Dissertation Research: Sources of Neotropical Bat Diversity: Have Cave-Rich Areas Been Centers of Cave-Bat Speciation?

论文研究：新热带蝙蝠多样性的来源：洞穴丰富的地区是否是洞穴蝙蝠物种形成的中心？

• 批准号: 0407950
• 负责人: Nancy Simmons
• 金额: $ 0.96万
• 依托单位: American Museum Natural History
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2004
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2004-06-01 至 2006-05-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0407950&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Dissertation; Research; Sources; Neotropical; Bat

In the face of an impending global biodiversity crisis, understanding the natural processes involved in the origin and maintenance of biological diversity is a crucial step toward the goal of preserving the genetic reservoirs and ecological stability of the planet. In Latin America, a region that combines the richest concentration of biological species and one of the highest rates of habitat destruction on earth, research aimed to identifying the origins of diversity has been extensive but the explanations have remained controversial. One the most historically powerful hypothesis, the "Pleistocene refugia hypothesis", which maintains that regions of high rainfall have functioned as centers of evolution and preservation of biological species, has been recently challenged by abundant paleoecological data. Therefore, the effectiveness of current conservation strategies with a focus on wet areas for the preservation of biodiversity has been cast into doubt. This project will t est the alternative hypothesis that regions of high geologic complexity have been important centers for the origin of species, at least in the case of mammals. The study will use the funnel-eared bat family (Natalidae) as a model group, given that these animals are among the most widespread mammal groups in the new world tropics that depend on geomorphologic surface features (caves, crevices) for their survival. A robust reconstruction of the evolutionary history (phylogeny) of Natalidae will test whether the evolution of this bat family has been tied to the historical availability and distribution of caves in the new world tropics, making possible, in turn, to test whether areas of high complexity in surface geology have functioned as centers of speciation for these bats. The phylogeny will be inferred by comparing morphological and genetic traits of species of natalids deposited in museum collections in the US and Latin America.This project will be the first to test whether cave regions have functioned as centers of bat speciation in the New World, thus representing potentially important sources of species diversity in tropical America. If this hypothesis is supported by our findings, this study will have a significant impact in the design of future conservation strategies aimed to protect centers of biological evolution in Latin America, as important repositories of the genetic wealth of the planet. The study will also have a broader impact in the understanding of cave biogeography in general, not only in tropical America but also in other regions of the world rich in caves and cave fauna. At a local scale, it will detect geographically restricted species of funnel-eared bats that may risk extinction and will promote their conservation, particularly of those that range into economically important areas and provide crucial natural control to agricultural pests.

面对即将来临的全球生物多样性危机，了解生物多样性起源和维护所涉及的自然过程是朝着维护遗传储藏和地球生态稳定性的关键步骤。在拉丁美洲，一个结合了最丰富的生物物种和地球栖息地破坏率最高的地区，旨在识别多样性的起源的研究广泛，但解释仍然存在争议。最近，大量的古生物学数据挑战了最有历史的假设之一，即“更新世避难假设”，该假说坚持认为，高降雨区域已作为生物物种进化和保存的中心作用。因此，疑问是当前的保护策略，重点关注湿区域以保护生物多样性。该项目将提出一个替代假设，即至少在哺乳动物的情况下，高地质复杂性的区域一直是物种起源的重要中心。鉴于这些动物是新世界热带地区最广泛的哺乳动物群之一，该研究将使用漏斗 - 蝙蝠家族（Natalidae）作为模型组，这些动物依赖于地貌表面特征（洞穴，缝隙）来生存。 Natalidae的进化史（系统发育）的强大重建将测试该BAT家族的演变是否与新世界热带地区的洞穴的历史可用性和分布相关，从而使能够测试表面地质高复杂性的领域是否在表面地理学中起着这些蝙蝠为中心的作用。将通过比较沉积在美国和拉丁美洲的博物馆收藏中的鼻质物种的形态和遗传特征来推断系统发育。该项目将是第一个测试洞穴区域是否在新世界的蝙蝠概况中起作用，因此代表了热带美国物种多样性的潜在重要来源。如果我们的发现得到了这一假设的支持，那么这项研究将对旨在保护拉丁美洲生物进化中心的未来保护策略的设计产生重大影响，以及地球遗传财富的重要储藏库。这项研究还将对一般的对洞穴生物地理学的理解产生更大的影响，不仅在热带美国，而且在世界其他富含洞穴和洞穴动物群的地区。在当地规模上，它将检测到可能有可能灭绝并将促进其保护的地理限制物种，尤其是那些进入经济重要领域并为农业害虫提供重要的自然控制的物种。