Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit, Great Rivers CESU

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The U.S. Geological Survey is offering a funding opportunity to a CESU partner for technical assistance to increase science delivery and technology transfer about biological and natural resources data and information. The objective is to update the taxonomy in several key groups of organisms within ITIS. The Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) is a collaborative effort among Federal agencies to provide an integrated single source for the scientific and common names as well as a single synonomized classification for all living things. It is the common denominator for names among numerous databases containing information about biological organisms at all levels of government and in the private sector. The data are used in a wide array of pursuits but are especially useful to state conservation agencies for conservation planning. The Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) seeks collaborative opportunities with a partner of the CESU to serve as a nexus for information from taxonomic experts in specific key groups of organisms that will fill current gaps in the database and benefit the state level conservation agencies in conservation planning, assessment and monitoring. The successful applicant will collaborate with globally recognized experts in each taxonomic group and work with them to thoroughly and fully update and expand the information in ITIS. Task groups: Bryophytes: The successful applicant will work with collaborators at the Missouri Botanical Garden to use their existing data for the bryophytes of North America (and other areas as deemed appropriate) to produce a full update for the group in ITIS. Oligochaetes: The successful applicant will work with the University of Kansas, the Illinois Natural History Survey and collaborators to produce a full update for the oligochaetes of North America (and other areas as deemed appropriate) in ITIS. Arachnids: The successful applicant will work with the American Museum of Natural History and collaborators to use their existing data for the spiders of North America (and other areas as deemed appropriate) to produce a full update for the group in ITIS. Fungi: The successful applicant will work with the Agricultural Research Service Mycology Laboratory and other collaborators to use their existing data for the fungi of North America (and other areas as deemed appropriate) and integrate it with recent comprehensive publications on the hierarchy of the fungi to produce an update for the group in ITIS. Insects: The successful applicant will work with ITIS staff and collaborators to convert numerous existing data sets of groups of insects into quality controlled ITIS workbench files for updating ITIS. The data to be converted will comprise a minimum of 4000 taxa in total.

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