Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit, Great Plains CESU

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The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center (NPWRC) is offering a funding opportunity to a CESU partner for research to support development of genetic techniques for identifying native pollinators of the Northern Great Plains (NGP). USGS scientists have a collection of >30,000 native pollinators sampled from across the NGP including samples collected on U.S. Department of Agriculture Conservation Reserve Program and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service National Wildlife Refuges. The original purpose for the specimen collection was to determine the role of federal conservation lands for supporting native pollinator communities. The CESU partner is to develop next-generation sequencing strategies for identifying these native pollinators, to reduce cost and time spent identifying insects in current and future USGS studies. The insect samples have already been collected and identified using traditional taxonomic keys and light microscopy. Because USGS scientists have already collected and identified the samples via light microscopy, the primary objective for our CESU partner will be to develop a novel sequencing strategy for identifying these insects and make comparisons to the taxonomic data USGS has already collected. The broader objective, in subsequent years, is to expand this sequencing protocol into a "whole-insect" multi-assay which would simultaneously identify and genotype pollinators, as well as identify the species of their associated pollen, gut bacteria, and parasites, all in a single sequencing run. Such an assay would facilitate parallel investigations of the role nutrition, parasites and disease, as well as genetic diversity play in the sustainability of pollinator communities. Currently, USGS scientists lack the expertise to develop genetic sequencing strategies for identifying pollinators of the NGP.

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