Biodiversity Surveys in the Southern Borderlands of the People's Republic of China

该项目代表了对中国南部边境陆生脊椎动物生物多样性的综合记录。中国南部边境是世界上开发最少的地区之一。研究鸟类、哺乳动物、爬行动物和两栖动物的专家将为探险队提供人员，陪同他们的还有研究各种寄生虫的专家（跳蚤、苍蝇、蜱虫、虱子、线虫、寄生虫、血寄生虫、球虫等）。这五支探险队将分别集中在边境地区的不同地区，包括与老挝、越南、缅甸和印度东北部的边境地区。每个专家都将使用在他或她自己的领域中“最先进”的工具进行库存。最终的结果将是一系列广泛的标本和其他新的生物材料进行详细的研究，以及大量的科学出版物，记录当地脊椎动物和寄生虫群落，分类见解和新物种。将收集和稳定寄生虫标本，以便长期保存和最终研究。项目数据将通过基于互联网的分布式数据库技术以最高效率提供给更广泛的科学界。这个项目在对脊椎动物和许多寄生虫群体进行广谱评估方面几乎是独一无二的。地球上很少有地方可以看到脊椎动物和它们的寄生虫的全部（或至少是广泛的样本）多样性，这使得人们对一个地区真正的生物丰富性有了新的认识。在中国南部边境地区，不仅许多寄生虫不为科学所知，甚至一些或许多脊椎动物宿主也不为科学所知。许多关于生物多样性保护的新见解将来自对这种多样性本质的详细看法。这些信息将超越目前主导保护生物学的以脊椎动物为基础的快速和简单的保护优先事项，为复杂和鲜为人知的地区提供生物多样性真实维度的详细视图。

This project represents an integrated effort to document the terrestrialvertebrate biodiversity of the southern borderlands of China, one of theleast well explored regions worldwide. Specialists working with birds,mammals, reptiles, and amphibians will staff the expeditions, accompanied byexperts with various parasite groups (fleas, flies, ticks, lice, nematodes,cestodes, blood parasites, coccidia, etc.). The 5 expeditions will eachfocus on a different sector of the borderlands region, including the borderareas with Laos, Vietnam, Burma, and northeastern India. Each specialistwill use tools for inventory that are the 'state of the art' in his or herown field. The end result will be extensive series of specimens and othernew biological material for detailed study, as well as numerous scientificpublications documenting local vertebrate and parasite communities,taxonomic insights, and new species. Parasite specimens will be collectedand stabilized, with a view towards long-term curation and eventual study.Project data will be served to the broader scientific community with maximumefficiency via Internet-based distributed database technology.This project is near-unique in its broad-spectrum assessment of vertebratesand many groups of parasites. Such a view of vertebrates and the full (or atleast a broad sample of the) diversity of their parasites is available fromfew places on Earth, making for a new view into the true biological richnessof an area. In the case of the Chinese southern borderlands, not only willmany of the parasites be unknown to science, but even some or many of thevertebrate hosts as well. Many new insights into the conservation ofbiological diversity will come from such detailed views of the nature ofthis diversity. This information will go beyond the quick-and-easyvertebrate-based conservation priorities that currently dominateconservation biology to provide a detailed view of the true dimensions ofbiological diversity in a complex and little-known region.