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多样性巨大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地理和环境模式联系起来，以了解这个生物多样性热点的模式。该项目将包括研究气候和景观，以及它们在过去12万年中的变化。这些信息将有助于了解物种如何应对过去反复发生的环境变化。地球轨道卫星的数据将与气象数据和来自花粉化石记录的古环境信息以及从洞穴中发现的沉积物的地球化学中得出的古降水数据相结合。这些数据，结合现代物种范围，遗传多样性，生理耐受性，宿主-病原体动态和生物区系组成的区域变化的信息，将展示大西洋森林的生物多样性如何随着时间的推移而演变，这项研究将能够重建影响当前生物多样性的历史因素，并考虑到一系列气候变化情景，它可以预测大西洋森林或其他地方生物多样性的未来组成。将确定地质稳定、物理连通性和遗传多样性较高的森林地区，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关注，本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该项目的核心？的学生培养计划。该项目还加强了少数民族服务的校园，确保北美学生在科学中的代表性不足，接触到跨学科，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.