Evolution of morphology and ecology in hyperdiverse larval amphibian communities in Madagascar

马达加斯加高度多样化的幼虫两栖动物群落形态和生态的演变

• 批准号: 29037998
• 负责人: Professor Dr. Miguel Vences
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: Zoologisches Institut
• 依托单位国家: 德国
• 项目类别: Research Grants
• 财政年份: 2006
• 资助国家: 德国
• 起止时间: 2005-12-31 至 2009-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gepris.dfg.de/gepris/projekt/29037998?language=en
• 关键词: Evolution; morphology; ecology; hyperdiverse; larval

Anuran (frog) communities in the tropics often reach remarkable levels of species diversity, with up to 50-100 species occurring at one site. Few studies have systematically addressed the factors allowing these high numbers of species to co-exist. Considering that related species of frogs in their adult phase do not tend to occupy radically different niches in morphology or nutrition, niche partitioning in the larval phase may be a key factor shaping these species-rich communities. The present project attempts the first large-scale ecological study of a hyperdiverse tropical tadpole community, by combining a number of innovative techniques and using a highly suitable model region. The study will be carried out in Madagascar, where anuran systematics are largely settled and large molecular, phylogenetic, distributional and bioacoustic databases on these organisms have been assembled by the applicant and other colleagues. Tadpoles will be identified to species by DNA barcoding, representing one of the first field studies to demonstrate the applicability of this technique to identify vertebrate life-history stages at a large scale using molecular methods. A variety of autecological and synecological parameters will be screened. Trophic levels will be comparatively assessed using stable isotopes, a well-established technique which, however, has so far not been applied to larval amphibians. The obtained ecomorphological characters will be plotted along an existing, complete and well-resolved molecular phylogeny of Madagascan frogs, and their evolution traced using Bayesian and likelihood statistics.

热带地区的无尾两栖动物（青蛙）群落往往达到显着的物种多样性水平，一个地点出现多达50-100种物种。很少有研究系统地探讨了使这些大量物种共存的因素。考虑到相关物种的青蛙在其成年阶段不倾向于占据根本不同的生态位在形态或营养，生态位划分在幼虫阶段可能是一个关键因素塑造这些物种丰富的社区。本项目试图通过结合一些创新技术和使用一个非常合适的模型区域，首次对高度多样性的热带蝌蚪群落进行大规模生态研究。这项研究将在马达加斯加进行，那里的无尾两栖类系统学基本上已经确定，申请人和其他同事已经建立了关于这些生物的大型分子、系统发育、分布和生物声学数据库。蝌蚪将通过DNA条形码鉴定为物种，这是第一次实地研究，以证明这种技术在大规模使用分子方法鉴定脊椎动物生活史阶段的适用性。将筛选各种autecological和synecological参数。营养水平将使用稳定同位素进行比较评估，这是一种成熟的技术，但迄今为止尚未应用于两栖动物幼虫。将绘制沿着现有的，完整的和良好解决的分子遗传学的加拿大青蛙，其演变使用贝叶斯和似然统计跟踪所获得的生态形态特征。