Survey of Arid Region Herpetofauna of Madagascar

马达加斯加干旱地区爬行动物调查

• 批准号: 9322600
• 负责人: Ronald Nussbaum
• 金额: $ 24.21万
• 依托单位: Regents of the University of Michigan - Ann Arbor
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 1994
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 1994-08-15 至 1997-03-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=9322600&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Survey; Arid; Region; Herpetofauna; Madagascar

9322600 Nussbaum Madagascar is a large, continental island located in the western Indian Ocean off the east coast of Africa between 12 degree and 25 degree S latitude. It has been completely isolated for at least 100 million years. Because of its large size and long isolation, it has developed a highly diverse and largely endemic fauna and flora. It has many small and unusual groups, such as the lemurs with only 24 species, and other equally distinctive groups that have speciated spectacularly. These include the orchids with more than 1,00 species and the amphibians and reptiles with an estimated 500 species. The high degree of endemism and the great diversity of Madagascar's fauna and flora combined with an astonishing rate of habitat destruction has prompted conservation organizations to give Madagascar top priority for conservation efforts. Two years of a 3-year survey of the amphibians and reptiles of the diminishing tropical rainforests of Madagascar have been completed. The main purposes of this survey are to (1) identify centers of endemism and high diversity in order to understand the evolutionary history of the herpetofauna and to aid in developing new rainforest reserves; (2) obtain specimens for systematic studies which will result in a better understanding of the origins and relationships of the Madagascan herpetofauna; (3) publish taxonomic monographs and field guides; and (4) train Malagasy students, scientists and other personnel charged with managing natural resources. Results from the first two years include a dramatic increase in the knowledge of the distribution, ecology, life history, and evolutionary relationships of rainforest amphibians and reptiles; the rediscovery of 31 extremely rare species; and the discovery of 132 new species. A national research and teaching collection of amphibians and reptiles has been established in Madagascar, and two Malagasy graduate students have completed their M.S. degrees in association with this project. The current proposal is to continue surveying amphibian and reptile communities in Madagascar, but to shift attention from the eastern rainforests to the dry forests of western Madagascar. These dry forests contain some of the most interesting and unusual species of plants and animals in the World; and their distributions, abundance's, habitat requirements, and adaptations are poorly understood. The dry forests are already degraded and threatened to at least the same degree as the rainforests, and their destruction is accelerating as the demand for resources increases. Very few reserves exist to protect the unique habitats of madagascar's dry forests. Twenty-two sites throughout the arid regions would be surveyed over a 5-year period, including sites in all four major types of dry forest (deciduous, gallery, spiny calcareous-canyon). The same methods used successfully during the rainforest surveys would be employed. The goals are much the same as for the rainforest surveys, and when combined with the results of the rainforest surveys would give a comprehensive picture of the diversity, ecology, evolution, systematics, and conservation challenges of the Madagascan Herpetofauna.

马达加斯加是一个巨大的大陆岛屿，位于非洲东海岸的西印度洋，位于南纬12度和25度之间。它已经被完全隔离了至少1亿年。由于其幅员辽阔和长期与世隔绝，它已发展出高度多样化和大部分特有的动植物群。它有许多小而不寻常的群体，比如狐猴只有24种，而其他同样独特的群体却惊人地形成了物种。其中包括超过1000种的兰花，以及大约500种的两栖动物和爬行动物。马达加斯加动植物的高度地方性和多样性，加上栖息地破坏的惊人速度，促使保护组织将马达加斯加作为保护工作的重中之重。一项为期三年的马达加斯加热带雨林两栖动物和爬行动物调查已经完成。本次调查的主要目的是：(1)确定特有中心和高多样性中心，以了解爬行动物的进化历史，并帮助开发新的雨林保护区；(2)获取标本进行系统研究，这将有助于更好地了解马达加斯加爬虫动物群的起源和关系；(3)出版分类学专著和野外指南；(4)培训马达加斯加学生、科学家和其他负责管理自然资源的人员。前两年的成果包括对热带雨林两栖动物和爬行动物的分布、生态、生活史和进化关系的认识有了显著的提高；重新发现31种极稀有物种；发现了132个新物种。马达加斯加已经建立了一个国家级两栖动物和爬行动物的研究和教学收藏，两名马达加斯加研究生已经完成了与该项目相关的硕士学位。目前的建议是继续调查马达加斯加的两栖动物和爬行动物群落，但将注意力从马达加斯加东部的热带雨林转移到马达加斯加西部的干燥森林。这些干燥的森林蕴藏着世界上一些最有趣、最不寻常的动植物物种；它们的分布、丰度、栖息地要求和适应能力都知之甚少。干旱森林已经退化，受到的威胁程度至少与热带雨林相同，而且随着对资源需求的增加，它们的破坏正在加速。很少有保护区保护马达加斯加干燥森林的独特栖息地。整个干旱地区的22个地点将在5年的时间内进行调查，包括所有四种主要类型的干林（落叶林、廊道林、刺状钙质峡谷林）。将采用在雨林调查中成功使用的相同方法。其目标与雨林调查的目标大致相同，当与雨林调查的结果结合在一起时，将会对马达加斯加爬虫动物群的多样性、生态学、进化、系统分类和保护挑战有一个全面的了解。