Plants, Herbivores, and Parasitoids A Model System for the study of Tri-Trophic Associations Katja Seltmann, TTD-TCN Project Manager Public Participation in Digitization of Biodiversity Specimens Workshop September, 2012.

30+ Institutions across the US

Volunteers and Paid Interns

Plant Workflow Specimens are barcoded, given a “filed as” name, and imaged

Insect Workflow Organize specimens by species, then… Organize specimens by collection event Identify sex of specimen Identify exemplars to image Barcode

<} Volunteers Actively recruit Easy entry level work (minimal effort for supervisor) Make the work transparent and simple Implement “chain of command” ▫ Volunteer coordinator Step it up! Identify strengths Responsibility and training Specialized projects

Cutting labels

Active Recruitment AMNH as an institution ▫ Volunteer office School outreach Social ▫ Facebook Dorkbot ( Radio interviews (Chris Watson) Factual and musical slide show lectures

Benefit from Others

Slides and Herbarium Sheets Many similarities where public participation might enhance. ▫ Georeferencing ▫ Transcribing label data from images

Professional Participation

Outreach: Professional Participation Participation in the process by using and contributing data as part of normal day to day work We would be in great shape if every ecology, morphology, survey, and molecular study vouched specimens in collections according to present best practices. Demonstrate results! Repeatability of experiments! Faster, future research! Deposit voucher specimens Deposit images Deposit metadata Link in publication

Outreach: Professional Participation November 2012 Entomological Society of American Symposium ▫ From Voucher Specimen to Climate Change: The Merging of Systematics and Ecology Organizers: Christiane Weirauch and John Heraty May-June 2013 Specimen-level data information management course offered through Richard Gilder Graduate School, AMNH (for credit) 2014 University of California, Riverside workshop using collection level data in research ▫ Hands on, work through a small project

Thanks to: National Science Foundation co-PIs, volunteers, interns, and collaborators National Science Foundation grant ADBC#

Other: Outreach through Art/Music Scientifically Speaking with Irene Moon presents “you the charmer”, a brief overview of Blattaria evolution and biology Nerd Nite: Saturday 8pm at The Laboratory ▫ 818 W University Ave (short walk)

Outreach: Community/Professional PBI database is already set up as a data provider to Discover Life Generates species pages that include specimen data, maps, and images Creates a linkage between host/herbivore/parasitoid data Updates PBI data every 24 hours to deliver up-to-date information

Plant Workflow

<} Our Volunteers

A Tri-Trophic Example Crop Plants (Solanaceae) Aphids (Hemiptera) ParasitoidsPlantsInsect Herbivores Parasitic wasps (Hymenoptera) Produce fruits and tubers a significant economic value. Pierce stems and leaves to feed on the plants – specialize on one species or numerous species, reduce plant vigor or transmit disease, cause reduction in yield or make fruits or tubers inedible. Lay eggs directly inside the aphids and consume them from the inside out. (tcn.amnh.org)

A Tri-Trophic Approach About 85% of Hemiptera are herbivorous with high host specificity for many plant families (e.g., Asteraceae, Fabaceae, Fagaceae, and Poaceae) Hempitera are serious agricultural pests (armored scales, mealy bugs, potato leafhoppers, Lygus bugs) Vectors of viral and bacterial diseases (Green peach aphid is a vector of over 100 plant viruses) Parasitic Hymenoptera are very beneficial as biological control agents The relationship among these groups is of significant ecological and economic importance