Lincoln (Neb.) - Oct. 24, 1997 - Brett Ratcliffe never knows what he'll find around the next bend in a jungle trail.
"You never know when you're going to run into something that you've never seen before, and that is just such a thrill," the University of Nebraska-Lincoln field biologist said. "It's like an Easter egg hunt, except what we're doing is a little more important than hunting for Easter eggs. We're looking for species new to humanity, that we've never seen or recognized before."
Over the next five years, Ratcliffe, colleague Mary Jameson and their graduate students will get plenty of opportunities to explore those jungle trails looking for new species of scarab beetles thanks to a $740,000 grant from the National Science Foundation. The grant is one of 10 nationwide under the NSF's Partnerships to Enhance Expertise in Taxonomy program, which has identified certain groups of animals and plants that particularly need attention.
"Insects are one of the groups that need attention because they're so poorly known and there are so many of them," said Ratcliffe, professor and curator of insects at the University of Nebraska State Museum. "The purpose of our grant is four-fold. First is to train a new generation of taxonomists. Second is to produce monographs on poorly known groups of insects. The third is to disseminate electronically and in print all the databases that we create as well as the results of our research in the area of scarab beetle systematics. The fourth is creating a structure within the host countries so they can take responsibility for managing and discovering their own resources. Developing countries are recognizing that their national treasures also include biodiversity - their plants and animals."
Jameson, a research assistant professor at the museum, and Ratcliffe have taken on a monumental task. For example, one of every four living things on Earth is a beetle and there are more kinds of beetles than all other kinds of animal life.
"We really have our work cut out for us," Jameson said. "If you can imagine, within the scarabs, there are 35,000 species worldwide - that's our current estimate and I work on just one subfamily of scarabaeidae . That subfamily alone has about 4,000 species. All the mammals in the world total 4,000 species."
Ratcliffe, who has spent the last two decades studying insects in Central America, said the NSF grant will take his team on at least three major expeditions to South America, one to Amazonian Brazil and Brazilian museums in the southern part of the country, one to Ecuador and a third to French Guiana. On the trips, Ratcliffe and Jameson will gather specimens and train their students in collecting and identifying insects in the field. In addition, they'll learn the intricacies of dealing with foreign colleagues and museums and the bureaucratic protocols involved in returning collections to the United States. The rest of the time will be spent in laboratories at UNL analyzing and eventually publishing their findings.
"The product that we'll have will be a benchmark in systematics, which is the science of the diversity of life," Jameson said. "It will be used as a foundation for others to build on for years and years. It will be useful in looking at evolutionary and adaptation questions, conservation issues, management of natural resources, these sorts of things."
Scarab beetles are generally compact, heavy-bodied insects that range in size from a grain of rice to the 8-inch-long Hercules beetle. A few species are considered agricultural pests, but others are vital in pollination and in breaking down organic matter, thus fertilizing the soil.
"One of the severe crises we have in the developing world today is that rain forests are rapidly being destroyed for quick economic return," Ratcliffe said. "If we can have people trained in those countries to know why they should preserve those rain forests, then they will be better able to maintain those areas for sustained use.
"Simply because you can't see a direct benefit to you doesn't mean that beetles aren't valuable. That's a very shortsighted view. All living things are so interrelated that they make the whole ecosystem work and that is the foundation that allows humans on the planet to prosper. The more we keep undercutting that, the more our basis for survival is threatened."
Accepting the grant, of course, meant the crew would spend several weeks or months in tropical conditions that aren't up to Club Med standards. But that's part of the fun, Ratcliffe said.
"If you're a field biologist, one of the things you enjoy
immensely are those rough circumstances where you don't have good
roads, where you have irregular meals and the food is not that
good," he said. "It's hot and humid in the lowland forest, but
it's freezing when you're up in the mountains. In spite of
mosquitos and chiggers, we absolutely love it because the
adventure and discovery is what we live for."
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