Leaf Litter Arthropods of MesoAmerica (LLAMA)

中美洲叶凋落物节肢动物 (LLAMA)

• 批准号: 0640015
• 负责人: John Longino
• 金额: $ 65万
• 依托单位: Evergreen State College
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2007
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2007-04-01 至 2011-10-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0640015&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Leaf; Litter; Arthropods; MesoAmerica; LLAMA

The Mesoamerican corridor has a series of mountain ranges that have rarely been explored by biologists. Mountain ecosystems are threatened by global warming, which can elevate climate zones and cause extinction by literally driving species off the top of the mountain. The lack of exploration of Mesoamerican mountains has left a glaring hole in our understanding of the planet's biodiversity and what we might lose in response to global warming. Insects make up the bulk of biodiversity and form the fine-scale fabric of ecosystems, yet among the larger forms of life they are the least known. This project will sample insect diversity on mountains from Nicaragua to southern Mexico. Collaborative teams of students from U.S. and host country institutions will carry out a sampling program in the field, followed by laboratory work to describe the new species and analyze the quantitative data on species richness and distribution.The results will (1) add to our store of species knowledge, which directly benefits humans through agricultural and natural products applications, (2) reveal species that might be in danger of loss through climate change, (3) provide quantitative base-line data on diversity, allowing future assessment of response to climate change, and (4) allow evaluation of fundamental ecological theories of species abundance and distribution. The reliance on multinational teams of undergraduate and graduate students will stimulate training in the sciences and foster greater scientific exchange among U.S. and Latin American scientific communities.

中美洲走廊有一系列生物学家很少探索的山脉。山脉生态系统受到全球变暖的威胁，全球变暖可能会抬高气候带，迫使物种离开山顶，从而导致物种灭绝。缺乏对中美洲山脉的探索，给我们对地球生物多样性以及应对全球变暖可能造成的损失的理解留下了一个明显的漏洞。昆虫构成了生物多样性的大部分，并构成了生态系统的精细结构，但在更大的生命形式中，它们是最不为人所知的。该项目将对从尼加拉瓜到墨西哥南部山区的昆虫多样性进行采样。来自美国和东道国机构的学生合作团队将在实地开展采样计划，随后将进行实验室工作，以描述新物种并分析物种丰富度和分布的量化数据。结果将(1)增加我们的物种知识储备，通过农业和自然产品应用直接造福人类，(2)揭示可能因气候变化而濒临灭绝的物种，(3)提供关于多样性的定量基线数据，以便未来评估对气候变化的反应，以及(4)允许评估物种丰富和分布的基本生态学理论。对本科生和研究生跨国团队的依赖将刺激科学培训，并促进美国和拉丁美洲科学界之间更大的科学交流。