The Influence of Late Quaternary Climate Change on the Ecology and Evolutionary Dynamics of Small Mammalian Herbivores

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0212370SmithThis research investigates the evolutionary response of woodrats totemperature change over the late Quaternary. The project involves work at cave sites in the southwestern United States, using fossilized woodrat middens or debrispiles. Middens consist of plant fragments, fecal pellets and othermaterials embedded in crystalized urine ("amberat"); when sheltered incaves they persist for thousands of years. Measurements of radiocarbon-datedfecal pellets are used to estimate body size; for most mammals, size is sensitive toenvironmental temperature. Over the next year, we will investigate anumber of potentially problematic sampling and statistical dimensions ofour study system, including conducting studies with modern animals toexamine midden deposition and composition.Organisms may respond to anthropogenic climate change by adapting or goinglocally extinct. However, the timing, magnitude and nature of suchresponses remains unclear. The past ten thousand years are arguably thebest proxy we have for understanding the likely effects of anthropogenicclimate change. By examining different species of small rodents atdifferent locations within their range over the late Quaternary, andestimating the thermal thresholds at which different types of evolutionaryresponses occur, we may be able to better understand how future climatechange will impact mammalian populations.