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

理解消失的地方主义：伊斯帕尼奥拉岛受威胁的山地森林的无脊椎动物和植物调查这一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）山地森林中的昆虫，植物和其他生物，包括地球上一些最受威胁的自然栖息地。 在这些生境中，很大比例的动植物物种是当地特有的，在其他地方找不到。 山地栖息地的破坏正在以惊人的速度发生，许多物种面临灭绝的威胁，其中许多物种为了解新世界其他地方的相关物种的生物学方面提供了必要的信息，特别是环加勒比地区，如美国东南部，墨西哥，中美洲和北方南美洲。 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，山区有80%的无脊椎动物物种未被采集，科学界对此一无所知。 项目目标是：（1）进一步了解加勒比受威胁生境的生物多样性;（2）改善伊斯帕尼奥拉岛生物多样性研究的基础设施;（3）迅速为保护濒危伊斯帕尼奥拉岛生境提供建议;（4）促进对加勒比动植物的多样性和生态重要性群体进行创造性研究。从9月1日开始，2005年8月结束。 密集采样的目标区域包括伊斯帕尼奥拉岛所有六个断层界定的山脉系统（海地两个，DR四个）。 采样强调陆地和淡水系统的昆虫和植物，特别是大多样性谱系（鳞翅目，鞘翅目，双翅目，被子植物）。 超过5，320种植物，150，000种无脊椎动物标本以及两者的DNA样本将分发给全球170名合作专家，用于识别，研究和出版不同的加勒比血统。 该项目将（1）收集、准备和分发研究标本，（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。 本计画之研究结果对系统学、演化、生态学、保育等科学研究具有重要意义。 这是一个多机构和国际努力的基础上卡内基自然历史博物馆（匹兹堡）与来自史密森学会和哈佛大学的合作伙伴、来自DR和海地主要机构的工作人员（国家植物园、国家自然历史博物馆、海地州立大学）、政府机构（维达西尔维斯特和生物多样性总局、环境部（海地））和私人基金会（丰达西翁普埃洛基金会、哈拉瓜集团）。 该项目将提供最完整的关于伊斯帕尼奥拉岛生境的生物记录，对保护和管理这些濒危山地生境至关重要，并将成为今后在加勒比和其他地区进行多国、多机构生物盘存的模式。

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.