Biotic Survey of the Gaoligongshan, a Biodiversity Hotspot in Western Yunnan, China

对中华人民共和国云南省西部高黎贡山地区的生物多样性进行为期五年的调查。高黎贡山地区从喜马拉雅山脉东部延伸到云南省南部，被全球保护机构认定为全球生物多样性“最热”的热点地区之一。高黎贡山位于该地区的中心，这是一座壮观的高山山脊，从北向南绵延约600公里，靠近中国西南部和缅甸东北部的边界。与周围的大部分地区不同，高黎贡山的森林由于地处偏远，基本上保持了完整。调查将在分类学上非常广泛，包括以下类群：苔藓植物和维管植物、硅藻、节肢动物和脊椎动物。该项目的基础是由加州科学院（CAS）、昆明植物研究所和昆明动物研究所三方合作。为了为我们的工作提供足够的科学专业知识，这三个主要机构将与其他一些对中国生物群有积极研究项目的机构合作：爱丁堡皇家植物园、北京动物研究所、湖南师范大学、密苏里植物园、哈佛大学和美国国家植物标本室。已在世界范围内招募了大量专家，以协助鉴定属于物种最丰富的分类类群（植物和节肢动物）的标本。中国科学院将直接与云南文物考古研究所合作，对第四纪洞穴沉积物进行调查。这将通过提供一幅高黎贡山脊椎动物区系自全新世中期以来随着集约化农业的出现而发生变化的图片来补充新学调查。该项目包括对中国研究生、研究生和自然保护区工作人员的主要培训。该项目所产生的信息将为高黎贡山生态系统的合理管理和保护决策提供必要的基础知识。该项目收集的数据将被项目团队成员用于各种科学研究，从出版专著到分子系统发育研究。这些数据还将被用作对进化模式和过程进行更具体研究的基础，例如对北半球生物地理模型的测试、生物多样性和时空环境模式的测试，以及利用热点概念预测记录较少的群体的多样性。

A five-year survey will be conducted of the biodiversity of the Gaoligongshan region of western Yunnan Province, People's Republic of China. The Gaoligongshan region, which extends from the eastern Himalayas to southern Yunnan Province, is recognized by global conservation agencies as one of the "hottest" of biodiversity hotspots worldwide. At the heart of this region lies the Gaoligongshan, a spectacular high ridge of mountains running some 600 km from north to south near the border between southwestern China and northeastern Myanmar (Burma). Unlike much of the surrounding area, the forests of the Gaoligongshan have remained largely intact because of their remote location. The survey will be very broad taxonomically and include the following groups: bryophytes and vascular plants, diatoms, arthropods, and vertebrates. The foundation for this project consists of a three-way collaboration between the California Academy of Sciences (CAS), the Kunming Institute of Botany, and the Kunming Institute of Zoology. To provide sufficient scientific expertise for our endeavor, the three primary institutions will collaborate with a number of other institutions that maintain vigorous research programs on the Chinese biota: the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, the Institute of Zoology in Beijing, Hunan Normal University, the Missouri Botanical Garden, Harvard University, and the United States National Herbarium. A large number of experts have been recruited worldwide to aid in the identification of specimens belonging to the most species-rich taxonomic groups (plants and arthropods). The CAS will collaborate directly with the Yunnan Cultural Relics and Archaeology Institute in a survey of quaternary cave deposits. This will complement the neontological survey by providing a picture of how the Gaoligongshan's vertebrate fauna has changed since the mid-Holocene with the advent of intensive agriculture. The project includes a major training component for Chinese graduate students, postgraduates, and employees at nature reserves. The information generated from this project will provide the basic knowledge necessary for sound management and conservation decisions affecting the Gaoligongshan ecosystem. The collections resulting from the project will be used by members of the project team in various scientific endeavors, from the publication of monographs to molecular phylogenetic studies. The data also will be used as the basis for more specific studies of evolutionary patterns and processes, such as tests of biogeographic models of the northern hemisphere, biodiversity and environmental patterns through time and space, and the utility of the hotspot concept in predicting the diversity of poorly inventoried groups.