Dimensions US-BIOTA-Sao Paulo: A multidisciplinary framework for biodiversity prediction in the Brazilian Atlantic forest hotspot.

这项研究将解释和预测濒危但种类繁多的巴西大西洋森林中动植物物种的分布。研究人员将把主要分支的生物地理和环境模式联系起来，以了解这一生物多样性热点地区的模式。该项目将需要研究气候和景观，以及它们在过去12万年的变化。这些信息将使人们能够理解物种如何应对过去反复发生的环境变化。来自地球轨道卫星的数据将与来自化石花粉记录的气象数据和古环境信息以及从洞穴中发现的沉积物的地球化学得出的古代降水数据结合在一起。这些数据结合有关现代物种范围、遗传多样性、生理耐受性、寄主-病原体动态以及生物群组成的区域变化的信息，将证明大西洋森林的生物多样性是如何随着时间的推移而演变的。这项研究将能够重建影响当前生物多样性的历史因素，并根据一系列气候变化情景，能够预测大西洋森林或其他地方未来的生物多样性组成。确定地质稳定、自然连通和遗传多样性较高的林区，以便保护面临灭绝威胁的森林或物种。针对当前对生态系统服务价值和气候变化的担忧，这项研究提供了一个如何预测生物多样性变化的模型。一个巡回展览将接触到S、圣保罗和纽约的通勤者。巴西和美国的研究小组之间的合作是S学生培养计划的核心。该项目还加强了一个为少数族裔服务的校园，确保在科学领域代表性不足的北美学生接触到跨学科的国际工作。

This research will explain and predict of the distribution of animal and plant species in the endangered yet megadiverse Brazilian Atlantic forest. The investigators will correlate biogeographic and environmental patterns across major clades in order to understand patterns in this biodiversity hotspot. The project will entail study of both climate and landscape, and their changes over the last 120,000 years. This information will enable understanding of how species have responded to repeated environmental shifts of the past. Data from Earth-orbiting satellites will be combined with meteorological data and paleoenvironmental information from the fossil pollen record and ancient precipitation data derived from the geochemistry of deposits found in caves. These data, combined with information on modern species ranges, genetic diversity, physiological tolerances, host-pathogen dynamics, and regional shifts in the composition of the biota will demonstrate how the biodiversity of the Atlantic forest evolved over time.This study will enable the reconstruction of historical factors influencing current biodiversity and, given a range of climate change scenarios, permit the prediction of the future composition of biodiversity in the Atlantic forest or elsewhere. Forest areas of geological stability, physical connectivity, and higher genetic diversity will be identified so that forests or species under extinction threat can be conserved. In response to current concern about the value of ecosystem services and climate change, this study provides a model of how to predict biodiversity change. A travelling exhibit will reach out to commuters in São Paulo and New York. Collaborations among research groups in Brazil and the US is central to the project?s student training plan. The project also strengthens a minority-serving campus, ensuring that North-American students underrepresented in science are exposed to trans-disciplinary, international work.