The Diatoms, Ostracodes, and Chironomids of Western Mongolia's Saline Lakes: Biodiversity, Ecology, and Research Applications

蒙古西部横跨阿拉泰山脉、五大湖流域和西部甘艾高原草原，是世界上最重要的生态和文化地区之一。它拥有各种诱人的湖泊，从淡水到比海洋更咸的盐水。该地区对气候变化高度敏感，是几种稀有和濒危动物的家园，也是蒙古传统游牧民族羊绒生产的主要来源，这些游牧民族依赖于该地区地表水的供应和质量。蒙古政府努力保护这些自然和文化资源，严格保护这一地区的大片土地，并将该地区列入联合国教科文组织生物圈保护区和世界遗产名录。尽管做出了这些努力，但人们对该地区的生物多样性或将这些生物用作生态系统健康和变化的衡量标准知之甚少。因此，在2004年和2005年的两次实地考察中，一个国际科学家小组(蒙古、美国、比利时)将调查蒙古西部硅藻、介形虫和摇蚊的分布和生物多样性。这些鲜为人知的生物群包括藻类(硅藻)、种子虾(介形虫)和不咬人的蚊虫(摇蚊)，它们是开发模型以了解气候变化和评估水质的最有用的生物。生物多样性调查将很好地帮助制定一项生态系统管理计划，以保护和可持续利用五大湖奇谷以及阿拉泰和坎艾高地。将对50个湖泊和河流系统进行采样，预计将产生约400种硅藻、200种介形虫和200种昆虫复合标本。将使用光学和电子显微镜对样本进行研究，以识别大约450到600种硅藻、50种介形虫和50-60种摇蚊。预计所有群体中都有10%到20%的物种被描述为科学上的新物种。与生物收集同时采集的环境数据将允许使用多变量统计分析计算物种环境偏好，从而为建立水质和气候变化推断模型奠定关键基础。成果将以四种形式提出：常规科学论文；一套地区性植物群和动物群；一个向国际受众快速传播数据和成果的网站；国际博物馆藏品和数据库中的收藏品、物种分布和栖息地描述档案，可在网上查阅。该项目将为蒙古藏品提供基础设施支持，并通过与美国、比利时和蒙古专业人员的合作学习，培养两名蒙古研究生和一名美国博士生，以确保所有相关国家都有一个良好的国际科学未来。最后，由于团队成员代表学术、研究和博物馆机构，通过展览规划和教育推广将接触到更广泛的观众。

Western Mongolia -- spanning the Altai Mountains, the Valley of the Great Lakes, and the western Khangai highland steppes -- is one of the world's most significant ecological and cultural regions. It contains a tantalizing variety of lakes ranging from fresh water to brines more saline than the oceans. The region is highly sensitive to climate variation, home to several rare and endangered animals, and the primary source of cashmere production in Mongolia by traditional nomads that are dependent on supply and quality of regional surface waters. The Mongolian government has striven to preserve these natural and cultural resources by strictly protecting large expanses of this region and registering the area on the UNESCO Biosphere Reserve and World Heritage List. In spite of these efforts, little is known of the region's biological diversity or of using the organisms as a measure of ecosystem health and change. Therefore, during two field expeditions in 2004 and 2005, an international team of scientists (Mongolia, USA, Belgium) will survey the distribution and biodiversity of diatoms, ostracodes, and chironomids of western Mongolia. These lesser known biological groups include algae (diatoms), the seed shrimps (ostracodes), and the non-biting midge insects (chironomids), which are among the most useful organisms for developing models to understand climate change and to evaluate water-quality. The biodiversity surveys will serve well in developing an ecosystem management program for protection and sustainable use of the singular Valley of the Great Lakes and the Altai and Khangai highlands.Fifty lake and stream systems will be sampled and are expected to yield about 400 diatom, 200 ostracode, and 200 insect composite collections. Samples will be studied using light and electron microscopes to identify approximately 450 to 600 species of diatoms, 50 species of ostracodes, and 50-60 species of chironomids. All groups are expected to have ten to twenty percent of the species described as new to science. Environmental data taken simultaneously with biological collections will allow calculation of species environmental preferences using multivariate statistical analyses, thereby laying the critical foundation for construction of water-quality and climate-change inference models. Results will be presented in four formats: conventional scientific papers; a set of regional floras and faunas; a website for quick dispersal of data and results to an international audience; and archives of collections, species distributions, and habitat descriptions in international museum collections and databases that are web-accessible. This project will provide infrastructural support for Mongolian collections and train two Mongolian graduate students and an American Ph.D. student through cooperative learning from US, Belgian, and Mongolian professionals to ensure a sound international scientific future for all countries involved. Lastly, because team members represent academic, research, and museum institutes, even broader audiences will be touched through exhibit programming and educational outreach.