ИСТИНА

The project is directed towards elucidation of the impact of global climate change on the dynamics of natural communities of various biomes. The aim of the study is to examine the factors that govern the formation and maintenance of refugia during climate zone shifts. The focus of the study is centered on the vertebrate fauna (small mammals, birds reptiles, fish) of a unique area in north-central China (southern Gansu, northern Sichuan) containing the contact zone between four endemic-rich biogeographic units/ecoregions: Minshan-Nanshan mountain coniferous forests, high-altitude grasslands of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, arid/semiarid Loess Plateau, subtropical forests of central China. Based on genetic data phylogeographic structure and demographic history for a set of model species characteristic of each region will be reconstructed. The results will be used 1) to identify the location of forest and grassland refugia; 2) to estimate the timeline of major population expansions and Pleistocene-Holocene range dynamics for the fauna of each zone; 3) to determine the factors that are responsible for temporal stability of the refugial populations. Implications for conservation of endemic narrow range species will be considered.