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| Neotropical Mammal Project | |
|---|---|
| Name | Neotropical Mammal Project |
| Formation | 1998 |
| Type | Research consortium |
| Headquarters | Manaus, Amazonas |
| Region served | Neotropics |
| Leader title | Director |
| Leader name | Dr. Maria Esteves |
Neotropical Mammal Project
The Neotropical Mammal Project is an international research consortium based in Manaus, Amazonas, focused on biodiversity, ecology, and conservation of mammals across the Neotropics. It integrates field biology, taxonomy, biogeography, and conservation planning through partnerships with museums, universities, and governmental agencies. The consortium coordinates long-term monitoring, systematic surveys, and capacity-building initiatives that inform regional policy and protected-area management.
The consortium unites researchers from institutions such as the Smithsonian Institution, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, National Institute of Amazonian Research, University of Oxford, and University of São Paulo to document mammalian diversity across biogeographic provinces like the Amazon Basin, Atlantic Forest, Andes, and Cerrado. Its members include curators and field biologists affiliated with the American Museum of Natural History, Natural History Museum, London, Field Museum of Natural History, Royal Ontario Museum, and Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi. The consortium's activities intersect with global initiatives such as the Convention on Biological Diversity, the IUCN Red List, Global Biodiversity Information Facility, and the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services through data sharing and policy briefs.
Founded in 1998 with seed support from the MacArthur Foundation and coordination by scientists from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute and the Universidade Federal do Amazonas, the consortium expanded during the 2000s with grants from the National Science Foundation, European Research Council, and the Wellcome Trust. Early expeditions involved collaborations with local institutions including the Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia and the Universidade de São Paulo, and field stations such as the Reserva Ducke and Biological Dynamics of Forest Fragments Project. The consortium adapted to methodological advances from teams at the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, University of Copenhagen, and California Academy of Sciences, incorporating molecular tools popularized by groups at the Smithsonian Institution and the Natural History Museum, London.
Primary objectives include inventorying species richness, assessing population trends, resolving taxonomic uncertainty, and informing conservation planning with partners like the World Wide Fund for Nature, Conservation International, and the Wildlife Conservation Society. Methodologies combine live trapping protocols refined at the University of California, Berkeley and the National Autonomous University of Mexico, camera-trapping arrays modeled after protocols from the Colombian Institute of Tropical Medicine, acoustic monitoring techniques developed with the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, and genetics pipelines adapted from the Wellcome Sanger Institute and the Smithsonian Institution. The consortium uses geospatial analyses employing tools from the United Nations Environment Programme, the European Space Agency, and the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics to integrate landscape change with species distribution models promoted by the World Resources Institute.
Field sites span protected areas and research stations including the Jaú National Park, Pantanal Matogrossense National Park, Iguaçu National Park, Tropical Ecology Research Center (CIPAM)', and private reserves like the Reserva Adolpho Ducke. Species-focused programs target threatened and data-deficient taxa such as primates monitored alongside research by the International Primatological Society; small mammals paralleling collections at the American Museum of Natural History; chiropteran studies linked with the Bat Conservation International network; and carnivore research coordinated with the IUCN/SSC Cat Specialist Group and the Carnivore Specialist Group. Work often complements taxonomic revisions in journals associated with the Linnean Society of London and the American Society of Mammalogists.
Consortium outputs include species inventories, new species descriptions published in outlets associated with the Zoological Society of London, systematic revisions cited by the IUCN Red List, and landscape-scale analyses used by the United Nations Development Programme. Major publications have been produced in collaboration with authors from the University of Cambridge, University of Edinburgh, University of California, Davis, Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, and the National University of Colombia. Findings documented patterns of cryptic diversity mirroring studies by the Museum of Comparative Zoology and documented range shifts comparable to analyses from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Reports have informed management plans for sites overseen by the Brazilian Ministry of the Environment and park units administered by the Argentine National Parks Administration.
The consortium has formal partnerships with academic institutions such as the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies, the University of British Columbia, and the University of Zurich, and NGOs including BirdLife International, The Nature Conservancy, and Rainforest Trust. Funders and supporters have included the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, National Geographic Society, European Commission Horizon 2020, and bilateral aid from the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation. Collaborative networks link with regional bodies like the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization and policy platforms such as the Convention on Migratory Species.
The consortium's work has supported designation and expansion of protected areas like additions to the Amazon Region Protected Areas Program and revisions to management of sites under Sustainable Development Reserve frameworks. Conservation outcomes include updated IUCN assessments influenced by data contributed to the IUCN Red List, capacity building through training workshops with the Latin American Society of Specialists in Mammalogy, and incorporation of biodiversity data into land-use planning by agencies including the Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources. The consortium's legacy includes enhanced museum collections at institutions such as the Field Museum of Natural History, strengthened regional networks exemplified by ties to the Amazonian Cooperation Treaty Organization, and policy impacts aligned with targets set under the Convention on Biological Diversity.
Category:Research consortia Category:Neotropical fauna Category:Mammalogy