Why aren't all species everywhere? The evolution of species' borders in tropical reef fishes

事实上，在没有扩散障碍和栖息地中断的情况下，关于地理范围限制在野外是如何演变的，人们几乎一无所知。该项目将结合数学建模和基于现场和实验室的进化模式和过程分析，调查大堡礁鱼类活动范围的演变。通过促进对物种范围限制的根本原因的理解，这项研究将为在日益增加的开采、栖息地退化和气候变化的压力下管理和保护这一非常宝贵的资源以及其他复杂的生物系统提供新的选择。

Virtually nothing is known about how geographic range limits evolve in the wild in the absence of barriers to dispersal and habitat discontinuities. This project will investigate the evolution of range limits of fishes on the Great Barrier Reef using combinations of mathematical modelling and field- and laboratory-based analyses of evolutionary patterns and processes. By advancing understanding of the fundamental causes of species' range limits, this research will provide new options for the management and conservation of this very valuable resource, and other complex biological systems, under increasing pressures of exploitation, habitat degradation and climate change.