Collaborative Research: Ecosystem Level Consequences of Extinction: Quantifying the Ecosystem Level Effects of Catastrophic Amphibian Declines in Neotropical Streams

两栖动物是水生和陆地生境的重要组成部分，可以代表两者之间重要的能量联系，特别是在多样性和丰富度最高的热带地区。然而，世界各地的两栖动物数量正在急剧下降，甚至在偏远、未受干扰的热带地区也出现了灾难性的损失。下降往往导致一个地点超过75%的两栖动物消失，特别是在溪流中繁殖的物种，在过去20年里，13个拉丁美洲国家报告了大量损失。这项研究将通过调查这些损失如何影响溪流结构和功能，包括生物多样性、生产力、养分循环以及溪流和森林之间的能量和养分交换，来评估两栖动物衰退的生态后果。这将通过在疾病驱动的下降发生之前和之后对位于巴拿马移动的疾病前沿的溪流进行密集检查来实现。这项研究解决了一个紧迫的全球性问题，并将为理解生物多样性灭绝和丧失的生态后果提供至关重要的信息，生物多样性是八大挑战之一。以及国家研究理事会推荐的环境科学研究的四个重点领域。了解生物多样性灾难性减少和类似的灭绝事件可能产生的大规模和深远的后果，将使我们能够根据全球生物多样性的下降更准确地预测生态功能。

Amphibians are important components of aquatic and terrestrial habitats and can represent an important energetic link between the two, particularly in the tropics where diversity and abundance are greatest. However, amphibian populations are declining dramatically around the world, with catastrophic losses occurring even in remote, undisturbed regions of the tropics. Declines often result in the disappearance of over 75% of amphibians at a site, particularly species that breed in streams, and massive losses are reported from 13 Latin American countries in the last 20 years. This research will assess the ecological consequences of amphibian declines by investigating how these losses affect stream structure and function, including biodiversity, productivity, nutrient cycling, and energy and nutrient exchanges between streams and forests. This will be accomplished through intensive examinations of streams located along a moving disease front in Panama before and after disease-driven declines occur. This research addresses an urgent, global problem and will provide information critical for understanding the ecological consequences of extinction and the loss of biodiversity, one of the eight ?grand challenges? and four focal areas of research in the environmental sciences recommended by the National Research Council. Understanding the potential large-scale and far-reaching consequences of catastrophic reductions in biodiversity and extinction events such as these will allow for more accurate predicting of ecological function in light of declining global biodiversity.