Using Leaf Architectural Data for Phenetic Ecological Comparison of Modern and Fossil Forest Stands

生态学家研究目前出现在地球上的生态系统，从这张照片中，基本上是地质时间的一个片段，他们试图解释多样性的海拔和纬度梯度以及生态系统对气候变化的反应等模式。 相比之下，古生物学家使用分辨率低得多的数据，但提供时间（历史）维度。 本提案将发展和测试一种方法，将这两个学科联合收割机结合起来，并审查森林群落分布的历史、宏观生态模式。 这项工作将提供一个现代和化石森林生态系统的植物区系的叶结构特征的基础上的生态分类。 这种方法是合理的事实，有叶性状和生态因子，如气候之间的关系，现代森林生态系统可以合理地从叶性状分类。 P.I.建议将这种方法扩展到化石组合。 一个现代和化石叶性状的大量数据集也将创建和公开提供这项工作。 这些结果将提供一种定量工具，生态学家可以通过这种工具将他们的研究置于更长的时间背景下，古生物学家可以通过这种工具开始解决他们研究中的重要生态问题。

Ecologists study ecosystems that currently appear on the planet and from this picture, essentially a single slice of geological time, they attempt to explain patterns like altitudinal and latitudinal gradients in diversity and ecosystem responses to climatic change. In contrast, paleontologists work with much lower resolution data but provide a temporal (historical) dimension. This proposal will develop and test a methodology to combine these two disciplines and examine the historical, macro-ecological patterns of forest community distribution. The proposed work would provide an ecological classification of both modern and fossil forest ecosystems based on the leaf architectural characters of the floras. This approach is justified by the fact that there is a relationship between leaf traits and ecological factors such as climate, such that modern forests ecosystems can be reasonably classified from leaf traits. The P.I.s propose to extend this approach to fossil assemblages. A substantial data set of modern and fossil leaf traits will also be created and made publicly available from this work. The results would provide a quantitative tool through which ecologists could place their research into a much longer temporal context, and through which paleontologists could begin to address significant ecological questions with their research.