Collaborative Research: Understanding Temporal Variation in Primate Communities: Integrating Data from Extant and Fossil Species

物种在全球的分布受多种因素的影响，包括气候、栖息地、进化史以及与其他生物的相互作用。物种分布的研究主要集中在现代气候变化和物种分布上。在这个项目中，古生物学和现代生态学数据的新组合将用于研究过去的气候模式和哺乳动物之间的竞争如何对当前灵长类动物的生物多样性做出贡献。随着栖息地的丧失和破碎化在世界范围内的发生，研究决定灵长类生物多样性的因素对保护管理和保持热带森林生态系统的完整性具有重要意义。更好地了解灵长类动物的分布如何随时间和环境变化而变化，将为预测未来气候和栖息地变化的灵长类动物范围和群落结构的变化提供模型。该项目将包括开发一个数据库和基于网络的科学教育资源，以及在STEM领域培训传统上代表性不足的人群的学生。学生将获得数据管理和分析方面的重要技能，这些技能随后可用于各种未来的职业道路。该项目旨在研究灵长类群落的系统发育和性状结构在时空上的变化，以及导致灵长类物种分布和适应变化的非生物和生物因素。该项目是独一无二的，因为化石物种的位置和特征将与现有群落数据相结合，用于宏观生态和进化分析。解决的一些问题将是：在相似的环境中发现的社区，但在不同的大陆，聚合在相同的结构上吗？中新世到现在的气候模式会影响灵长类动物群落结构吗？作为灵长类动物潜在竞争对手的非灵长类哺乳动物的存在和多样性是否会影响灵长类动物的群落结构？灵长类动物化石群落的特征和系统发育结构是否可以用气候特征来预测？在这个项目中提出的研究将解决的主题是理解灵长类动物和其他哺乳动物的现代和过去的分布和共存的核心。使用群落水平的方法对于理解物种如何相互作用以影响彼此的行为、生态和形态的进化是必不可少的。更好地了解灵长类动物群落如何随时间和环境变化而变化，将为预测与气候和栖息地变化有关的灵长类动物分布和群落结构的未来变化提供模型。

The distribution of species across the globe is influenced by several factors including climate, habitat, evolutionary history, and interactions with other organisms. Research on species distribution has primarily focused on modern climate variation and species distributions. In this project, a novel combination of paleontological and modern ecological data will be used to examine how past climate patterns and competition among mammals have contributed to current primate biodiversity. As habitat loss and fragmentation are occurring worldwide, research investigating the factors determining primate biodiversity has implications for conservation management and maintaining the integrity of tropical forest ecosystems. Obtaining a better understanding of how primate distributions change through time and in response to changing environments will inform models for predicting shifts in primate ranges and community structure for future climates and habitat changes. The project will include the development of a database and web-based science education resources, and training of students from traditionally under-represented populations in the STEM fields. Students will gain important skills in data management and analyses that can subsequently be used in a wide variety of future career paths. The project seeks to examine primate community phylogenetic and trait structure across space and through time with abiotic and biotic factors suggested to cause the changing distributions and adaptations of primate species. The project is unique because fossil species locations and traits will be integrated with extant community data for macro-ecological and evolutionary analyses. Some of the questions addressed will be: Do communities found in similar environments, but on different continents, converge on the same structures? Do climate patterns from the Miocene through the present influence primate community structure? Do the presence and diversity of non-primate mammals that are potential primate competitors impact primate community structure? Are trait and phylogenetic structures of fossil primate communities predicted by climatic characteristics? The research proposed in this project will address topics that are central to understanding the modern and past distribution and coexistence of primates and other mammals. Using a community-level approach is essential for understanding how species interact to impact the evolution of each other's behavior, ecology, and morphology. Obtaining a better understanding of how primate communities change through time and in response to changing environments will inform models for predicting future shifts in primate distributions and community structure related to climate and habitat change.