Biodiversity Survey of the Terrestrial Vertebrates (Amphibians, Reptiles, Small Mammals) of Madagascar's Remnant Forests and Satellite Islands

这个项目的重点是记录马达加斯加北部森林和边缘岛屿上小型哺乳动物、两栖动物和爬行动物的多样性。将对马达加斯加大陆的21个森林地区和108个附近岛屿进行调查，以便记录陆生脊椎动物及其外部寄生虫的分布和丰富程度。这个为期5年的项目将为马达加斯加约71%的脊椎动物物种提供新的信息，这对于确定大陆环境和岛屿的保护重点至关重要。马达加斯加的许多两栖动物和爬行动物物种仅从50-150年前收集的少数标本中就已为人所知。在最近对大陆的调查中，其中一些“消失”的物种被重新发现，而其他物种很可能仍然生存在大陆和边缘岛屿上未开发的森林避难所中。除了记录陆地脊椎动物的生物多样性和促进保护措施外，该项目还将提供大量关于脊椎动物样本外部寄生虫的新信息。我们先前调查的初步信息显示，马达加斯加有8个未知的寄生螨科和400多种。这一巨大的生物多样性信息新领域有望对我们对马达加斯加动物群历史生物地理学的理解产生重大影响。

This project is focused on documenting the diversity of small mammals, amphibians and reptiles in the northern forests and fringing islands of Madagascar. Surveys will be made on 21 forested areas on mainland Madagascar and 108 nearby islands, in order to document the distribution and abundance of species of terrestrial vertebrates and their external parasites. This 5-year project will provide new information for about 71% of the vertebrate species of Madagascar, which is vitally needed for establishing conservation priorities for both the mainland environments and the islands. Many species of Madagascarene amphibians and reptiles are known from only a few specimens collected 50-150 years ago. Some of these "lost" species were rediscovered during recent surveys of the mainland, and it is likely that others still surviv in unexplored forest refugia on the mainland and fringing islands. In addition to documenting the biodiversity of terrestrial vertebrates and facilitating conservation initiatives, this project will provide vast amounts of new information about the external parasites of the sampled vertebrates. Preliminary information from our previous surveys revealed eight families of parasitic mites unknown for Madagascar and more than 400 species. This vast new realm of biodiversity information promises to have a major impact on our understanding of the historical biogeography of Madagascar's fauna.