CAREER: Quaternary paleontology of Jamaica: Colonization, extinction, and resilience in a biodiversity hotspot

职业：牙买加第四纪古生物学：生物多样性热点地区的殖民、灭绝和复原力

• 批准号: 2340910
• 负责人: Melissa Kemp
• 金额: $ 108.09万
• 依托单位: University of Texas at Austin
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2024
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2024-04-15 至 2029-03-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2340910&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: CAREER; Quaternary; paleontology; Jamaica; Colonization

Biodiversity loss is one of the biggest challenges facing humanity today, and how species respond to environmental changes is a crucial question. Fossils provide unparalleled insight into the long-term responses of species in changing environments and can be used to identify both vulnerable and resilient ecosystems. This project leverages the fossil record of Jamaica to characterize ancient biodiversity and quantify how it has been shaped by environmental changes before and after human colonization of the island. The research seeks to guide conservation strategies in an ecosystem that supports a diversity of wildlife and human populations. The project also increases access to paleontology by training American and Jamaican students in paleontological research methods. Students will use their research experiences to develop K-12 lesson plans that meet the national educational standards of both countries. In collaboration with international partners, these lesson plans will be deployed in a series of STEM camps for children and their teachers. This research integrates existing museum collections and novel paleontological excavations with biogeographic theory and ecological modelling to quantify biodiversity through time, measured through the lenses of taxonomic and functional richness. Three primary research questions are addressed: (1) What is the pre-human baseline biodiversity? (2) Do abiotic processes (climate) and/or biotic processes (human colonization) trigger changes in community structure and/or functional trait diversity? (3) Do introduced species restore functional diversity lost through extinction? The interdisciplinary approach of this research will provide critical information on how taxonomic and functional diversity is impacted by environmental change, and is relevant to conservation, ecology, evolutionary biology, and paleontology. Furthermore, the educational component of this research seeks to build STEM research capacity and literacy by providing authentic, place-based experiences to project participants. The efficacy of these activities will be assessed through surveys that measure participant confidence and sense of belonging in STEM.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.

生物多样性丧失是当今人类面临的最大挑战之一，物种如何应对环境变化是一个至关重要的问题。化石提供了对不断变化的环境中物种的长期反应的无与伦比的见解，可用于识别脆弱和弹性的生态系统。该项目利用牙买加的化石记录来表征古代生物多样性，并量化该岛人类殖民之前和之后的环境变化如何塑造了它。该研究旨在指导生态系统中的保护策略，以支持各种野生动植物和人类人群。该项目还通过培训美国和牙买加学生的古生物学研究方法来增加对古生物学的访问。学生将利用他们的研究经验制定符合两国国家教育标准的K-12课程计划。与国际合作伙伴合作，这些课程计划将部署在一系列针对儿童及其老师的STEM营地中。这项研究将现有的博物馆收藏和新颖的古生物学发掘与生物地理理论和生态建模融为一体，以通过分类和功能性丰富的镜头来量化生物多样性。解决了三个主要的研究问题：（1）人类前基线生物多样性是什么？ （2）非生物过程（气候）和/或生物过程（人类殖民化）会触发社区结构和/或功能性状多样性的变化吗？ （3）引入物种是否恢复了通过灭绝而丢失的功能多样性？这项研究的跨学科方法将提供有关环境变化如何影响分类学和功能多样性的关键信息，并且与保护，生态，进化生物学和古生物学有关。此外，这项研究的教育组成部分旨在通过为项目参与者提供基于地点的经验来建立STEM研究能力和素养。这些活动的功效将通过调查来评估，以衡量参与者的信心和STEM中的归属感。该奖项反映了NSF的法定任务，并被认为是值得通过基金会的知识分子优点和更广泛的影响评估标准通过评估来获得支持的。