Late Cenozoic dynamics of the latitudinal biodiversity gradient: Regional extinction, range expansion, and biological attributes

地球上最戏剧性的生物模式--从极地到热带的物种和主要群体日益多样化的梯度--已经有了很好的记录，但产生和维持这种模式的过程仍然知之甚少。了解纬度多样性梯度背后的因素，对于更严格地了解生物多样性的动态，以及更好地管理海洋生物多样性，以预测物种对未来全球变化的反应，是至关重要的。为了研究这些过程，这项研究将清点具有生态和经济重要性的海洋双壳类物种过去和现在的空间分布，这是一个理想的目标，因为它们出色的化石记录可以跟踪谱系的起源、传播和范围收缩，以应对过去的全球变化。可能影响当今多样性梯度的因素，如环境变化的速度和物种本身的特征，如食物来源和身体大小，将通过综合博物馆收藏品和出版的记录进行评估。这项工作将为公共古生物学数据库贡献大量数据，支持本科生和博士后学者的培训，并产生在线教育资源，包括由研究得出的高中教学模块。

The most dramatic biological pattern on Earth, the gradient of increasing diversity of species and major groups from the poles to the tropics, is well-documented but the processes generating and maintaining this pattern remains poorly understood. Understanding the factors behind the latitudinal diversity gradient is crucial for developing a more rigorous picture of the dynamics of biodiversity, and for better management of marine biodiversity informed by history to predict species' responses to future global changes. To investigate those processes, this research will inventory the past and present spatial distributions of species in an ecologically and economically important group, the marine bivalves, an ideal target because their excellent fossil record can track the origin, spread, and range-contraction of lineages in response to past episodes of global change. Factors potentially shaping the present-day diversity gradient, such as the rate of environmental change and features of the species themselves, such as food source and body size, will be evaluated by synthesizing museum collections and published records. The work will contribute a large block of data to the public Paleobiology Database, support training of undergraduates and a postdoctoral scholar, and produce on-line educational resources, including a high-school teaching module derived from the research.