The Crisis in the Science of Systematics

To deal with invasive species you first have to know what you have, what is crawling up your leg, or garden flower, or bedroom wall. This knowledge is found in the study and discipline of systematics. As with my last posting on food research, Food Security in the United States: Understanding and Reducing the Impacts of Climate Change in Agriculture , this area of public infrastructure is lacking in funding mostly because it is not sexy science and because we the public have not a clue as to why we should pay to support the rivet under the bridge, The Continuing Loss of Scientific Infrastructure - Decline of Systematics .

If we are to find away to cope with, and live with invasive species, let alone, reverse the economic and environmental harm, we need to know about the species in question; we need to be able to identify that which we would regulate,legislate, mitigate or eliminate.

Please write to your Congressional delegation and ask them to support funding as described at the end of this post, and while you are writing, do forget to ask for support of the climate research which impacts invasive species issues.

Climate change and systematics research need your help.

Write to me: ipetrus@msn.com and ask how you can help.

A Systematics Program at the Agricultural Research Service

I. The Crisis in the Science of Systematics

Systematics:
· Is the science that identifies and groups organisms by understanding their origins, relationships, and distributions.
· Is fundamental to understand life on Earth, crops, wildlife, and diseases.
· It provides the scientific foundation to recognize and manage invasive species.

Why is Systematics important?
- Identification of the world’s biological diversity is imperative for its conservation and sustainable use.
- Protecting America’s economy, environment, health, and security against invasive species requires a strong federal program in systematic biology to detect, identify, and predict the behavior and consequences of invasive species.

Examples of work on Systematics:

1. Who discovered the pathogen that is killing oaks (Sudden Oak Death), other trees and nursery plants in CA, OR and U.S.? Systematics!

2. Who discovered the disease that killed most elm trees in the U.S. cities? Systematics!

3. Who resolved the Anthrax scare of the substance mailed to Congress in 2001? Systematics!

4. Who discovered the type of avian influenza that can affect humans and cause a pandemic? Systematics!

5. Who saved the $6 billion a year wheat export in the U.S.? Systematics!

Systematics is a vital cornerstone for our work in biodiversity and invasive species. Lack of a strong systematics program is having major negative impacts in our Nation’s economy, environment, health, and security.

What is the problem?: The CRISIS in Systematics:
We lack systematists….people retire and are not replaced.
We lack training at universities and post graduate levels.
We lack permanent, life-long job opportunities in systematics.
Biological collections are incomplete and/or in poor condition.
Collections languish in substandard facilities, lacking adequate
buildings, staffing, and technology (buildings with climate control,
fire prevention, information technology hardware/software,
research labs, plans for continuation of operations in case of a natural or terrorist catastrophic event.
We lack a comprehensive national/global exchange of bioinformatics.

The Federal Interagency Committee on Invasive Terrestrial Animals and Pathogens (ITAP) Systematics Subcommittee (SSC) has just produced a situation report on systematics and invasive species. The report’s purpose is to increase awareness of the crisis in systematics and to advocate the need for a permanent, viable, and coordinated Federal Systematics Program. Copies of the report are available at http://www.itap.gov/nal_web/itap/docs/itap_report_mar23.pdf with hard copies available from the Systematics Subcommittee Executive Secretary Hilda Diaz-Soltero (hdiazsoltero@fs.fed.us).

INVASIVE SPECIES are A GROWING THREAT in:
Biosecurity
Human and animal health
Agricultural security and trade
Environmental security
Economic health

The cost of negative impact of invasive species has been estimated at $138 billion each year. The lack of a proper systematics program is one of the fundamental reasons why we are not successful in efforts to prevent, detect and control invasive species.

Where is the systematics crisis?: In the
federal government;
at universities, zoos and botanical gardens;
in other countries.

When is the crisis?: NOW.
- This is a long standing crisis that has been identified for decades
- No solution has been fully and successfully implemented
- The problem gets worse every year!

How to solve the problem? “Strengthen national and global systematics to predict, prevent, and manage invasive species to ensure biosecurity; public health; economic, environmental, and agricultural security; and sustainability.”

This Vision will be achieved when we have:
Systematics expertise in all groups of organisms.
An effective communication network linking Federal, academic, national and international taxonomic resources.
An integrated, web-based information system that links organismal biology, geography, and taxonomy with interactive keys and collections data.
Adequate human and physical resources for federal systematics collections.
A reinvigorated capacity and commitment by universities to prepare systematics professionals.
A culture that values and sustains its systematics resources.


II. Agricultural Research Service’s (ARS) Systematics Program Needs

A first step to address the Systematics crisis is to fund the ARS Systematics effort in the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center (BARC) immediately.

A Survey federal systematics capacity and needs has been done.
Current funds at BARC for Systematics are $10.5 million in FY 09.
We need to enhance the following components of ARS Systematics Program

o Enhance research;
o Expand and improve specimen-based collections;
o Expand biodiversity informatics; and
o Educate future systematists.

The ARS Beltsville Agricultural Research Center (BARC) houses 80% of ARS systematics programs. At present, 60 % of the ARS systematics scientists are eligible to retire.

The USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS) has the potential to enhance its nascent, small systematics research effort to prepare the nation to better cope with avoiding the impacts of invasive species, in particular, to help prevent the entry of new invasives into the United States (US). Below are proposed areas of work that need to be conducted to accomplish that goal.

A. Research

1. Research problem #1: Systematics of fungi that cause plant diseases
Description: Fungi cause devastating diseases on crop plants and forest trees such as the blight that killed all chestnut trees in North America and recently soybean rust. With global climate change the number of plant diseases is increasing causing an estimated $21 billion damage each year. Many plant-disease fungi were unknown prior to invading the US. Our primary defense against this devastation is the knowledge provided by systematics, yet the study of rust and anthracnose fungi has declined to almost nothing. Research is needed to characterize and rapidly identify fungi that attack crops and forests.
Annual Budget needed: $10 million.
Jobs created: Thirty (30) permanent positions for scientists and technical staff.
Savings to the federal budget: $400 million each year

2. Research problem #2: Systematics of scale insects and weevils
Description: Scale insects and weevils attack crop plants causing tremendous damage inside the US, while an equal number of exotic insects threaten agricultural commodities. A preliminary Internet site (Scale Net) exists with information about scale insects throughout the world but the work has not been finished. Weevils are in a similar situation: some species are known while other important species need considerable additional research. Despite their importance, the BARC systematics programs on scale insects and weevils have been abolished due to lack of funds.
Annual Budget needed: $ 12 million, including $2 million for Scale Net
Jobs created: Forty (40) permanent positions for scientists and technical staff
Savings to the federal budget: $ 600 million each year

3. Research problem #3: Systematics of nematodes that reduce crop productivity
Description: Nematodes or round worms can reduce crop productivity by 50%, yet little is known about them. Last year a number of new invasive nematodes were discovered in the US and they have caused considerable crop damage. These nematodes have also created problems in the export of agricultural and forest products. Nematodes are useful in the biological control of insects. Only two research scientists in ARS study the systematics of plant-associated nematodes, yet hundreds of thousands of species exist.
Annual Budget needed: $ 10 million
Jobs created: Thirty (30) permanent positions for scientists and technical staff
Savings to the federal budget: $400 million per year

4. Research problem #4: Systematics of animal parasites
Description: With climate change, the number of animal parasites moving between hosts has shifted. As a result animal parasites not known in humans are becoming more common. The systematics program studying large animal parasites has almost been eliminated due to budget cuts. Human threats due to animal parasites can only be averted if parasites on non-host animals are known and characterized prior to their discovery in humans.
Annual Budget needed: $ 10 million
Jobs created: Twenty (20) permanent positions for scientists and technical staff
Savings to the federal budget: $200 million per year

5. Research problem #5: Systematics of mycotoxin-producing fungi
Description: Climate change will bring warmer temperatures and additional climatic extremes, particularly more extreme precipitation. These changes affect the fungi that produce deadly mycotoxins that enter the food stream, either directly or indirectly, and threaten human health. Knowledge of the systematics of these fungi is needed, including rapid means of detection through DNA barcodes and the ability to trace their movement from field to farm and to the consumer.
Annual Budget needed: $ 10 million.
Jobs created: Thirty (30) permanent positions for scientists and technical staff
Savings to the federal budget: $250 million per year

The implementation of the complete research program described above has the potential to save the federal government $1.85 billion per year in the following:
(1) preventing entry of invasive species that can damage agriculture, the environment, animal and/or human health.
(2) identifying invasive species captured in early detection efforts and allowing for rapid response to eradicate or control them.
(3) identifying species that will become invasive if they enter the US, and allowing for sentinel programs to focus avoiding those species to enter; and
(4) providing managers with scientific information to identify potential invasiveness characteristics in plants for agriculture, biofuels production and/or environmental restoration.

B. Collections

Biological collections are crucial for the identification and documentation of new pest organisms as they are found in the United States. The Beltsville Agriculture Research Center houses and curates a majority of the crop-associated reference collections in the nation.
a) The US National Fungus Collections consists of one-million specimens that serve as the knowledge base for fungal systematics. Biological specimens are sent throughout the world, yet little funding exists to upgrade and authenticate these collections.
b) The USDA Nematode Collections provides a resource for plant nematode identification and research. Technical support is needed to provide the continual maintenance of the micro slides with mounted nematodes.
c) The US National Parasite Collection, part of ARS/BARC, is one of the largest parasite collections in the world with 95,000 lots of specimens. Currently housed in a “temporary” building, an urgent need exists to provide adequate housing and upgrade the facility.
d) Scientists at ARS/BARC curate many of the collections at the Smithsonian Institution, providing authentication of these specimens. Increased technical support is required to ensure that these biological collections do not deteriorate and are available to research scientists throughout the world.
e) The National Arboretum houses 600,000 reference specimens of agricultural and horticultural plants. These specimens document the living germplasm in the National Plant Germplasm System. Technical support is needed to ensure that these specimens are adequately curated and can be sent on loan to researchers.
f) Living collections include fungi, bacteria, viruses, other microbes and plant collections. Vital for systematics research programs, the existence of these biological collections are threatened once a scientist retires. Funds are needed to maintain and characterize these living collections.
Annual budget: $30 million to maintain and upgrade systematics collections
Jobs created: 40 biological technician positions and information technologists
Savings to the federal budget: $400 million per year

C. Informatics

Agriculture is threatened by many kinds of pests, primarily by small organisms such as fungi, insects, nematodes, and animal parasites. While information exists, obtaining access to these data is not easy. Funds are needed for information technology specialists working with systematics research scientists to develop increased capacity in bioinformatics. Interactive identification tools with descriptions and illustrations of critically important fungi will be provided to users through the Web. The resulting information is rapidly accessible and useful for the identification of disease and biological control agents. In addition, funds are needed to synthesize collection data into a cohesive informatics resource with correct names, descriptions and illustrations with host and geographic data. Performance will be measured by numbers of species with taxonomic keys, descriptions, and illustrations that are placed on the Web. In addition, the number of users will indicate the value of this information to the community.
Annual Budget needed: $ 10-15 million
Jobs created: 30 permanent positions for scientists and/or technical staff
Savings to the federal budget: $500 million

D. Buildings

Building Improvements: At present, the systematics collections at ARS/BARC are scattered over five buildings none of which is adequate for preserving these irreplaceable scientific resources. One of the collections is housed in a old “guinea pig” house. The facilities are not adequately, climate-controlled nor safe from fire. During the first year of this proposed program some minimum enhancements to the current buildings housing the systematics collections will be done. These enhancements will address fire safety, humidity and temperature control. Also, scoping will begin to construct a new building at ARS/BARC that will house all the biological collections.
Budget needed: $5 million
Jobs created: 20 positions, some in construction planning
Savings to the federal budget: $20 million

Building a New Facility: A new building is required to adequately house the ARS/BARC systematics collections as part of the systematics center of excellence. The building design and construction will be done in the second and third year of the program. This building must be climate-controlled in order to preserve the specimens in perpetuity and have room for the associated libraries and research laboratories and offices.
Total divided over three years. $40 million each year for three years
Jobs created: 40 positions, many in the construction industry

E. Education of systematists

There is a need to create a program at ARS to train systematists, both at the graduate and post graduate level. A fellowship program will be created for this purpose. Each trainee will work with a senior systematics scientist as a mentor. The goal is that trainees will graduate from their doctorate degrees and have a permanent position at ARS waiting for them to fill upon graduation. This will guarantee appropriate succession as our older researchers retire. At present, 60 % of the ARS systematics scientists are eligible to retire.
Annual Budget needed: $ 5 million, primarily as grants to students and postdocs
Jobs created: 5 permanent positions for program manager and technical staff, plus 70 grants to students and new scientists

III. Implementation Plan to Address ARS/BARC Systematics Program Needs

YEAR 1. Cost: $80 Million

Research ($50 million):
Initiate ARS systematics research in the following problem areas:
Systematics of fungi that cause plant diseases ($10 million).
Systematics of scale insects and weevils ($10 million)
Systematics of nematodes that reduce crop productivity ($10 million)
Systematics of animal parasites ($10 million)
Systematics of mycotoxin-producing fungi ($10 million)

Improve Collections: $10 million
Improve bioinformatics: $5 million
Improve buildings and infrastructure: $10 million
Create fellowship program to train systematists: $5 million

Total number of jobs created in year 1: 225
Savings to federal government in year 1: $2.77 billion


YEAR 2. Cost: $130 Million

Research ($50 million):
Continue ARS systematics research in the following problem areas:
Systematics of fungi that cause plant diseases ($10 million).
Systematics of scale insects and weevils ($10 million)
Systematics of nematodes that reduce crop productivity ($10 million)
Systematics of animal parasites ($10 million)
Systematics of mycotoxin-producing fungi ($10 million)

Improve Collections: $15 million
Improve bioinformatics: $10 million
Construct buildings and infrastructure: $50 million
Continue fellowship program to train systematists: $5 million

Total number of jobs created in year 2: 245
Savings to federal government in year 2: $2.77 billion


YEAR 3. Cost: $ 146 million

Research ($55 million):
Continue ARS systematics research in the following problem areas:
Systematics of fungi that cause plant diseases ($11 million).
Systematics of scale insects and weevils ($11 million)
Systematics of nematodes that reduce crop productivity ($11 million)
Systematics of animal parasites ($11 million)
Systematics of mycotoxin-producing fungi ($11 million)

Improve Collections: $15 million
Improve buildings and infrastructure: $10 million
Construct buildings and infrastructure: $50 million
Improve bioinformatics: $10 million
Continue fellowship program to train systematists: $6 million

Total number of jobs created in year 3: 245
Savings to federal government in year 3: $2.77 billion


YEAR 4. Cost: $146 million

Research ($55 million):
Continue ARS research in the following problem areas:
Systematics of fungi that cause plant diseases ($11 million).
Systematics of scale insects and weevils ($11 million)
Systematics of nematodes that reduce crop productivity ($11 million)
Systematics of animal parasites ($11 million)
Systematics of mycotoxin-producing fungi ($11 million)

Improve Collections: $15 million
Improve buildings and infrastructure: $10 million
Construct buildings and infrastructure: $50 million
Improve bioinformatics: $10 million
Continue fellowship program to train systematists: $6 million

Total number of jobs created in year 4: 245
Savings to federal government in year 4: $2.77 billion


YEARS 5 to 10. Cost: $102 to $107 million per year

Research: $60-65 million
Improve Collections: $15 million
Improve buildings and infrastructure: $10 million
Improve bioinformatics: $10 million
Continue fellowship program to train systematists: $7 million

Total number of jobs created every year: 225
Savings to federal government every year: $2.77 billion


IV. Summary

Agency: Agricultural Research Service, US Department of Agriculture
Program enhanced: Systematics
Program cost/investment for 10 years: $1.13 billion
Total number of jobs created in 10 years: 2,085
Savings to federal government in 10 years: $27.7 billion