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

该项目将检验以下假设：山脉在爬行动物和两栖动物中具有特有的生物多样性，因为它们：i)由于地形和环境的复杂性，促进了特定地理尺度上的物种形成；ii)提供了在气候波动下增加种群持久性和隔离的机会。这项研究结合了在巴西勘探程度较低的高地地区的实地工作、收集数据、物种分布模型、比较系统地理学、微生境利用研究和生理实验。在生成关于一个鲜为人知的热带地区及其动物群的新的和迫切需要的数据的同时，该项目扩展和测试了基于过程的生物多样性预测方法的一般性，该方法是在国际生物多样性研究所关于巴西低地多样性的博士后工作中形成的。该项目将为巴西大西洋森林热点地区的研究重点和保护提供信息，并为评估对未来气候变化的反应提供重要的基线数据。为纽约州立大学本科生和研究生提供的教育和培训机会将鼓励来自代表性不足群体的学生参与这一项目。美国和巴西机构之间的合作将得到加强，并将在巴西和热带地区的科学和保护方面取得新的进展。

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.