Community Composition and Phylogeography of Microinvertebrates of Chihuahuan Desert Waters (US and Mexico)

奇瓦瓦沙漠水域微型无脊椎动物的群落组成和系统发育地理学（美国和墨西哥）

• 批准号: 0516032
• 负责人: Elizabeth Walsh
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: University of Texas at El Paso
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2005
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2005-07-15 至 2009-09-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0516032&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Community; Composition; Phylogeography; Microinvertebrates; Chihuahuan

The Chihuahuan Desert is a unique and biologically diverse region. Like other arid ecosystems, the Chihuahuan Desert is at risk from a variety of anthropogenic activities including development, overgrazing by livestock, pollution, and aquifer depletion. While it has been suggested that the Chihuahuan Desert possesses a large number of unique species, relatively few studies have been focused on its aquatic habitats. There are two components to this project. (A) Diversity of aquatic invertebrates focusing on rotifers and small crustaceans will be inventoried. Other than insects, these small invertebrates are likely to represent a large proportion of the animal life in springs and other water sources. This survey will serve as an essential foundation for describing overall large-scale, biodiversity of these waters in the U.S. and Mexican Chihuahuan desert. The physical structure, seasonality, water chemistry, and aquatic vegetation of springs and temporary waters will be characterized. (B) The specific aims of this project test three hypotheses. (1) Are species found in the Chihuahuan Desert unique or cosmopolitan in their distribution? (2) Is seasonality and inter-annual variability important in defining overall community composition? (3) Are species distributions and genetic patterns related to historical geologic events or more recent dispersals and adaptations to extreme environments? This is an international collaboration that will provide an important contribution to understanding the diversity of freshwater species in the Chihuahuan Desert.This project establishes joint work between U.S. and Mexican scientists. Training in taxonomy, ecology, and molecular techniques such as DNA sequencing will be given to graduate and undergraduate students in both countries. In addition, all institutions involved in this project attract a large percentage of women students into the sciences; moreover, the University of Texas at El Paso attracts a large number of minority students to both its undergraduate and graduate programs. Moreover, with use of the Internet, it creates a shared database for research and education worldwide. Finally, academic scientists will partner with federal and private agencies (e.g., BBNP, TX and NM state agencies, and WWF). The study will provide baseline data useful to state and federal agencies in formulating public policies on land and water use in Chihuahuan Desert environments.

奇瓦瓦沙漠是一个独特且生物多样性丰富的地区。与其他干旱生态系统一样，奇瓦瓦沙漠也面临着各种人类活动的风险，包括开发、牲畜过度放牧、污染和含水层枯竭。虽然有人认为奇瓦瓦沙漠拥有大量独特的物种，但对其水生栖息地的研究相对较少。该项目有两个组成部分。 (A) 将清查以轮虫和小型甲壳类动物为主的水生无脊椎动物的多样性。除了昆虫之外，这些小型无脊椎动物可能占泉水和其他水源中动物生命的很大一部分。这项调查将为描述美国和墨西哥奇瓦瓦沙漠这些水域的总体大规模生物多样性奠定重要基础。泉水和临时水域的物理结构、季节性、水化学和水生植被将得到表征。 (B) 该项目的具体目标检验了三个假设。 (1) 奇瓦瓦沙漠中发现的物种的分布是独特的还是世界性的？ (2) 季节性和年际变化对于定义总体群落组成重要吗？ (3) 物种分布和遗传模式是否与历史地质事件或最近的扩散和对极端环境的适应有关？这是一项国际合作，将为了解奇瓦瓦沙漠淡水物种的多样性做出重要贡献。该项目建立了美国和墨西哥科学家之间的联合工作。两国的研究生和本科生将接受分类学、生态学和 DNA 测序等分子技术方面的培训。此外，参与该项目的所有机构都吸引了大量女学生进入科学领域；此外，德克萨斯大学埃尔帕索分校的本科和研究生课程吸引了大量少数族裔学生。此外，通过使用互联网，它为全世界的研究和教育创建了一个共享数据库。 最后，学术科学家将与联邦和私人机构（例如 BBNP、德克萨斯州和新墨西哥州机构以及世界自然基金会）合作。该研究将为州和联邦机构制定奇瓦瓦沙漠环境中土地和水利用的公共政策提供有用的基线数据。