Evolution and climate change: elucidating the controls on species' responses to 4 Myrs of environmental change in the Atlantic Coastal Plain, USA

Erin E. Saupe已获得NSF博士后奖学金，在牛津大学，耶鲁大学和密歇根大学开展研究和教育计划。这项研究将研究在过去的400万年在大西洋沿岸平原，美国海洋软体动物物种和社区的长期进化对环境变化的反应。分析将结合古生物学和现代生物学数据与古气候信息，以检验两个假设：（1）300万年前之后的温度变化是否产生了大西洋沿岸平原软体动物化石记录中观察到的生物更替模式;以及（2）物种是否在更接近其适宜环境条件中心的区域表现出增加的遗传多样性，以及数百万年来适合这些物种生存的地区。Saupe博士将从事高中和本科学生的研究。Saupe博士还将为耶鲁皮博迪博物馆设计一个关于她研究的在线教育展览，该展览将在国际上展出。大西洋沿岸平原的软体动物提供了一个理想的系统来研究物种如何对环境变化作出反应。该地区拥有丰富的化石和现代软体动物记录，在过去的300万年里经历了重大的环境干扰。Saupe博士将使用生态位建模和地理信息系统软件研究不同的软体动物物种，以量化环境耐受性（即，生态位宽度）。遗传多样性将使用下一代DNA测序进行测量。了解对物种对环境变化的反应的控制将为保护重要的海洋资源提供信息。

Dr. Erin E. Saupe has been granted an NSF EAR Postdoctoral Fellowship to carry out research and education plans at University of Oxford, Yale University, and the University of Michigan. This study will examine long-term evolutionary responses of marine mollusk species and communities to environmental changes during the last 4 million years in the Atlantic Coastal Plain, USA. Analyses will integrate paleontological and modern biological data with paleoclimate information to test two hypotheses: (1) Whether temperature changes after 3.0 Million years ago generated observed patterns of biotic turnover in the molluscan fossil record of the Atlantic Coastal Plain; and (2) Whether species exhibit increased genetic diversity in regions that are closer to the centroid of their suitable environmental conditions, and in regions that were environmentally suitable for those species over millions of years. Dr. Saupe will engage high school and undergraduate students in research. Dr. Saupe will also design an online educational exhibit on her research for the Yale Peabody Museum, which will be visible internationally. Mollusks of the Atlantic Coastal Plain provide an ideal system to examine how species respond to environmental changes. The region has abundant records of both fossil and modern mollusks and has experienced significant environmental disturbance in the last 3 million years. Dr. Saupe will study different mollusks species using ecological niche modeling and geographic information systems software to quantify environmental tolerances (i.e., niche breadth). Genetic diversity will be measured using next generation DNA sequencing. An understanding of the controls on species' responses to environmental change will inform the protection of critical ocean resources.