International Research Fellowship Program: Evolution, Biogeography, and Conservation of Frogs in Sulawesi

0107294

Evans

The International Research Fellow Awards Program enables U.S. scientists and engineers to conduct three to twenty-four months of research abroad. The program's awards provide opportunities for joint research, and the use of unique or complementary facilities, expertise and experimental conditions abroad.

This award will provide 24 months of support to Dr. Ben J. Evans to forge a research collaboration with Dr. Jatna Supriatna at the Center for Biodiversity and Conservation at the University of Indonesia in Depok, Indonesia. Of this 24 months, 12 months will be spent in Indonesia working with Dr. Supriatna, eight months working with Dr. Don Melnick at Columbia University in New York, and four months in Austin, Texas working with Dr. David Cannatella at the University of Texas.

This project will work to increase our understanding of how frogs dispersed to and on Sulawesi and how natural selection influences evolution of different adaptations. This research will also delineate regions of high priority for conservation management based on geographic differentiation of frogs. It is expected that dispersal to Sulawesi is rare and that when it does occur, it is followed by explosive diversification. It is also expected that fragmentation of Sulawesi played an important role in partitioning variation in frog adaptations and that existing conservation areas to not adequately protect Sulawesi's biological heritage. This study will include fieldwork on Sulawesi and surrounding islands to sample genetic specimens for analysis, molecular analysis to generate DNA sequence data from genetic specimen, and evolutionary, biogeographical, and conservation genetic analysis of molecular data.

Dr. Supriatna is head of Conservation International Indonesia and a professor of biology at the University of Indonesia. As the main site for this work, Sulawesi was chosen because of its unusual amphibian fauna, complex geology, and critical conservation value. Dr. Melnick is a specialist in molecular evolution and biogeography of Southeast Asian vertebrates. Dr. Cannatella specializes in evolution and systematics of frogs and frog vocalization.