SGER BS&I: Accelerating Discovery of New Species in Madagascar Using Remotely Sensed Data and Ecological Niche Modeling

SGER BS

• 批准号: 0423286
• 负责人: Christopher Raxworthy
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: American Museum Natural History
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2004
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2004-09-01 至 2006-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0423286&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: SGER; BS& Accelerating; Discovery; New

SGER BS&I: Accelerating discovery of new species in Madagascar using remotely sensed data and ecological niche modelingChristopher Raxworthy and Townsend PetersonExploratory Work on a New Research Idea:- Raxworthy et al. (2003, Nature 426, 837-841) recently published results suggesting that remotely sensed data (collected by satellites and the Space Shuttle) and ecological niche modeling can be used to help identify areas with new species. Distribution modeling was used to successfully predict chameleon species occurrences in Madagascar. But some of these models also produced distribution error: they over-predicted occurrences of species in 3 intersecting areas, which actually yielded 7 species new to science. These new species exhibit characters supporting close relationships to the species originally targeted for distribution modeling, and they appear to share similar niche requirements. This novel result suggests ecological niche modeling offers innovative potential for the discovery of new species and thus can be used to direct survey efforts to areas of greatest potential. The objective of this proposal is to test ecological niche modeling using a broader range of animal groups. This work both is exploratory and high risk; this is the first attempt to apply remote sensing data and ecological niche modeling to accelerating the discovery of new species. A Severe Urgency:- The Malagasy Government has recently announced a three-fold expansion of the reserve network within 5 years. This magnitude of increase is unprecedented, and unlikely to ever be repeated again owing to the rapid loss of primary forest outside reserves. Although major elements of the reserve program have been proposed (ANGAP, 2001), a small window of opportunity currently exists for biologists to propose additional recommendations. Discovery of important areas with unprotected new species, during the critical next two years of reserve planning, would have a profound influence on the final reserve network design.Major objectives:- 1) Produce ecological niche models for at least 200 species of amphibians, reptiles, and small mammals, 2) identify intersecting areas of potential over-prediction and select sites to be surveyed, 3) survey sites and rapidly work up collections to identify/diagnose new species, 4) disseminate results concerning unprotected regional endemism to the Malagasy Government, and 5) compare these new species discoveries against surveyed sites selected blind to model results, to evaluate the utility of ecological niche modeling for accelerating species discovery.Broader Impacts:- Surveys will produce important voucher specimens (including tissues), broaden international collaboration between AMNH and the University of Antananarivo to include GIS and remote sensing, involve the participation and training of at least four PhD students from the USA and Madagascar, and provide data for a web-based international teaching module on distribution modeling being developed at AMNH. Innovative biogeographic perspectives are expected to have a profound influence on the establishment of future reserves in Madagascar.Intellectual Merit and Project Significance:- The results and conclusions have the potential to radically improve the way biologists and conservationists select survey sites to document new species diversity. Confirming the ability of ecological niche modeling to identify areas of unknown endemism would represent a major advance, and offers exciting potential for accelerating species discovery on a global scale. Obvious resulting benefits would include more inclusive and timely conservation programs, and the availability of greater biodiversity for ecological and evolutionary research.

SGER b&p；I：利用遥感数据和生态位建模加速马达加斯加新物种的发现christopher Raxworthy和Townsend peterson一种新研究思路的探索性工作：- Raxworthy等人（2003,Nature 426, 837-841）最近发表的研究结果表明，遥感数据（由卫星和航天飞机收集）和生态位建模可以用来帮助识别有新物种的地区。利用分布模型成功地预测了马达加斯加变色龙物种的分布。但其中一些模型也产生了分布误差：它们过度预测了物种在3个交叉区域的出现，实际上产生了7个科学上的新物种。这些新物种表现出与最初用于分布建模的物种有密切关系的特征，它们似乎有相似的生态位需求。这一新颖的结果表明，生态位模型为发现新物种提供了创新的潜力，因此可以用来指导对最有潜力的地区的调查工作。这项提议的目的是在更广泛的动物群体中测试生态位模型。这项工作既是探索性的，也是高风险的；这是第一次尝试应用遥感数据和生态位建模来加速新物种的发现。紧急情况：-马达加斯加政府最近宣布在五年内将储备网络扩大三倍。这种增长幅度是前所未有的，而且由于保护区以外的原始森林迅速丧失，不太可能再次出现。尽管保护区计划的主要内容已经被提出（ANGAP, 2001），但生物学家目前仍有机会提出更多的建议。在未来两年保护区规划的关键时期，发现未受保护的新物种的重要地区，将对保护区网络的最终设计产生深远的影响。主要目标：1)为至少200种两栖动物、爬行动物和小型哺乳动物建立生态位模型；2)确定可能过度预测的交叉区域并选择要调查的地点；3)调查地点并迅速收集资料以识别/诊断新物种；4)向马达加斯加政府传播有关未受保护的区域特有的结果；5)将这些新物种发现与对模型结果选择的调查地点进行比较。评价生态位模型在加速物种发现中的作用。更广泛的影响：-调查将产生重要的优惠券标本（包括组织），扩大AMNH与塔那那利佛大学之间的国际合作，包括地理信息系统和遥感，涉及至少四名来自美国和马达加斯加的博士生的参与和培训，并为AMNH正在开发的基于网络的分布建模国际教学模块提供数据。预计创新的生物地理学观点将对马达加斯加未来保护区的建立产生深远的影响。知识价值和项目意义：-结果和结论有可能从根本上改善生物学家和保护主义者选择调查地点记录新物种多样性的方式。确认生态位模型识别未知特有区域的能力将是一项重大进步，并为在全球范围内加速物种发现提供了令人兴奋的潜力。由此产生的明显好处将包括更具包容性和及时性的保护计划，以及为生态和进化研究提供更多的生物多样性。