The Macroecology and Biodiversity of Geographic Ranges In Mammals

非技术摘要提案编号：DEB-0129009提案标题：哺乳动物地理范围的宏观生态和生物多样性PI名称：约翰·L·吉特尔曼研究所：弗吉尼亚大学不同的动植物在不同的地方被发现。袋鼠和桉树是澳大利亚的特色，而大熊猫只生活在中国。人们必须走很远的路才能看到人类的近亲狐猴，这种狐猴只在马达加斯加岛上发现。令人惊讶的是，没有任何单一的信息来源概括了所有哺乳动物物种的地理范围。现在，拥有这样一个数据库变得更加重要，因为由于全球气候变化、栖息地碎片化和人类人口增长，物种范围正在迅速变化。如果物种保护只有一个药方，那就是保护物种的自然地理范围分布。发现物种栖息地的主要来源是显示物种的点位置和范围边界的地图。我们的研究将使用地理信息系统技术来数字化所有哺乳动物物种的当前射程地图。我们将利用这个数据库来研究三个广泛的问题：(1)物种在地理范围上的差异如何与它们的生态或繁殖有关？(2)哺乳动物的地理范围如何受到人类的影响(即人口密集和土地利用)？(3)气候和其他全球变化将如何影响哺乳动物多样性较高的地理区域(例如热带森林)？这些问题对于理解为什么4763种哺乳动物中近四分之一目前面临灭绝威胁，并利用这些信息来确定保护优先事项至关重要。研究生和本科生都将参与这项研究的所有方面，整个数据库将在全球网络上免费提供。

Non-Technical SummaryProposal Number: DEB-0129009Proposal Title: The Macroecology and Biodiversity of Geographic Ranges in MammalsPI Name: John L. GittlemanInstitution: University of VirginiaDifferent animals and plants are found in different places. Kangaroos and eucalyptus trees are characteristic of Australia, whereas giant pandas live only in China. One must travel far to see a close human relative, the lemurs, found only on the island of Madagascar. Surprisingly, no single source of information summarizes the geographic ranges of all mammal species. It is now all the more important to have such a database because species ranges are rapidly changing due to global climate change, habitat fragmentation, and human population growth. If there is a single prescription for species conservation, it is the preservation of natural geographic range distributions of a species.The primary sources for discovering where species live are maps showing point localities and range boundaries of a species. Our research will use GIS technology to digitize current range maps for all mammal species. We will use this database to examine three broad questions: (1) How do species differences in geographic range relate to their ecology or reproduction? (2) How are geographic ranges in mammals influenced by humans (i.e., dense human populations and land usage)? (3) How will geographic areas with high mammalian diversity (e.g., tropical forests) be effected by climate and other global changes? These questions are fundamental to understanding why almost a quarter of the 4,763 mammal species currently are threatened with extinction and using that information to establish conservation priorities. Both graduate and undergraduate studetns will be involved in all facets of this researh, and the entire database will be available freely on the worldwide web.