DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Testing Alternative Dispersal Routes for Neotropical Lowland Freshwater Fishes: Integration of Phylogeny, Physiology, and Geology

论文研究：测试新热带低地淡水鱼类的替代扩散路线：系统发育、生理学和地质学的整合

• 批准号: 1311408
• 负责人: Jacob Esselstyn
• 金额: $ 1.92万
• 依托单位: Louisiana State University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2013
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2013-07-01 至 2016-06-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1311408&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: DISSERTATION; RESEARCH; Testing; Alternative; Dispersal

The diverse freshwater fish fauna of Middle America (the region that includes (Mexico, Central America, and the Greater Antilles) has been tied to a myriad of notable biogeographic patterns; however, many of these patterns have not been rigorously examined. In cases where biogeographic patterns cannot be tied to geological events (e.g. the movement of tectonic plates) researchers often fall back on the untested hypothesis of marine dispersal. However, these freshwater species may not be crossing marine habitats or surviving in them for any length of time. This study will test marine dispersal hypotheses (by examining salt tolerance in these species) and raise a novel hypothesis for long distance dispersal in Middle America, namely river dispersal (a hypothesis that freshwaters and their fauna are periodically interconnected by periods of flooding). This study will take a new and integrative approach to unravel the biogeographic history of Neotropical lowland freshwater fishes with similar distributions in Middle America. Methods and data from physiology and geology will be used to vigorously test and distinguish between competing hypotheses. The river dispersal hypothesis could offer a new alternative explanation for the distribution of these fishes via dispersal through lowland rivers, and the results of this work could be used to explain and test the distributions of tropical freshwater species around the world.Undergraduate and underrepresented minority training is a major aspect of this work. Students will be involved in all aspects of this project from fieldwork, to publication, to presentation of these analyses at national and international meetings. The work will largely be conducted at the Louisiana State University Museum of Natural Science (LSUMNS), a research museum with numerous outreach activities through the university and local community. This study also has a large international component and participating scientists and students in these countries will be active participants in the research. In addition, all specimens and field data from their work will be deposited in the LSUMNS and will be readily available to researchers globally.

中美洲的多样化的淡水鱼动物区系（包括（墨西哥，中美洲和更大的安提尔斯）与无数值得注意的生物地理模式相关；但是，这些模式中的许多模式尚未经过严格检查。在生物学模式上，生物学模式无法与地质事件相关（例如，在地质上都无法依靠），这是在地理上的发展。但是，这些淡水可能不会跨越海洋栖息地，或者在任何时间内生存。揭示新热带低地淡水鱼的生物地理历史的综合方法在中美洲具有相似的分布。生理和地质学的方法和数据将用于大力测试和区分竞争假设。河流分散假设可以通过通过低地河流分散来为这些鱼类分布提供新的替代解释，并且这项工作的结果可用于解释和测试世界各地的热带淡水物种的分布。在研究生和代表性不足的少数群体培训是这项工作的主要方面。学生将参与该项目的各个方面，从实地调查到出版，再到国家和国际会议上的这些分析。这项工作将在很大程度上在路易斯安那州立大学自然科学博物馆（LSUMNS）进行，这是一家研究博物馆，该博物馆通过大学和地方社区进行了许多外展活动。这项研究还拥有大量的国际成分，并且在这些国家 /地区的学生和学生将积极参与这项研究。此外，所有工作中的所有标本和现场数据都将存放在Lsumns中，并将随时向全球研究人员提供。