RCN: Coordinated Research on Amphibian Population Declines in the Neotropics

最近的研究证明，在新大陆热带的许多地区，青蛙、蟾蜍和火蜥蜴的数量急剧下降和灭绝，这种模式在北美和世界其他地方都可以看到。我们建议成立RANA，即新热带两栖动物研究和分析网络，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，利用新大陆热带巨大的栖息地和分类多样性。RANA的成员将收集数据，以测试人口下降的主要假说，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流行媒体上，对科学家来说，这是一个现代的谜团。这场生物多样性危机的全球性意味着，我们必须把目光投向国外，以深入了解为什么在美国许多地区，包括内华达山脉和喀斯喀特山脉，大量青蛙正在消失。该项目将建立一个西班牙语-英语双语公开网站，提供有关两栖动物数量减少的信息，并建立一个数据库，提供有关新大陆热带所有物种状况的信息。

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.