The Paleoecology and Evolution of White Sharks: An Isotopic Study

保罗·科赫加州大学圣克鲁斯分校白鲨的古生态学和进化：同位素研究这是一项利用稳定同位素分析对现代和古代鲨鱼生态学的研究，它允许对生态系统中的模式和过程进行量化。虽然同位素系统学尚未在鲨鱼中得到广泛研究，但基于同位素方法在其他脊椎动物生态学和古生态学研究中的广泛应用，我们希望我们的方法能够拓宽我们对鲨鱼生态学的理解。为了为现代和古生物学研究奠定基础，我们将分析最近结束的控制喂养研究的样本，其中也包括钙化结构。我们的喂养研究所建立的解释性框架将使我们能够评估加利福尼亚海岸附近现代白鲨的饮食和栖息地偏好。我们将对从20世纪中后期收集的白鲨脊椎骨的年生长带进行分采样。我们的研究应该揭示个体的成长和季节变化。以及自20世纪70年代以来与海洋哺乳动物数量增加有关的可能的生态变化。我们以现代和古代大白鲨为主题的项目将有助于解决关键的生态问题，这些问题很难用其他工具来回答。我们过去的工作对我们对现代物种的生态学和保护生物学的理解产生了实际影响。这项工作为现代生态学带来了一套新的工具，它可以为现代生态系统的研究提供一个重要的历史背景。该项目将有助于UCSC研究生和本科生的教育。它将支持一名博士后研究员的指导。它将培养一名博士生。我们希望本科生围绕这项研究开发毕业论文项目。我们将探索开发一门关于历史海洋生态学的新课程，利用这一建议和先前对海豹、秃鹰和其他分类群的研究的信息。我们的研究结果也将为佛罗里达自然历史博物馆鱼类学部门的一个新的鲨鱼化石网站做出贡献。这些外展场所将允许教育工作者、青年和公众探索古代和现代的鲨鱼生态。

Paul Koch The University of California-Santa CruzThe Paleoecology and Evolution of White Sharks: An Isotopic StudyThis is a study of modern and ancient shark ecology using stable isotope analysis, which permits the quantification of patterns and processes in ecological systems. While isotope systematics have not been studied extensively in sharks, based on the wide utility of isotopic methods in studies of the ecology and paleoecology of other vertebrates, we hope that our approach will broaden our understanding of shark ecology. To lay the foundation for both modern and paleontological research, we will analyze samples from a recently concluded controlled feeding study, which also included calcified structures. The interpretative framework set by our feeding study will allow us to assess the dietary and habitat preferences of modern white sharks off the California coast. We will sub-sample annual growth bands in the vertebrae of white sharks collected from the mid-to-late 20th century. Our study should reveal growth and seasonal shifts within an individual?s lifetime, as well as possible ecological changes associated with the increase in the marine mammal populations since the 1970s. Our project featuring modern and ancient white sharks will contribute to critical ecological questions, which are difficult to answer with other tools. Our past work have had practical impacts for our understanding of the ecology and conservation biology of modern species. This work has brought a new set of tools to modern ecology and it can offer an essential historical context for the study of modern ecosystems. This project will contribute to the education of UCSC graduate and undergraduate students. It will support the mentoring of a post-doctoral researcher. It will train a Ph.D. student. We expect undergraduate students to develop senior thesis projects around this study. We will explore developing a new course on historical marine ecology, using information from this proposal and prior studies of seals, condors, and other taxa. Our results will also contribute to a new fossil shark website associated with the Florida Natural History Museums Ichthyology Department. These outreach venues will allow educators, youth, and the general public to explore ancient and modern shark ecology.