Discovery Projects - Grant ID: DP0344277

为什么不是所有的物种都存在？热带珊瑚礁鱼类物种边界的演化。事实上，在没有扩散障碍和栖息地不连续的情况下，人们对野生动物的地理分布范围是如何演变的一无所知。该项目将利用数学模型以及实地和实验室对进化模式和过程的分析，调查大堡礁鱼类活动范围界限的演变。通过促进对物种活动范围限制的根本原因的了解，这项研究将为在开发、生境退化和气候变化的压力日益增加的情况下管理和保护这一非常宝贵的资源和其他复杂的生物系统提供新的选择。

Why aren't all species everywhere? The evolution of species' borders in tropical reef fishes. Virtually nothing is known about how geographic range limits evolve in the wild in the absence of barriers to dispersal and habitat discontinuities. This project will investigate the evolution of range limits of fishes on the Great Barrier Reef using combinations of mathematical modelling and field- and laboratory-based analyses of evolutionary patterns and processes. By advancing understanding of the fundamental causes of species' range limits, this research will provide new options for the management and conservation of this very valuable resource, and other complex biological systems, under increasing pressures of exploitation, habitat degradation and climate change.