Environmental change and the ecological dynamics of Great Basin small mammals over the past century: Insights from historical museum records and modern resurveys

过去一个世纪的环境变化和大盆地小型哺乳动物的生态动态：来自历史博物馆记录和现代重新调查的见解

• 批准号: 0919409
• 负责人: Eric Rickart
• 金额: $ 36.7万
• 依托单位: University of Utah
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2009
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2009-09-01 至 2013-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0919409&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Environmental; change; ecological; dynamics; Great

This project uses historical museum records and modern field surveys to assess changes in the small mammal communities of the Great Basin over the past century. Comparative "then and now" data from resurveyed historical localities, information from repeat photography, and historical and modern climate data will be used to distinguish the relative impact of human land use and climate change on Great Basin mammals. Preliminary data from the Ruby Mountains reveal major faunal changes over the past 80 years. At local sites, these include the apparent loss or gain of species or changes in species relative abundance. Some local changes are associated with altered plant communities and reflect land-use history, whereas others are likely direct responses to climate change. Local community similarity has decreased over time, and faunal changes have been most profound at lower elevations. Across elevation, distributions of some moisture-loving species have shifted upslope consistent with predicted response to climate change. In contrast, ranges of arid-adapted species have not expanded.Land use, invasive species, and climate change have altered biotic communities throughout the Great Basin, now considered one of the most threatened bioregions in North America. Understanding how species and communities respond to environmental change requires a longterm perspective. This research will develop the use of museum data to investigate faunal response to environmental change. It will generate additional data for investigating future biotic change, and to support future studies on the ecology, population genetics, and biogeography of regional mammals. Results will have direct relevance for regional land management. The project will support a post-doctoral scientist and will engage university students and volunteers in field research, museum science, and scholarship. Results will support museum programs and K-12science curricula on environmental change and the relevance of natural history collections to this important topic.

该项目利用历史博物馆记录和现代实地调查来评估过去世纪大盆地小型哺乳动物群落的变化。比较“当时和现在”的数据，从重新调查的历史地点，重复摄影的信息，以及历史和现代的气候数据将被用来区分人类土地利用和气候变化对大盆地哺乳动物的相对影响。来自红宝石山脉的初步数据显示，过去80年来动物群发生了重大变化。在当地，这些包括物种的明显损失或增加或物种相对丰度的变化。有些地方的变化与植物群落的改变有关，反映了土地使用的历史，而另一些变化则可能是对气候变化的直接反应。随着时间的推移，当地群落的相似性有所下降，动物群的变化在低海拔地区最为深刻。在整个海拔地区，一些喜湿物种的分布已经向上倾斜，与预测的气候变化反应一致。相比之下，适应干旱的物种的范围并没有扩大，土地使用，入侵物种和气候变化已经改变了整个大盆地的生物群落，现在被认为是北美最受威胁的生物区之一。了解物种和群落如何应对环境变化需要一个长期的视角。这项研究将开发利用博物馆的数据来调查动物对环境变化的反应。它将产生更多的数据，用于调查未来的生物变化，并支持未来对区域哺乳动物的生态学，种群遗传学和生物地理学的研究。其结果将直接关系到区域土地管理。该项目将支持博士后科学家，并将吸引大学生和志愿者参与实地研究，博物馆科学和奖学金。研究结果将支持博物馆计划和K-12科学课程的环境变化和自然历史收藏的相关性，这一重要的主题。