ADVANCE Fellows Award: Patterns of Biomineralization and Isotopic Variations in the Teeth and Bones of Modern Bison

高级研究员奖：现代野牛牙齿和骨骼的生物矿化模式和同位素变化

• 批准号: 0522691
• 负责人: Kathryn Hoppe
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: University of Washington
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2004
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2004-10-01 至 2007-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0522691&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: ADVANCE; Fellows; Award; Patterns; Biomineralization

As interest grows in deciphering the factors that influence the Earth's climate, researchers have developed several proxies useful for reconstructing ancient environmental conditions. One of the most promising tools for reconstructing short-term (seasonal to annual) environmental fluctuations is isotopic analysis of vertebrate fossils. Analyses of fossil bison hold particular promise for such research. However, the precision of paleoenvironmental reconstructions based on analyses of fossil bison is currently limited because: (1) the rate of enamel biomineralization within bison teeth has not been studied in detail, and (2) the precise relationship between the d18O and d13C values of modern bison and local environmental conditions has not been precisely quantified. The purpose of this project is to quantify how precisely isotopic analyses of bison can be used to reconstruct paleoenvionemtal conditions. The first part of this study will document the patterns of biomineralization and isotope variations preserved within bison tooth enamel in order to develop an optimal sampling strategy. The second part of this study will quantify how well the d18O and d13C values of modern Great Plains bison correlate with environmental changes including: average temperature, seasonal temperature range, precipitation, relative humidity, and grassland composition (i.e., C3/C4 ratio). This study will thus quantify how precisely analyses of the d18O and d13C values of bison can be used to reconstruct annual and seaonal variations in local environments. It will produce a map of the isotope gradients in modern bison, which will serve as a baseline for interpreting the isotope signals preserved in fossil bison as well as other herbivores. This study will thus greatly increase the precision and accuracy of paleoclimatic and paleovegetation reconstruction based on isotope analyses of fossil herbivores.

随着对影响地球气候的因素的兴趣的增长，研究人员开发了几种代理，可用于重建古代环境条件。 重建短期（季节至年度）环境波动的最有希望的工具之一是脊椎动物化石的同位素分析。 化石野牛的分析对此类研究具有特别的希望。 然而，基于化石野牛分析的古环境重建的精度目前受到限制，因为：（1）尚未详细研究野牛牙齿内搪瓷生物矿化的速率，（2）（2）D18O和D13C现代环境条件和当地环境条件的精确关系尚未精确量化。 该项目的目的是量化野牛的精确同位素分析如何用于重建古膜状条件。 这项研究的第一部分将记录保留在野牛牙釉质中的生物矿化和同位素变化的模式，以制定最佳的采样策略。 这项研究的第二部分将量化现代大平原的D18O和D13C值与环境变化相关，包括：平均温度，季节性温度范围，降水，相对湿度和草地组成（即C3/C4比）。 因此，这项研究将量化野牛的D18O和D13C值的精确分析可用于重建本地环境中的年度和海洋变化。 它将在现代野牛中生成同位素梯度的地图，该地图将作为解释保留在化石野牛和其他食草动物中的同位素信号的基线。 因此，这项研究将大大提高基于化石食草动物的同位素分析的古气候和古植物重建的精度和准确性。