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The Polish Taxonomic Facility (PL-TAF)
Collections & expertise
The collection of PL-TAF is one of the best in Eastern Europe
and comprises a total of 5.5 million specimens. Its particular strengths
include: roundworms, flatworms, insects, ants, molluscs and birds,
with many primary types represented (see Table 2). The collection
is arranged in such a way that desired specimens can easily be located
and examined. There is no doubt that this collection constitutes
an important instrument of research for scientists from Europe and
internationally.
PL-TAF is a combination of (i) extensive museum collections
with their particular taxonomic/geographic strengths, (ii) modern
facilities enabling molecular taxonomic analyses of the collected
specimens, and (iii) taxonomic expertise of local researchers. The
vast taxonomic knowledge of researchers is often accessible only
in situ, given the extent (or volume) of relevant reference
collections. The international community of scientists working at
PL-TAF represents a large array of zoological disciplines. In some
cases these scientists are world leaders in their fields and/or
represent unique or rare expertise in Europe (see Table 3), for
example, S. Belokobylskij (braconid wasps),
W. Bogdanowicz (bats), W. Czachowski (ants) and J. Kisielewski
(Gastrotricha)
The main zoological library at PL-TAF (houses almost 250,000 volumes,
adds to the strength of the infrastructure, as does the presence
of some state-of-the-art equipment. The institute also publishes
three journals (Annales Zoologici, Acta Chiropterologica
and Acta Ornithologiica) indexed/abstracted by the Institute
for Scientific Information in Philadelphia.
Supporting analytical facilities
Modern infrastructures present at PL-TAF include (1) molecular
laboratory allowing to conduct several types of molecular analysis
(e.g., RAPD, PCR-RFLP, DNA-DNA hybridisation, STR polymorphism)
and document the results via EDAS system; the lab staff is accustomed
with isolation of DNA from rarely used material like avian feathers,
dried insects, avian droppings or mammalian faeces; (2) biometrical
lab with an array of modern digitising and computerised measuring
instruments, including Kontron scanner and 2-dimensional digital
image capture system. This laboratory also includes a unique Reflex
Microscope useful for digitising 3-dimensional coordinates of mammalian
teeth and other small specimens; (3) the soil lab, containing a
MacFadyen extractor (for inventorying the structure of soil mesofauna)
and an apparatus Sension 156 HACH (for measuring soil pH, oxygen
saturation, and conduction). (4) Beckman Coulter CEQ 8000 DNA sequencer
(new).
List
of facilities (Excel)
Some particular strengths of PL-TAF
collections
| Ca. 25,000 type specimens, including
many primary types of spiders described by Kulczynski, Taczanowski, and Keyserling, ichneumon
'flies' by Heinrich, orthopterans (von Wattenwyl) and molluscs
by Lubomirski, Retowski, Wagner, & Polinski |
| Ants from Eastern Palaearctic,
incl. ca. 200,000 specimens from Northern Korea and Indochina
(many still undescribed) . insects, particularly beetles (e.g.
Chrysomelidae, Erotylidae, Tenebrionidae)
from Europe and Asia . shells of molluscs, mainly from Asia
Minor, Balkan Peninsula, and Caucasus (> 100,000) . ca. 40,000 birds (principally South America, Siberia and Caucasus), with ca. 7,800
species and subspecies . oological collection (ca. 6,000 bird eggs) |
| All developmental stages of about 85% families of
beetles occurring in Poland . larvae and adults of most
flies in the country, of forensic significance . ca. 90% of
all known species of plant-parasitic nematodes (Tylenchina)
from temperate Europe |
| Tissue
collections for DNA analyses, 565 samples of wolf (Canis
lupus) originating from Greece and Eastern Europe, as well
as hundreds of martens from Poland (Martes foina and
M. martes) . blood
samples for DNA analyses of chicks and adults of kestrel Falco
tinnunculus from Warsaw |
| The world's largest database (illustrated catalogue with
more than 4,000 species) of salticid spiders; . complete checklist
(incl. synonyms) of Polish fauna (ca. 35,000 species) |
Examples of unique and rare expertise
represented by MIZPAN staff
| Animal groups: Protista,
Gastrotricha, salticid spiders of the world, forensic flies,
Cucujoidea and tenebrionid beetles, Fulgomorpha bugs, ants of
Eastern Palaearctic, World braconid wasps, zonitid gastropods,
Australasian and Oriental cyclopids (Copepoda), free-living
nematodes |
| Conservation biology
of Maculinea butterflies; Conservation biology of birds of prey,
incl. running the introduction program for Peregrine Falco peregrinus |
| 2D and 3D geometric morphometrics, including image
analysis and objects modeling |
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