IRCEB: A Cross-Disciplinary Study of the Evolutionary Processes that Sustain Rainforest Biodiversity

这个项目探讨了产生和维持多样性以及抵消灭绝影响的进化过程。雨林物种形成的替代模型将通过一系列平行的全球热带雨林综合研究进行检验。在一个多学科合作框架内，这些研究人员将通过实现三个目标来增加我们对雨林生物多样性是如何产生的理解。首先，他们将确定促进物种形成和表型多样性的一般进化过程。其次，他们将确定对物种形成至关重要的景观配置。第三，他们将在三大洲的不同脊椎动物群体中测试不同的物种形成假说。这项研究将涉及澳大利亚、西非和南美洲热带雨林中的四种脊椎动物（哺乳动物、鸟类、爬行动物和两栖动物）。除了这项研究的科学目标之外，还有与保护有关的目标。研究人员将制定保护关键进化过程的保护策略，并制定保护进化过程和当前多样性模式的保护计划。热带雨林生物多样性的丧失是人类面临的最关键问题之一。这项研究将建立对雨林多样性的进化过程的理解，并制定具体的计划来保护它们。

This project explores the evolutionary processes that generate and maintain diversity and counteract the effects of extinction. Alternative models for rainforest speciation will be examined through a parallel series of integrated studies of rainforests worldwide. Within a multidisciplinary collaborative framework, these investigators will increase our understanding of how rainforest biodiversity is generated by achieving three goals. First, they will identify general evolutionary processes that promote speciation and phenotypic diversity. Second, they will identify landscape configurations essential to speciation. Third, they will test alternative speciation hypotheses across diverse vertebrate groups on three continents. The study will involve four vertebrate groups (mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians) in tropical rainforests in Australia, West Africa and South America. In addition to the scientific goals of this research there are also conservation-related goals. The investigators will develop conservation strategies that protect key evolutionary processes and develop conservation plans that preserve evolutionary processes as well as current patterns of diversity. The loss of rainforest biodiversity is one of the most critical issues facing humankind. This research will build an understanding of the evolutionary processes underlying rainforest diversity and develop concrete plans to preserve them.