RUI: Paleobiology of the Eocene Giraffe Fossil Locality: Response of an Arctic Ecosystem to a Greenhouse Climate

全球变暖正在以前所未有的速度进行，最终将导致全世界生态系统的大规模重组，对高纬度地区的影响更大，气候模式也会发生变化。这些北方生态系统的反应可能是不同的：一些生物可能会消失，一些生物可能会蓬勃发展，还有一些生物会迁徙到这些北极地区。尽管由于缺乏现代的类比，这些问题的答案在很大程度上是未知的，但潜在的答案隐藏在地球被温室世界吞没时存在的生态系统的化石记录中。长颈鹿烟斗是最著名的地质学上类似于北极湖的东西，它生活在温暖的气候下。该项目的主要目标将是利用微化石遗骸重建这个北极湖生态系统的演化。本科生将参与这项研究，一名高中教师将接受方法培训，并将与康涅狄格州图书馆联盟共同开发一个供公众使用的互动演示文稿。这项研究将开发一套新的代理人，包括单个微化石类群和整个生态系统的属性；然后将用于重建长颈鹿水体的个体发育。生物组织的变化、化学条件的变化和物理环境的改变将通过同时进行的花粉分析来解决，并与区域气候相结合。这些发现还将记录那些非常成功地在温暖的水域栖息地殖民，同时能够在漫长、黑暗和温和的北极冬季生存的生物之间的联系。此外，这项工作将记录许多新的化石物种，有助于研究较少的生物的进化史，并记录微生物在不断变化的环境条件下的迁移能力和生存策略。总而言之，长颈鹿的所在地代表着一个无与伦比的机会，可以在温暖的温室世界中研究北极湖生态系统和居住在其中的众多生物。

Global warming is proceeding at an unprecedented rate and one that will ultimately result in large-scale reorganizations of ecosystems worldwide with greater impacts at high latitudes and with shifts in climate patterns. Responses of these northern ecosystems could be varied: some organisms may disappear, some may thrive, and still others migrate to these Arctic regions. Although the answers to these questions are largely unknown due to the lack of modern analogs, potential answers lie buried in the fossil record of ecosystems that existed when the Earth was engulfed in a greenhouse world. Giraffe Pipe is the best known geologic analog of an Arctic lake that existed under a warm climate. The main objective of this project will be to utilize the microfossil remains to reconstruct the evolution of this Arctic lake ecosystem. Undergraduate students will be involved in the research, a high school teacher will be trained in methods, and an interactive presentation will be developed with the Connecticut Library Consortium for public use.The study will develop a novel suite of proxies that incorporate attributes of individual microfossil taxa and whole ecosystems; there will then be used to reconstruct the ontogeny of the Giraffe waterbody. Shifts in biological organizations, changes in chemical conditions, and modifications of the physical setting will be resolved and coupled with regional climate through concurrent pollen analyses. The findings will also document associations of organisms that were highly successful at colonizing warm water habitats and simultaneously able to survive long, dark, and mild Arctic winters. Further, the work will result in documentation of numerous new fossil species, contribute to the evolutionary histories of poorly studied organisms, and document the migration capabilities and survival strategies of microbes under changing environmental conditions. In summary, the Giraffe locality represents an unparalleled opportunity to examine an Arctic lake ecosystem and the numerous organisms that inhabited it, under a warm greenhouse world.