Research Starter Grant: Why are mountains so diverse? An evolutionary biogeographic study of high elevation herptiles in the Brazilian Atlantic forest hotspot

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This project will test the hypotheses that mountains have endemic biodiversity in reptile and amphibian fauna because they i) facilitate speciation at a given geographic scale because of topographic and environmental complexity, and ii) provide opportunities for increased population persistence and isolation under climatic fluctuations. This research combines field work in poorly explored highland regions of Brazil, collection data, species distribution models, comparative phylogeography, studies of microhabitat use, and physiological experiments. While generating new and much needed data about a poorly known tropical region and its fauna, this project expands and tests the generality of a process-based method of biodiversity prediction formalized in the PI's postdoctoral work on lowland diversity in Brazil.This project will inform research priorities and conservation in montane regions of the Brazilian Atlantic forest hotspot and provide important baseline data for assessing responses to future climate change. Education and training opportunities to CUNY undergraduate and graduate students will encourage students from underrepresented groups to participate in this project. Collaborations between US and Brazilian institutions will be strengthened and will lead to new advances in science and conservation in Brazil and the tropics.