RUI: Comparing Age Selectivity in Modern Extinctions and the Fossil Record

RUI：比较现代灭绝的年龄选择性和化石记录

• 批准号: 1760634
• 负责人: Steve Wang
• 金额: $ 5.41万
• 依托单位: Swarthmore College
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2018
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2018-04-15 至 2024-09-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1760634&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: RUI; Comparing; Age; Selectivity; Modern

The Earth may be entering a modern extinction, on par with mass extinctions known from the geologic past. It appears that many long-lived groups are becoming threatened, even ones that have survived for millions of years. This is in contrast to the findings of previous studies of the fossil record, which have shown that older groups were generally less likely to go extinct. The only exception to this pattern is during periods of mass extinction. This project will compare modern and ancient extinctions to better understand extinction risk and threats to current biodiversity. The project also will provide research experience for undergraduate students and contribute to an outreach program for underserved middle school students.Previous studies have compared the magnitude or rate of modern biodiversity loss with those of ancient mass extinctions. To improve our understanding of modern extinctions, this project will compare extinction selectivity with respect to genus age in modern and fossil classes. Extinction risk will be assessed at the generic level using the IUCN Red List for modern classes, and using the Paleobiology Database for fossil classes. Ages of both modern and fossil genera will be determined from the Paleobiology Database. The relationship between extinction risk and genus age will be quantified and provide a basis for comparing modern extinctions with those in the fossil record.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

地球可能正在进入现代灭绝，与地质历史上已知的大规模灭绝不相上下。看来许多长寿的群体正在受到威胁，甚至是那些已经生存了数百万年的群体。这与之前化石记录研究的结果形成鲜明对比，后者表明较古老的群体灭绝的可能性通常较小。这种模式的唯一例外是在大规模灭绝期间。该项目将比较现代和古代的灭绝事件，以更好地了解灭绝风险和对当前生物多样性的威胁。该项目还将为本科生提供研究经验，并为服务不足的中学生的外展计划做出贡献。之前的研究已将现代生物多样性丧失的程度或速度与古代大规模灭绝的程度或速度进行了比较。为了提高我们对现代灭绝的理解，该项目将比较现代和化石类中属年龄的灭绝选择性。将使用国际自然保护联盟红色名录（针对现代类别）和古生物学数据库（针对化石类别）在一般层面上评估灭绝风险。现代属和化石属的年龄将根据古生物学数据库确定。灭绝风险与属年龄之间的关系将被量化，并为将现代灭绝与化石记录中的灭绝进行比较提供基础。该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。