Biodiversity Survey of the Terrestrial Vertebrates (Amphibians, Reptiles, Small Mammals) of Madagascar's Remnant Forests and Satellite Islands

马达加斯加残余森林和卫星岛屿陆生脊椎动物（两栖动物、爬行动物、小型哺乳动物）生物多样性调查

• 批准号: 0070485
• 负责人: Ronald Nussbaum
• 金额: $ 40万
• 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: 2000
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2000-09-01 至 2006-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0070485&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Biodiversity; Survey; Terrestrial; Vertebrates; Amphibians

This project is focused on documenting the diversity of small mammals, amphibians and reptiles in the northern forests and fringing islands of Madagascar. Surveys will be made on 21 forested areas on mainland Madagascar and 108 nearby islands, in order to document the distribution and abundance of species of terrestrial vertebrates and their external parasites. This 5-year project will provide new information for about 71% of the vertebrate species of Madagascar, which is vitally needed for establishing conservation priorities for both the mainland environments and the islands. Many species of Madagascarene amphibians and reptiles are known from only a few specimens collected 50-150 years ago. Some of these "lost" species were rediscovered during recent surveys of the mainland, and it is likely that others still surviv in unexplored forest refugia on the mainland and fringing islands. In addition to documenting the biodiversity of terrestrial vertebrates and facilitating conservation initiatives, this project will provide vast amounts of new information about the external parasites of the sampled vertebrates. Preliminary information from our previous surveys revealed eight families of parasitic mites unknown for Madagascar and more than 400 species. This vast new realm of biodiversity information promises to have a major impact on our understanding of the historical biogeography of Madagascar's fauna.

该项目的重点是记录马达加斯加北方森林和边缘岛屿小型哺乳动物、两栖动物和爬行动物的多样性。 将对马达加斯加大陆的21个森林地区和附近的108个岛屿进行调查，以记录陆生脊椎动物及其外部寄生虫的分布和数量。 这个为期5年的项目将为马达加斯加大约71%的脊椎动物物种提供新的信息，这对于确定大陆环境和岛屿的保护优先事项至关重要。 许多种类的两栖动物和爬行动物都是从50 - 150年前收集的少数标本中发现的。 在最近对大陆的调查中，一些“消失”的物种被重新发现，其他的可能仍然生存在大陆和边缘岛屿上未经开发的森林避难所。 除了记录陆生脊椎动物的生物多样性和促进保护举措外，该项目还将提供关于样本脊椎动物外部寄生虫的大量新信息。 我们以前调查的初步信息显示，马达加斯加有8个未知的寄生螨科和400多个物种。 这一巨大的生物多样性信息新领域有望对我们理解马达加斯加动物群的历史地理学产生重大影响。