Collaborative Research: Nested Events and Embedded Phylogeographic Structure within the Southern Regional Deserts of North America

新墨西哥州自然历史博物馆(NMMNH)的大卫·哈夫纳(David Hafner)博士获得了一笔赠款，用于研究美国西南部和墨西哥北部干旱地区的演变。这是与内华达大学拉斯维加斯分校和墨西哥南下加利福尼亚州的诺罗雅斯特生物调查中心(CIBNOR)的科学家合作进行的研究。NMMNH的项目部分(在3年内为135,000美元)将支持在墨西哥和美国的田野工作，产生的标本将成为NMMNH和CIBNOR永久研究收藏的一部分。通过比较一些适应干旱的啮齿动物种群的遗传差异，科学家们将详细重建过去550万年来这些不同沙漠地区的复杂历史，包括海路洪水事件、山脉的起源以及上一个冰河时代的周期性气候变化。这项研究将基于从整个沙漠地区收集的1600多个标本的线粒体DNA序列数据。这个项目采用了一种新的强大的分析方法，应该会极大地改进提供复杂生物历史的现实重建的努力。通过确定不同生物多样性的区域中心，这项研究将为了解北美区域沙漠的生态和保护提供洞察力。这是美国和墨西哥科学家之间的持续合作，建立在之前的NSF资助(1996-1999)的基础上，涉及来自两国的现场和实验室方面的研究生和本科生。该项目的成果将通过学术渠道(出版物和科学会议)以及公共项目和NMMNH的展品进行传播。除了博物馆每年35万名参观者外，该项目还将通过Proyecto Futuro(NSF资助的针对西班牙语学生的项目)和Way Out West接触到目标学校群体，Way Out West是NMMNH制作的视频节目，在全国公共电视上播出。

A grant has been awarded to Dr. David Hafner at the New Mexico Museum of Natural History (NMMNH) to study the evolution of arid regions in the southwestern United States and northern Mexico. This is collaborative research being conducted with scientists at the University of Nevada Las Vegas and the Centro de Investigaciones Biologicas del Noroeste (CIBNOR) in Baja California Sur, Mexico. The NMMNH's portion of the project ($135,000 over 3 years) will support fieldwork in Mexico and the U.S., and resulting specimens will become part of the permanent research collections of NMMNH and CIBNOR. By comparing genetic differences among populations of selected arid-adapted rodents, the scientists will reconstruct in detail the complex history of these diverse desert regions over the last 5.5 million years, including episodes of inundation by seaways, origin of mountain ranges, and cyclical climatic changes during the last "Ice Ages." The study will be based on sequence data of mitochondrial DNA from over 1600 specimens collected from throughout the desert regions. This project employs a new and powerful analytical approach that should greatly improve efforts to provide realistic reconstructions of complicated biotic histories. By identifying regional centers of distinct biodiversity, the study will provide insight into the ecology and conservation of North America's regional deserts. This is a continuing collaboration between U.S. and Mexican scientists, building on a previous NSF grant (1996-1999), and involves graduate and undergraduate students from both countries in field and laboratory aspects. Results of the project will be disseminated through academic channels (publication and scientific meetings) and through public programs and exhibits at the NMMNH. In addition to the Museum's 350,000 annual visitors, the project will reach targeted school groups through Proyecto Futuro (an NSF-funded program for Spanish-speaking students) and Way Out West, a NMMNH-produced video program carried nationally on public television.