Community Composition and Phylogeography of Microinvertebrates of Chihuahuan Desert Waters (US and Mexico)

奇瓦瓦沙漠是一个独特的生物多样性地区。与其他干旱生态系统一样，奇瓦瓦沙漠也面临着各种人为活动的威胁，包括开发、牲畜过度放牧、污染和含水层枯竭。虽然有人认为奇瓦瓦沙漠拥有大量独特的物种，但对其水生栖息地的研究相对较少。这个项目有两个组成部分。(A)将清点以轮虫和小甲壳类为重点的水生无脊椎动物的多样性。除了昆虫之外，这些小型无脊椎动物可能代表了泉水和其他水源中动物生命的很大一部分。这项调查将成为描述美国和墨西哥奇瓦瓦沙漠中这些水域整体大规模生物多样性的重要基础。对泉水和临时水体的物理结构、季节性、水化学和水生植被进行了描述。(B)该项目的具体目标检验了三个假设。在奇瓦瓦沙漠中发现的物种在分布上是独特的还是世界性的？(2)季节性和年际变率对确定总体群落组成是否重要？(3)物种分布和遗传模式是否与历史地质事件或最近的扩散和对极端环境的适应有关？这是一项国际合作，将为了解奇瓦瓦沙漠淡水物种的多样性作出重要贡献。该项目建立了美国和墨西哥科学家之间的联合工作。两国的研究生和本科生将接受分类学、生态学和分子技术（如DNA测序）方面的培训。此外，参与该项目的所有机构都吸引了很大比例的女学生进入科学领域；此外，德克萨斯大学埃尔帕索分校（University of Texas at El Paso）的本科和研究生课程也吸引了大量少数族裔学生。此外，通过使用互联网，它为全世界的研究和教育创造了一个共享的数据库。最后，学术科学家将与联邦和私人机构（例如，BBNP，德克萨斯州和NM州机构以及世界自然基金会）合作。这项研究将为州和联邦机构在制定奇瓦瓦沙漠环境中土地和水利用的公共政策时提供有用的基线数据。

The Chihuahuan Desert is a unique and biologically diverse region. Like other arid ecosystems, the Chihuahuan Desert is at risk from a variety of anthropogenic activities including development, overgrazing by livestock, pollution, and aquifer depletion. While it has been suggested that the Chihuahuan Desert possesses a large number of unique species, relatively few studies have been focused on its aquatic habitats. There are two components to this project. (A) Diversity of aquatic invertebrates focusing on rotifers and small crustaceans will be inventoried. Other than insects, these small invertebrates are likely to represent a large proportion of the animal life in springs and other water sources. This survey will serve as an essential foundation for describing overall large-scale, biodiversity of these waters in the U.S. and Mexican Chihuahuan desert. The physical structure, seasonality, water chemistry, and aquatic vegetation of springs and temporary waters will be characterized. (B) The specific aims of this project test three hypotheses. (1) Are species found in the Chihuahuan Desert unique or cosmopolitan in their distribution? (2) Is seasonality and inter-annual variability important in defining overall community composition? (3) Are species distributions and genetic patterns related to historical geologic events or more recent dispersals and adaptations to extreme environments? This is an international collaboration that will provide an important contribution to understanding the diversity of freshwater species in the Chihuahuan Desert.This project establishes joint work between U.S. and Mexican scientists. Training in taxonomy, ecology, and molecular techniques such as DNA sequencing will be given to graduate and undergraduate students in both countries. In addition, all institutions involved in this project attract a large percentage of women students into the sciences; moreover, the University of Texas at El Paso attracts a large number of minority students to both its undergraduate and graduate programs. Moreover, with use of the Internet, it creates a shared database for research and education worldwide. Finally, academic scientists will partner with federal and private agencies (e.g., BBNP, TX and NM state agencies, and WWF). The study will provide baseline data useful to state and federal agencies in formulating public policies on land and water use in Chihuahuan Desert environments.