Collaborative Research: RUI: Exploring early metazoan reef evolution through a multi-scale approach

合作研究：RUI：通过多尺度方法探索早期后生动物礁演化

• 批准号: 2233726
• 负责人: Akshay Mehra
• 金额: $ 39.07万
• 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: 2023
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2023-10-01 至 2025-09-30
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2233726&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; RUI; Exploring; early

Shallow water reefs have been called "cradles of evolution." By studying the remains of ancient reefs, scientists can gain critical insights into the ecological and evolutionary impact of Earth's earliest animals and our planet's transition from a world dominated by microbes to the one we know today. Here, the researchers propose a multidisciplinary and multiscale survey of the Little Dal reefs in northwestern Canada, which formed nearly one billion years ago and are home to the earliest purported remains of sponges on our planet. In this study, the team will utilize various methods—from drone-derived models of outcrops to 3D reconstructions of the sponge fossils to isotopic analyses—to improve our understanding of the inhabitants (e.g., were there truly sponges on Earth a billion years ago?) and ecology (e.g., who or what built the reefs?) of the Little Dal reefs. This work will involve training undergraduate and graduate students and a postdoctoral fellow within a framework that encourages a collaborative, interdisciplinary, inclusive, and international scientific approach. Additionally, the researchers propose to mentor a student from the First Nations Sahtu ́/Dene communities of Fort Simpson, Norman Wells, and Fort Good Hope and engage with these communities throughout the project. Recently, scientists have posited that vermiform microstructures (VERM), found in the Tonian Little Dal Group of northwestern Canada, represent the remains of the oldest poriferan-grade organism in the rock record. Any claim of metazoan reef inhabitation (or construction) during the Proterozoic requires careful consideration and evaluation using a multidisciplinary approach. Here, the researchers propose to explore the ecology and morphology of the Little Dal reef system via a multiscale field and analytical study. They aim to 1) determine whether VERM are unambiguously the remains of a sponge-grade organism and therefore representative of the earliest metazoan reef inhabitants, and 2) quantify the micro- to macro-scale morphologies of the Little Dal reef system, including characteristics such as surface roughness, ecological zonation, and the abundance of constituent reef components. Any assignment of biological affinity for putative Neoproterozoic sponge remains will have broad implications for our understanding of the tempo and mode of metazoan evolution. Additionally, their findings will enable quantitative comparisons between fossil reefs throughout the geological record. Such comparisons will help chart the timing and structural nature of the transition from purely microbial reefs of the earlier Proterozoic to metazoan framework reefs of the Phanerozoic.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.

浅水珊瑚礁被称为“进化的摇篮”。通过研究古代珊瑚礁的遗迹，科学家可以深入了解地球上最早的动物的生态和进化影响，以及我们的星球从微生物主导的世界到我们所知道的世界的转变。今天，研究人员提议对加拿大西北部的小达尔礁进行多学科和多尺度的调查，该礁形成于近十亿年前，是地球上最早的海绵遗迹的所在地。各种方法——从无人机衍生的露头模型到海绵化石的 3D 重建，再到同位素分析——来提高我们对居民（例如，十亿年前地球上是否真的有海绵？）和生态学（例如，谁或这项工作将涉及在鼓励协作、跨学科、包容性和国际科学方法的框架内培训本科生和研究生以及博士后研究员。提议指导来自辛普森堡、诺曼威尔斯和好望堡的原住民 Sahtu ́/Dene 社区的一名学生，并在整个项目中与这些社区进行互动。最近，科学家们定位了在托尼安发现的蠕虫状微结构 (VERM)。加拿大西北部的小达尔群代表了岩石记录中最古老的多孔生物的遗迹，任何有关元古代时期后生动物珊瑚礁居住（或建造）的说法都需要仔细考虑和评估。在这里，研究人员建议通过多尺度实地和分析研究来探索小达尔礁系统的生态和形态，他们的目标是 1) 确定 VERM 是否明确是海绵级生物的遗骸，因此代表了海绵级生物。最早的后生动物珊瑚礁居民，以及 2) 量化小达尔珊瑚礁系统的微观到宏观形态，包括表面粗糙度、生态分区和组成珊瑚礁成分的丰度等特征，对假定的生物亲和力进行任何分配。此外，他们的定量发现将使整个地质记录中的化石礁之间的比较将有助于绘制从纯粹的过渡的时间和结构性质。该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优点和更广泛的评估进行评估，认为值得支持影响审查标准。