and also project future ranges under different climate change scenarios. Students will also have the opportunity to learn to run basic scripts in R to interface with biodiversity databases.
Caddisflies of California (Specimen-level project): Approximately 370 species of caddisflies have been collected in California over the past 100 years. Recent efforts have cataloged the benthic macroinvertebrate biodiversity of California, however we aim to update Trichoptera distribution information using both museum records and biomonitoring datasets. The goal of this project is to use specimen level database records to update species lists and distribution information for California species of Trichoptera including building reference lists for species-level identification. This project will also include building species distribution models.
Trichoptera Literature Database & Trichoptera Library (Literature project): Approximately 15,000 scientific communications have been published since 1730 focused on Trichoptera. The Trichoptera Literature Database (www.trichopteralit.umn.edu) is the bibliography of these publications and the Trichoptera Library Project through the Internet Archive (www.archive.org) holds the actual publications. This project seeks to summarize trends in publications and increase the holdings of the library.
Trichoptera World Checklist (Taxonomic names project): Approximately 15,000 species of Caddisflies have been described worldwide. The Trichoptera World Checklist keeps the names and the taxonomic status of these species. This project updates the database structure and modernizes the database.
Learn how to manipulate MSAccess databases to import, shape, and dynamically link data to ArcGIS. Create distribution maps of species ranges. Model ranges and environmental parameters in R. Assemble essential taxonomic literature for identification of California species of Trichoptera, including databasing, tagging, and scanning literature. Museum work will include assisting in Essig Museum of Entomology database efforts for Trichoptera Collections, retrieving records for California species from the California Academy of Sciences Entomology Collection, and assembling records from statewide bioassessment efforts.
Qualifications include interest in biology, particularly in freshwater systems, entomology; good organization skills, and attention to detail. We are looking for students who are interested in assembling specimen-level information to further understanding of species distribution and preserving taxonomic literature. We enjoy working with students that are motivated to learn and seek hands-on experience in aquatic entomology. Experience with basic insect identification, technical skills dealing with electronic documents, GIS, MSAccess database and skills in website editing would be useful, but are not required. Readiness to learn to do a little statistical programming.