Diversity and Climate Change: using elevational gradients to uncover processes underlying mammalian species distributions

栖息地破坏、资源开发和气候变化导致物种灭绝速度加快，记录和了解生物多样性变得前所未有的紧迫。此外，有效的保护工作需要更好地理解创造和维持生物多样性的机制。小型哺乳动物的分布将在落基山脉南部、圣胡安山脉和前山脉的两个对比鲜明的山地梯度上进行检查，以检验与生物多样性维持相关的假设，并检测气候变化导致的范围变化。将调查每个山脉内的三个海拔横断面，以记录多样性、物种分布、人口趋势、气候、食物资源和栖息地特征。在景观尺度上比较当前范围和历史分布将确定与记录的气候变化相关的范围变化程度。对构建小型哺乳动物群落的相互关联过程的了解将成为理解生物多样性模式及其保护的基础，并将说明人类对山地系统中物种分布的影响。该项目的更广泛影响将包括将研究纳入针对代表性不足的小学女生的科学教育计划，参与圣胡安倡议，将拉丁美洲和美洲原住民后裔的年轻人纳入科学，以及积极招募代表性不足的学生参与研究。该项目将帮助培训年轻科学家，并让参加 PI 课程的本科生积极参与。此外，还将使用数据存储库和教育推广网站来传播研究成果。

Rapid rates of extinction resulting from habitat destruction, resource exploitation, and climate change lend an unprecedented urgency to documenting and understanding biological diversity. Furthermore, effective conservation efforts will require a better comprehension of the mechanisms creating and maintaining biodiversity. Small mammal distributions will be examined on two contrasting montane gradients in the Southern Rocky Mountains, the San Juans and the Front Range, to test hypotheses related to the maintenance of biological diversity and to detect range shifts due to climate change. Three elevational transects within each mountain range will be surveyed to document diversity, species distributions, population trends, climate, food resources, and habitat characteristics. Comparisons between current ranges and historical distributions at a landscape scale will determine the degree of range shifts associated with documented climate changes.Knowledge of the interrelated processes structuring small mammal communities will serve as a foundation for understanding biodiversity patterns and their protection, and it will illustrate human impacts on species distributions in montane systems. Broader impacts of this project will include integration of the research into a science education program for under-represented grade school girls, participation in the San Juan Initiative to incorporate young people of Latin and Native American descent into science, and active recruitment of under-represented students into the research. The project will aid in the training of young scientists and involve active participation of undergraduates enrolled in the PI's classes. Additionally, a data repository and an education-outreach website will be used to disseminate research findings.