Biodiversity, biogeography, conservation and restoration of isolated rock outcrop vegetation in the dry biomes of Latin America

巴西、玻利维亚和巴拉圭的干旱生物群因其物种丰富、独特的生物群而被视为生物多样性保护的热点。例如，巴西“塞拉多”200万平方公里的稀树草原上有11,000种开花植物，比巴西亚马逊雨林还多。其中30%的物种在其他地方找不到，但在过去的50年里，大规模的工业化农业扩张摧毁了50%的塞拉多。新热带稀树草原和干燥森林的高度多样性是景观异质性的一个功能，不同基质上的小面积植被构成了总的生物多样性。在玻利维亚奇基塔尼亚和巴西塞拉多稀树大草原的干燥森林中，“无色高山”隆起的变质砂岩和花岗岩中居住着大量的特有物种。这个项目将记录自生山植物群及其生物地理历史，这些知识是缺乏的，但对于优先保护和修复是必不可少的。因此，它将有助于确定一些物种最丰富但鲜为人知的新热带生境的保护价值和恢复范围。目的：通过评估巴西Inselbergs上植物的分布、多样性和进化史，了解奇基塔尼亚干燥森林和塞拉多Inselbergs上植被结构的保护价值和恢复范围，玻利维亚和巴拉圭。目的：绘制玻利维亚奇基塔尼亚和巴西塞勒盖地区无花果植物的发生和分布图确定无花果植物在气候和土壤条件下的变化评估无花果植物物种的多样性和分布利用基于DNA的系统地理学来调查无花果物种的遗传多样性和进化史应用不同的方法和生物多样性度量标准来排列无花果植物的保护价值确定无花果植物主动和被动恢复的范围研究方法：这个项目将：a)绘制和记录无花果植物上的植物区系组成和特有特性，以及这些变量与土壤和环境条件和；B)使用分子系统地理学方法推断作为其历史组装基础的遗传多样性和进化/生物地理过程。这将使我们能够了解在季节性的新热带地区，Inselbergs上的植物区系和系统发育多样性的模式。结合这些信息和对荒漠退化程度的评估，我们将确定哪些植被类型可能最适合进行恢复，以及主动或被动恢复技术最有可能可行。

The dry biomes of Brazil, Bolivia and Paraguay are regarded as a hotspot for biodiversity conservation because of their species-rich, unique biota. For example, the two million km2 of savannas in the Brazilian "cerrado" contain >11,000 flowering plant species, more than the Brazilian Amazon rain forest. 30% of these species are found nowhere else, but massive industrial agriculture expansion has destroyed 50% of the cerrado in the past five decades. High diversity in neotropical savannas and dry forests is a function of landscape heterogeneity, with small areas of vegetation on different substrates contributing to total biodiversity. Within the dry forests of the Bolivian Chiquitania and Brazil's cerrado savannas, "inselbergs" - raised metamorphosed sandstone and granitic rock - house large numbers of endemic species. This project will document inselberg floras and their biogeographic history, knowledge that is lacking but essential to prioritise conservation and restoration. It will therefore contribute to determining the conservation value and scope for restoration in some of the most species-rich, yet poorly known, neotropical habitats.Aim: To understand the conservation value and scope for restoration of vegetation formations on inselbergs in the Chiquitania dry forest and cerrado through evaluating the distribution, diversity and evolutionary history of plants across inselbergs in Brazil, Bolivia and Paraguay.Objectives: To map the occurrence and distribution of inselbergs in the Bolivian Chiquitania and Brazilian cerradoDetermine the variation in climatic and soil conditions which exist across inselbergsEvaluate plant species diversity and distribution across inselbergsUse DNA-based phylogeography to investigate the genetic diversity and evolutionary history of inselberg species Apply different approaches and biodiversity metrics for ranking the conservation value of inselbergsDetermine scope for active versus passive restoration on inselbergsResearch approach: On largely intact inselberg vegetation this project will: a) map and document the floristic composition and endemism on inselbergs, alongside the association of these variables with soil and environmental conditions and; b) use molecular phylogeographic approaches to infer the genetic diversity and evolutionary/biogeographic processes that underlie their historical assembly. This will allow us to understand what patterns of floristic and phylogenetic diversity on inselbergs in the seasonal Neotropics. Combining this information with an evaluation of the degree of degradation on inselbergs, the proximity of suitable habitat to allow restoration to occur, and the ecological nature of this habitat, we will determine what vegetation types may be most adequate for restoration and whether active or passive restoration techniques are most likely to be viable.