Biogeography is the science that attempts to document and understand spatial patterns of biodiversity.Macroecology is a way of studying relationships between organisms and their environment that involves characterizing and explaining statistical patterns of abundance,distribution and diversity - exploring the domain where ecology,biogeography,palaeontology and macroevolution come together.Many wild organisms are consistantly shifting their geographical distribution in response to decreasing environmental suitability as a consequence of rapid climate change.Spiny frogs of the subfamily Painae (Anura: Dicroglossidae) are widespread,but endemic to Asia.Assembling all the information about spiny frogs,we attempted to uncover the spatial biodiversity patterns of spiny frogs and to shed light on the underlying evolutionary mechanisms at the temporal and spatial scales.We have integrated multi-disciplinary theories of macro-ecology,conservation biology,molecular phylogenetics and biogeography and applied a combination of approaches of the field surveys,molecular genetics,ecological modeling and geostatistics.These ensure a solid basis allowing us to explore the patterns of species diversity and phylogenetic diversity and their potential determinants in spiny frogs.Importantly these efforts will further assist predictions of the patterns of species diversity and phylogenetic diversity under the impacts of climate changes,along with tendencies of niche evolution.Therefore this study will not only develop a comprehensive analytical framework to capture the impacts of climate change on biodiversity but also extend our knowledge on global change through understanding biodiversity patterns and evolutionary response across a group of amphibian species.Meanwhile,it will provide new insights into developing the management strategies for long-term biodiversity conservation in China.