Survey of the Biodiversity of the Kuril Archipelago

9505031千岛群岛的岛屿构成了鄂霍次克海的东部边界，是连接日本最北端的北海道和俄罗斯堪察加半岛的桥梁。它们是研究岛上种群的起源、随后的进化和长期维持的天然实验室。尽管有大量关于鲑鱼和海洋哺乳动物等广泛的、具有重要商业价值的物种的信息，但千岛群岛作为一个整体的动植物群却鲜为人知。与此同时，当前的政治局势对这些岛屿构成了严重的环境威胁。该项目将允许一个由俄罗斯、日本和美国科学家组成的团队对千岛群岛的植物、昆虫、蜘蛛、淡水和陆地软体动物、淡水鱼类和陆地脊椎动物进行调查和清点。由于俄罗斯科学院和日本科学促进会已经承诺为该项目提供财政支持，这项工作的费用将由这三个国家分担。鉴于1994年在南千岛群岛四个主要岛屿上收集的经验，现在提议在今后五年内将这项工作扩大到包括群岛的所有主要岛屿。利用标准化调查方法、现代计算机清点程序和通过互联网传播信息，调查结果将提供有关物种多样性格局的重要基线数据，可与以类似方式抽样的其他区域进行准确比较。该项目与东道国的大学以及国家和地方政府合作，将为教师、学生和政府生物学家提供培训。最后，这项工作将提供一个信息基础，促进未来的长期研究以及这些独特的岛屿生物群的保护。

9505031 Pietsch The islands of the Kuril Archipelago form the eastern boundary of the Okhotsk Sea and a bridge between Hokkaido, the northernmost island of Japan, and the Russian peninsula of Kamchatka. They are a natural Laboratory for investigations into the origin, subsequent evolution, and long-term maintenance of insular populations. Although considerable information is available for wide-ranging, commercially important species, such as salmon and marine mammals, the flora and fauna of the Kurils as a whole are poorly known. At the same time, the current political situation poses a serious environmental threat to the islands. This project will allow a team of Russian, Japanese, and American scientists to conduct a survey and inventory of the plants, insects, spiders, freshwater and terrestrial mollusks, freshwater fishes, and terrestrial vertebrates of the Kuril Islands. With financial support already committed to the project by the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, the cost of the work will be shared by all three nations. With experience gained in 1994 collection on the four primary island of the southern Kurils, it is now proposed that the work be extended over the next five years to include all major islands of the Archipelago. Using standardized survey methods, modern computer-based inventory procedures, and dissemination of information through the Internet, the results of the survey will provide important baseline data on patterns of species diversity that can be compared accurately with other regions sampled in similar ways. Working cooperatively with universities and the national and local governments of the host country, the project will provide training for faculty, students, and government biologists. Finally, the work will provide a foundation of information that will promote long-term future research as well as conservation of these unique island biota's.