The Macroecology and Biodiversity of Geographic Ranges In Mammals

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Non-Technical SummaryProposal Number: DEB-0129009Proposal Title: The Macroecology and Biodiversity of Geographic Ranges in MammalsPI Name: John L. GittlemanInstitution: University of VirginiaDifferent animals and plants are found in different places. Kangaroos and eucalyptus trees are characteristic of Australia, whereas giant pandas live only in China. One must travel far to see a close human relative, the lemurs, found only on the island of Madagascar. Surprisingly, no single source of information summarizes the geographic ranges of all mammal species. It is now all the more important to have such a database because species ranges are rapidly changing due to global climate change, habitat fragmentation, and human population growth. If there is a single prescription for species conservation, it is the preservation of natural geographic range distributions of a species.The primary sources for discovering where species live are maps showing point localities and range boundaries of a species. Our research will use GIS technology to digitize current range maps for all mammal species. We will use this database to examine three broad questions: (1) How do species differences in geographic range relate to their ecology or reproduction? (2) How are geographic ranges in mammals influenced by humans (i.e., dense human populations and land usage)? (3) How will geographic areas with high mammalian diversity (e.g., tropical forests) be effected by climate and other global changes? These questions are fundamental to understanding why almost a quarter of the 4,763 mammal species currently are threatened with extinction and using that information to establish conservation priorities. Both graduate and undergraduate studetns will be involved in all facets of this researh, and the entire database will be available freely on the worldwide web.