Understanding Vanishing Endemism: Survey of the Invertebrates and Plants of Threatened Montane Habitats in Hispaniola

了解消失的特有现象：对伊斯帕尼奥拉岛受威胁山地栖息地的无脊椎动物和植物的调查这项生物调查调查了加勒比海伊斯帕尼奥拉岛（多米尼加共和国，海地）山区森林中的昆虫，植物和其他生物，包括地球上一些最受威胁的自然栖息地。这些栖息地中有很大比例的动植物物种是地方性的，在其他地方找不到。山地栖息地的破坏正以惊人的速度发生，许多物种面临灭绝的威胁，其中包括许多为了解新世界其他地方相关物种的生物学方面提供必要信息的物种，特别是加勒比周边地区，如美国东南部、墨西哥、中美洲和南美洲北部。伊斯帕尼奥拉岛的植物是安的列斯群岛中最不为人所知的。据估计，山区80%的无脊椎动物物种未被收集，科学界也不知道。该项目的目标是：(1)进一步了解加勒比地区受威胁栖息地的生物多样性；(2)改善伊斯帕尼奥拉岛生物多样性研究的基础设施；(3)迅速为保护伊斯帕尼奥拉岛濒危栖息地提供建议；(4)促进对加勒比地区动植物多样性和生态重要性群体的创造性研究。从2002年9月开始，到2005年8月结束，主要项目的完成将是一个全面的、多季节的、非常紧急的生物清单。密集采样的目标区域包括伊斯帕尼奥拉岛所有六个断层划定的山地系统（海地两个，多米尼加四个）。采样强调来自陆地和淡水系统的昆虫和植物，特别是巨多样性谱系（鳞翅目、鞘翅目、双翅目、被子植物）。超过5,320种植物、150,000种无脊椎动物标本和两者的DNA样本将分发给全世界170名合作专家，用于鉴定、研究和出版各种加勒比血统。该项目将(1)收集、准备和分发用于研究的标本；(2)发现和发表以前未知的生物；(3)记录物种及其相关物种的时空发生；(4)通过万维网交流生物信息；(5)将调查结果应用于资源管理中的紧迫问题。本项目的研究成果对系统学、进化、生态学和保护等方面的科学研究具有重要意义。这是一个多机构和国际合作项目，总部设在卡内基自然历史博物馆（匹兹堡），与史密森学会和哈佛大学的共同负责人、海地和海地主要机构（国家植物园、国家自然历史博物馆、海地州立大学）的工作人员、政府机构（生物多样性指导委员会（DR）、环境部（海地））和私人基金会(Fundacion Moscoso Puello、Grupo雅拉瓜)。该项目将提供任何地方都能找到的伊斯帕尼奥拉群岛栖息地最完整的生物记录，对保护和管理这些濒危的山地栖息地至关重要，并将成为加勒比地区及其他地区未来多国、多机构生物清单的典范。

Understanding Vanishing Endemism: Survey of the Invertebratesand Plants of Threatened Montane Habitats in HispaniolaThis biological survey investigates insects, plants, and other organisms from mountain forests on the Caribbean island of Hispaniola (Dominican Republic, Haiti), including some of the most threatened natural habitats on earth. A high percentage of animal and plant species in these habitats are endemic, found nowhere else. Destruction of montane habitats is occurring at an alarming rate and many species are threatened with extinction, including many which provide information essential for understanding biological aspects of related species elsewhere in the New World, especially circum-Caribbean regions such as the southeastern United States, Mexico, Central America, and northern South America. Plants of Hispaniola are the least known of any island in the Antilles. An estimated 80% of invertebrate species in mountainous regions is uncollected and unknown to the scientific community. Project goals are (1) to further an understanding of biological diversity in threatened Caribbean habitats, (2) to improve infrastructure in Hispaniola for research on biodiversity, (3) to rapidly provide recommendations for conservation of endangered Hispaniolan habitats, and (4) to foster creative research on diverse and ecologically significant groups of Caribbean animals and plants.The principal project accomplishment will be a comprehensive, multi-seasonal biotic inventory of great urgency starting Sept. 2002, ending Aug. 2005. Regions targeted for intensive sampling encompass all six fault-delimited mountain systems in Hispaniola (two in Haiti, four in DR). Sampling emphasizes insects and plants from terrestrial and freshwater systems, especially megadiverse lineages (Lepidoptera, Coleoptera, Diptera, angiosperms). More than 5,320 plants, 150,000 invertebrate specimens, and DNA samples of both will circulate to 170 cooperating specialists worldwide for identification, research, and publication on diverse Caribbean lineages. The project will (1) collect, prepare, and circulate specimens for research, (2) discover and publish on previously unknown organisms, (3) document spatial and temporal occurrence of species and their associates, (4) communicate biological information over the World Wide Web, and (5) apply survey findings to urgent problems in resource management. The findings from this project have significance for scientific research, including systematics, evolution, ecology, and conservation. This is a multi-institutional and international effort based at Carnegie Museum of Natural History (Pittsburgh) with collaborating co-PI's from Smithsonian Institution and Harvard University, staff from key institutions in DR and Haiti (Jardin Botaico Nacional, Museo Nacional de Historia Natural, State University of Haiti), government agencies (Direccion General de Vida Silvestre y Biodiversidad (DR), Ministere de L'Environnement (Haiti)), and private foundations (Fundacion Moscoso Puello, Grupo Jaragua). The project will provide the most complete biotic documentation of Hispaniolan habitats available anywhere, will be essential to preservation and management of these endangered montane habitats, and will be a model for future multinational, multi-institutional biotic inventories in the Caribbean and beyond.