Collaborative Research: Toward a General Theory of Body Size Across Space and Time

生物体最重要的特征之一是它们的身体大小--影响所有的生理过程、生命历史特征，并最终影响生命的多样性和地理位置(迁徙、进化和灭绝)的每个基本过程。尽管它的基本和普遍的重要性，身体大小在物种之间以及在物种内都有巨大的差异。然而，这种变化远不是随机的，表现出生态、地理和时间趋势，这些趋势是如此普遍和有趣，以至于它们被称为自然的生态地理“规则”(例如，伯格曼规则、岛屿规则和科普规则)。研究人员将进行实证研究，以开发一种综合理论，提供一个单一的概念性结构，在其中理解身体尺寸在空间和时间上的变化模式；这些模式通常被视为无关的现象。研究人员开发的国际综合研究计划结合了理论、实验和比较方法，涵盖了一系列截然不同但经过战略选择的物种，以及广泛的时间范围(从现代和历史时期到上新世)，从而使他们能够探索这一生命基本特征中地理变化的共性、古代性和因果关系。该项目的主要方法将是比较博物馆标本的身体大小，以测试三个重点哺乳动物群体中预测的地理和生态趋势：1)上新世和更新世期间居住在古岛屿上的哺乳动物；2)居住在全球各地岛屿上的现存本土哺乳动物；以及3)过去2000年里由波利尼西亚人和欧洲人引入岛屿上的哺乳动物。这项研究将提供对影响生命中最基本的特征之一--体型及其在空间和时间上的变化的因素的综合理解。鉴于生物体的大小影响着生物体的所有生理、行为和生态特征，这些研究将提供有关动物适应环境挑战的能力的重要信息，包括气候变化和当地景观的改变。这项得到全额资助的研究成果将包括在欧洲、新西兰和夏威夷的研究实验室之间建立国际伙伴关系，通过网络获取所有科学数据，指导一名博士水平的研究生研究助理和本科生助理，开发一门关于生物地理学、岛屿生物群的进化和保护的本科实地课程，与自然历史博物馆合作，制作关于岛屿上个体大小演变的展览，并与保护组织进行磋商，以帮助他们制定有效的战略，不仅保护物种本身的多样性，而且还保护土著物种的自然特征的一个基本方面--它们的身体大小。

One of the most important characteristics of organisms is their body size -- influencing all physiological processes, life history traits and, ultimately, each of the fundamental processes affecting the diversity and geography of life (immigration, evolution and extinction). Despite its fundamental and pervasive importance, body size varies tremendously among as well as within species. This variation, however, is far from random, exhibiting ecological, geographic and temporal trends that are so general and intriguing that they are termed ecogeographic "rules" of nature (e.g., Bergmann's rule, the island rule and Cope's rule). The investigators will conduct empirical research to develop an integrative theory that will provide a single conceptual construct in which to understand patterns of body size variation across space and time; patterns that are typically viewed as unrelated phenomena. The international and integrative research program the investigators have developed combines theoretical, experimental and comparative approaches across a range of disparate, but strategically selected species and over a broad range of time scales (from the recent and historic periods through the Pliocene), thus allowing them to explore the generality, antiquity and causality of geographic variation in this fundamental feature of life. The principal approach in this project will be to compare body sizes of museum specimens to test for predicted geographic and ecological trends among three focal groups of mammals: 1) mammals inhabiting paleo-islands during the Pliocene and Pleistocene; 2) extant, native mammals inhabiting islands across the globe, and 3) mammals introduced onto islands by Polynesians and by Europeans during the past 2000 years. This research will provide an integrative understanding of the factors influencing one of life's most fundamental characteristics -- body size, and its variation over space and time. Given that body size influences all physiological, behavioral and ecological characteristics of organisms, these studies will provide important information on the capacities of animals to adapt to environmental challenges including climate change and modification of native landscapes. The products of the fully funded research will include development of international partnerships between research labs in Europe, New Zealand and Hawaii, web access to all scientific data, mentoring of a Ph.D. level graduate research assistant and undergraduate assistants, development of an undergraduate field course in Biogeography, Evolution and Conservation of Insular Biotas, partnership with natural history museums to create an exhibit on The Evolution of Body Size on Islands, and consultations with conservation organizations to assist them in developing effective strategies for conserving not just diversity per se, but also a fundamental aspect of the natural character of native species -- their body size.