NSF Org:	IOS Division Of Integrative Organismal Systems
Recipient:	THE TRUSTEES OF COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK
Initial Amendment Date:	August 30, 2000
Latest Amendment Date:	July 15, 2004
Award Number:	0075555
Award Instrument:	Standard Grant
Program Manager:	William E. Zamer IOS  Division Of Integrative Organismal Systems BIO  Directorate for Biological Sciences
Start Date:	September 1, 2000
End Date:	August 31, 2004 (Estimated)
Total Intended Award Amount:	$220,001.00
Total Awarded Amount to Date:	$220,001.00
Funds Obligated to Date:	FY 2000 = $220,001.00
History of Investigator:	Don Melnick (Principal Investigator) djm7@columbia.edu Luis Ruedas (Co-Principal Investigator) Juan Morales (Former Principal Investigator)
Recipient Sponsored Research Office:	Columbia University 615 W 131ST ST NEW YORK NY  US  10027-7922 (212)854-6851
Sponsor Congressional District:	13
Primary Place of Performance:	Columbia University 615 W 131ST ST NEW YORK NY  US  10027-7922
Primary Place of Performance Congressional District:	13
Unique Entity Identifier (UEI):	F4N1QNPB95M4
Parent UEI:
NSF Program(s):	PHYLOGENETIC SYSTEMATICS
Primary Program Source:	app-0100
Program Reference Code(s):	9169, EGCH
Program Element Code(s):	117100
Award Agency Code:	4900
Fund Agency Code:	4900
Assistance Listing Number(s):	47.074

ABSTRACT

0075555
Morales and Ruedas

Observations and mapping endeavors in the Malay Archipelago dating back to the time of Alfred Russel Wallace formed the beginnings of the modern biological discipline of biogeography: the study of the distributions of animals and plants, and of the causes of those distributions. However, perhaps in part because of the overwhelming influence of Wallace, no further comprehensive biological studies have since been undertaken in the Malay Archipelago, the birthplace of biogeography. A few studies have examined, in isolation, distinct faunal elements (e.g., insects, birds, bats) of certain of the islands of the archipelago.
We have, in contrast, begun to integrate these disparate studies and initiate studies of our own across the entire Malay Archipelago, from Mainland Asia to New Guinea and Australia. These integrative studies have as a goal to test the general biogeographic hypotheses founded on ecological studies of the area. Our work focuses on DNA-sequence derived studies of the evolutionary relationships within a single group of animals: the rodents. In particular, we will concentrate on one family of rodents, the Muridae, which is the most speciose: over 65% of all rodent species (1326/2021) are murids. We chose these rodents because these tend to be widespread and ubiquitous throughout the region, thus we are almost invariably assured of study organisms. We will use the DNA-sequence data to determine what the major patterns of historical biogeography are in the area.
The specific objectives of the project are to derive DNA-sequence based phylogenies of the area's murid rodents; these phylogenies will be used to test biogeographic hypotheses that have been proposed for the origin of the Australian, Papuan, and Sulawesian rodent radiations. Finally, the data will be used to generate a more comprehensive and robust vision of the relationships among the region's rodents. We will concentrate on Sulawesi as a key missing element in our current data set. We have been studying the region's rodents for some years and have amassed specimens for analysis from islands on the continental margin as well as New Guinea and Australia; however, Sulawesi is of critical importance to regional biogeographic analyses (therefore to biogeography as a whole), as ecologically derived faunal studies are unable to localize the island within either of the two broad regions elucidated by Wallace. Sulawesi's murid rodent fauna, one of the area's and the world's richest, is constituted by at least 41 species, of which 36 are endemic. Of the endemics, ample representation is found of the major murid groups of the area, but most importantly, a group known as the "Old Endemics." Rodents in this group tend to be rare and isolated and as such constitute key elements in evolutionary and biogeographic analyses. Discovering these patterns will enable us to begin to understand how the faunal colonization of the area was undertaken, as well as what mechanisms are responsible for one of the richest regional mammalian biotas in the world.

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