EAR PF: Examining paleoclimatic influences underlying Pleistocene-Holocene mammalian dietary ecology and trophic positioning in mainland Southeast Asia

EAR PF：研究东南亚大陆更新世-全新世哺乳动物饮食生态和营养定位的古气候影响

• 批准号: 2204565
• 负责人: Alliya Akhtar
• 金额: $ 18万
• 依托单位: Akhtar, Alliya
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Fellowship Award
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2022-09-01 至 2024-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2204565&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: EAR; PF; Examining; paleoclimatic; influences

Dr. Alliya Akhtar has been awarded an NSF EAR Postdoctoral Fellowship to carry out research and education plans at Princeton University and William Paterson University. As global climate, hydrology and human land uses continue to change, the full extent of the impact on biodiversity and ecosystems is a topic of great interest. Today, mainland southeast Asia is one of the world’s most vulnerable regions to climate change. For example, even slight changes in the intensity and timing of the monsoon rainfall can significantly impact the billions of people who live in this region, by affecting water supplies for human use, agriculture, and faunal assemblages. This research aims to better understand the interplay between these aspects in the present day, and the possible impact on future ecosystems, by looking at the geological record. The end-Pleistocene (11,700 years ago) to mid-Holocene (5,000 years ago) period of mainland Southeast Asia represents a critical interval in the co-evolution of climate, natural ecosystems, and human societies. This period includes the termination of the last great ice age ∼ 10,000 years ago and a dynamic and variable Asian monsoon. Associated increases in temperature and precipitation likely influenced the biotic resources of the region. In addition, changes in land use by human populations at this time likely resulted in landscape changes from new agrarian and subsistence-based practices (including forest clearance) that could have further impacted faunal assemblages and affected regional climate and hydrology. The development of a comprehensive, multi-proxy record will aid in understanding the role of paleoenvironment on faunal food-web dynamics and evolution of human behavior. Dr. Akhtar will also involve students from historically underrepresented minority affiliations (especially undergraduates from William Paterson University, a designated Hispanic-serving institution) in every aspect of the research project through summer research experiences and mentorship through senior thesis and capstone projects. Dr. Akhtar’s research agenda will follow three themes. First, exploring the utility of novel geochemical proxies (including stable isotopes of calcium, magnesium and zinc) for trophic level dynamics in modern mammalian taxa with known foraging behaviors. Second, leveraging the results of this multi-proxy survey to help to guide the interpretation of similar studies conducted across a variety of terrestrial faunal materials, including late-Pleistocene and Holocene aged fossil tooth assemblages from southeast Asia. Third, conducting trace-element uptake experiments to study the incorporation of uranium (U) and other rare earth elements (REEs) in hopes to refine models of diffusive uranium incorporation and U-series dating protocols for accurate and precise age determination. Together, these three nodes constitute an important foundation for testing the impact of changing regional and local hydroclimate on megafaunal trophic level and food web dynamics in southeast Asian from the Late Pleistocene to mid-Holocene, and have profound implications for projecting ecosystem behavior in the future.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

Alliya Akhtar 博士获得了 NSF EAR 博士后奖学金，以在普林斯顿大学和威廉帕特森大学开展研究和教育计划。随着全球气候、水文和人类土地利用的不断变化，生物多样性和生态系统受到了全面的影响。如今，东南亚大陆是世界上最容易受到气候变化影响的地区之一。例如，季风降雨强度和时间的微小变化都会对生活在该地区的数十亿人产生重大影响。本研究旨在通过观察更新世的地质记录，更好地了解当今这些方面之间的相互作用，以及对未来生态系统可能产生的影响。东南亚大陆的全新世中期（5000年前）是气候、自然生态系统和人类社会共同进化的关键时期。大约一万年前最后一个大冰河时代的结束以及动态和多变的亚洲季风可能影响了该地区的生物资源。此外，当时人类土地利用的变化也可能导致。新的农业和生计做法（包括森林砍伐）带来的景观变化可能会进一步影响动物群落并影响区域气候和水文。建立全面的多代理记录将有助于了解这一情况。阿赫塔尔博士还将让来自历史上代表性不足的少数群体的学生（特别是指定的西班牙裔服务机构威廉帕特森大学的本科生）参与该研究项目的各个方面。通过高级论文和顶点项目获得的夏季研究经验和指导将遵循三个主题：首先，探索新型地球化学替代物（包括钙、镁和锌的稳定同位素）的用途。其次，利用这项多代理调查的结果来帮助指导对各种陆地动物材料（包括更新世晚期和全新世古老的牙齿化石）进行的类似研究的解释。第三，进行微量元素吸收实验来研究铀（U）和其他稀土元素（REE）的掺入，以期完善模型。扩散铀掺入和U系列测年协议共同构成了测试晚更新世以来区域和当地水文气候变化对东南亚巨型动物营养水平和食物网动态影响的重要基础。到全新世中期，对预测未来的生态系统行为具有深远的影响。该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查进行评估，被认为值得支持标准。