Ground Beetles as human-independent landscape proxy

子项目P7（地甲虫作为人类独立的景观代用物）利用无翅土栖特有地甲虫作为代用物重建埃塞俄比亚高原末次冰期极大期古气候和古生态。由于湿度是影响人类和其他哺乳动物种群持久性的最重要因素，我们的另一个目标是寻找前冰期干旱时期潮湿栖息地的证据。这特别指的是贝尔山脉，但主要的古生态方面也可以推导出埃塞俄比亚其他山脉。在第一阶段，我们发现了最后一个冰川期埃塞俄比亚高地所有斜坡上都有永久地表水的证据，当地特有的地面甲虫动物群出乎意料地丰富。在第二阶段，我们将提供贝尔山脉永久古地表水系统的详细地图。此外，我们还将分别从贝尔山当地特有甲虫种类和单倍型的分布数据中推导出贝尔山所有绝壁的LGM温度洼地。湿度估算和古温度推导提供了埃塞俄比亚南部山区LGM古环境条件。我们的目标是估计最后一次冰期最干旱时期的最小森林面积，从而分别估计适合野生动物和石器时代觅食者的栖息地的分布和数量。在地面甲虫系统发育和系统地理学的帮助下，我们还旨在寻找该地区在前冰期最干旱时期森林覆盖的证据。这有助于回答一个问题，即埃塞俄比亚高地是否可能在第四纪不间断地为人类提供适宜的栖息地。分类和系统的工作包是“埃塞俄比亚地面甲虫参考收藏”存放在亚的斯亚贝巴大学动物博物馆（C2）的基础。它包括昆虫收藏的管理指导和昆虫野外调查、昆虫制备、保护和鉴定的教育。

Subproject P7 (Ground Beetles as human-independent landscape proxy) uses wingless soil-dwelling endemic ground beetles as proxies to reconstruct Last Glacial Maximum paleoclimate and paleoecology in the Ethiopian Highlands. With respect to humidity as the most important factor influencing persistence of human as well as other mammal populations, we additionally aim to find evidence for humid habitats during dry periods of former glaciations. This refers in particular to the Bale Mountains but major paleoecological aspects may also be derived for other Ethiopian mountains. In Phase 1 we found evidence of permanent surface water along all slopes of the Ethiopian Highlands during the last glacial period testified by an unexpectedly rich local endemic ground beetle fauna. In Phase 2 we will provide a detailed mapping of the permanent paleo-surface water system of the Bale Mountains. In addition, we will derive LGM temperature depression for all escarpments of the Bale Mountains from distributional data of the local endemic beetle species and haplotypes, respectively. Humidity estimations and paleotemperature derivations provide LGM paleoenvironmental conditions of southern Ethiopian mountains. Our aim is to estimate the minimum forest area during the driest periods of the last glaciation and therewith, to estimate the distribution and quantity of habitats suitable for wild animals and Stone Age foragers, respectively. With the help of the ground beetle phylogeny and phylogeography we additionally aim to find evidence of forest cover in the area during driest periods of former glaciations. This contributes to the question whether the Ethiopian Highlands may have uninterruptedly provided suitable habitats for humans during the Quaternary. The taxonomic and systematic work package is fundamental for the “Ground Beetle of Ethiopia Reference Collection” to be deposited at the Zoological Museum, Addis Ababa University (with C2). It includes management instruction of entomological collections and education in entomological fieldwork, insect preparation, conservation and identification.