RCN: Coordinated Research on Amphibian Population Declines in the Neotropics

最近的研究表明，在新世界热带地区的许多地方，青蛙、蟾蜍和蝾螈的数量急剧下降和灭绝，这种模式在北美和世界其他地方也见过。我们建议成立新热带两栖动物研究与分析网络RANA，以协调来自不同机构的科学家研究这一问题。其目标是促进合作研究，利用新世界热带地区巨大的栖息地和分类多样性。RANA的成员将收集数据，以检验人口下降的主要假设，包括疾病、气候变化和UV-B辐射。关于两栖动物灭绝、畸形和数量下降的报道经常出现在大众媒体上，对科学家来说，这是一个现代的谜。这种生物多样性危机的全球性意味着我们必须把目光投向国界之外，以深入了解为什么大量青蛙在美国许多地区消失，包括内华达山脉和喀斯喀特山脉。该项目将建立一个西班牙-英语双语的公开网站，其中载有两栖动物数量减少的信息，并建立一个载有新世界热带地区所有物种状况信息的数据库。

Recent research has documented dramatic population declines and extinctions of frogs, toads, and salamanders in many parts of the New World tropics, a pattern seen in North America and elsewhere in the world. We propose the formation of RANA, the Research and Analysis network for Neotropical Amphibians, to coordinate scientists from a variety of institutions examining this issue. The goal is to promote collaborative research that takes advantage of the tremendous habitat and taxonomic diversity of the New World tropics. Members of RANA will collect data to test leading hypotheses for population declines, including disease, climate change, and UV-B radiation. Reports of extinctions, deformities, and population declines of amphibians frequently appear in the popular media, and represent a modern day mystery to scientists. The global nature of this biodiversity crisis means that we have to look outside of our borders to provide insights on why large numbers of frogs are disappearing in many regions of the US, including Sierra Nevada and the Cascade Mountains. This project will produce a bilingual Spanish-English publicly-available website with information on amphibian declines and a database with information on the status of all species of the New World tropics.