Completion of the Greater Sonoran Desert Lichen Flora Project

完成大索诺兰沙漠地衣植物区系项目

• 批准号: 0103738
• 负责人: Thomas Nash
• 金额: $ 19万
• 依托单位: Arizona State University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2001
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2001-08-15 至 2005-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0103738&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Completion; Greater; Sonoran; Desert; Lichen

Lichens are poorly known symbiotic organisms that occur world-wide on bark, rocks and soil. Outside of the Arctic there are no comprehensive identification books available. The current investigation involves a 10-year collaboration among over 70 scientists from 15 countries to develop a modern identification book for northwestern Mexico and southwestern USA, a region covering 600,000 square miles and designated the greater Sonoran Desert region. Adjacent mountains as well as the desert are included in the region. Although the collecting phase involving over a dozen major scientific expeditions is now concluded, analysis of specimens is still on-going. Current funding will allow final analyses and development of appropriate classifications to go into the second and final volume of the identification book (the first one is essentially complete). In addition, current funding will allow development of an internet identification system based on the almost 2000 species recognized from the region. The final product will include two books covering the 2000 species and include species descriptions, distribution maps, keys for identification of the species and an extensive introduction. An alternative version will be available over the internet. The treatment will almost 50% of the lichen species known from North America and as a consequence will have significance beyond the immediate geographic region covered. Because lichens are well known to be sensitive to air pollution and are important components of many ecosystems, it is anticipated that the results will be of considerable interest to land managers, air pollution specialists, scientists and public interest groups concerned with natural ecosystems.

地衣是众所周知的共生生物，在树皮，岩石和土壤上发生。 在北极外，没有可用的全面身份书。 当前的调查涉及来自15个国家 /地区的70多名科学家之间的10年合作，为墨西哥西北部和美国西南部的现代身份书开发了一本现代身份书，该地区覆盖了60万平方英里，并指定了大索诺兰沙漠地区。 该地区包括邻近的山脉和沙漠。 尽管现在已经结束了涉及十几次主要科学探险的收集阶段，但对标本的分析仍在进行中。 当前的资金将允许最终分析和开发适当的分类进入标识书的第二卷也是最后一卷（第一本书基本上是完整的）。 此外，目前的资金将允许基于该地区认可的近2000种物种开发互联网识别系统。最终产品将包括两本涵盖2000种的书籍，包括物种描述，分布图，识别该物种的钥匙以及广泛的介绍。 替代版本将通过Internet提供。 该治疗将近50％的地衣物种从北美已知，因此将在涵盖的直接地理区域中具有重要意义。 由于众所周知，地衣对空气污染很敏感，并且是许多生态系统的重要组成部分，因此可以预期，与自然生态系统有关的土地管理者，空气污染专家，科学家和公共利益集团对土地管理者，空气污染专家，科学家和公共利益集团的关注会非常重要。