NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology FY 2019: Using herbarium specimens and animal movement data to assess when animals will help plants track niches in a changing climate

这项行动资助了 2019 财年 NSF 生物学博士后研究奖学金，即利用生物收藏进行的研究。该奖学金支持特里斯坦·努涅斯研究员的研究和培训，并将以创新的方式利用生物藏品。该研究员的研究询问动物是否可以帮助植物移动以应对气候变化。植物必须遵循适合每个物种的气候条件。许多植物依赖动物为它们移动种子，但野生动物栖息地的丧失使动物更难自由移动。该研究员将使用创新的计算机模型来测试动物是否能够以正确的方向和足够快的速度传播植物，以使植物能够跟踪预期的未来气候变化。植物标本馆藏品将提供有关植物发现地点和种子生产时间的信息。在线数据库将提供有关动物运动的时间和方向的信息。这项研究将帮助科学家更好地了解生态群落的发展以及植物物种多样性和分布的格局。这项研究的地图和预测可以帮助牧场主、农民、林务人员以及土地和野生动物管理者了解气候变化可能如何改变重要植物的发现地点。这将有助于社会管理对生态和文化具有重要意义的植物物种，例如越橘和其他传统食品，并更好地了解入侵物种的传播。 该研究将评估与动物运动方向和速率以及植物种子物候相关的物种特征将调节植物范围变化的假设。北美浆果和草本植物多个属的物种分布和物候模型将允许预测当前和未来植物种子可用性的时间和分布。熊、鸟类和有蹄类动物运动的状态空间和网络流模型将描述动物种子传播相对于植物未来生态位空间的空间模式。研究结果将通过博物馆展览和平台进行交流，支持土著社区和管理者了解全球变化对传统食品、野生动物和生态系统的影响。该研究员将受到华盛顿大学野生动物生态学家 Laura Prugh 博士和植物群落生态学家 Janneke Hille Ris Lambers 博士的指导。该机会将通过扩大研究重点以包括植物与动物相互作用和物候学，以及通过开发学术和机构合作网络以及推广机会，进一步促进该研究员的学术培训。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。

This action funds an NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology for FY 2019, Research Using Biological Collections. The fellowship supports research and training of the fellow, Tristan Nunez, and will utilize biological collections in innovative ways. The fellow's research asks whether animals can help plants move in response to a changing climate. Plants have to follow the climatic conditions that are right for each species. Many plants depend on animals to move their seeds for them, but the loss of wildlife habitat has made it harder for animals to move freely. The fellow will use innovative computer models to test whether animals could disperse plants in the right direction, and quickly enough, to enable plants to track expected future changes in climate. Herbarium collections will provide information on where plants are found and the timing of seed production. Online databases will provide information on the timing and direction of animal movements. This research will help scientists better understand the development of ecological communities and patterns of plant species diversity and distribution. The maps and predictions coming from this research can help ranchers, farmers, foresters, and land and wildlife managers understand how a changing climate might alter where important plants are found. This will help society manage ecologically and culturally important plant species, such as huckleberries and other traditional foods, and also better understand the spread of invasive species. The research will assess the hypothesis that species traits related to animal movement direction and rate and plant seed phenology will mediate plant range shifts. Species distribution and phenology models for multiple North American genera of berries and forbs will allow projection of the timing and distribution of plant seed availability in the present as well as in the future. State-space and network flow models of bear, bird, and ungulate movements will describe spatial patterns of animal seed dispersal relative to the future niche spaces of plants. Findings will be communicated through a museum exhibit and on platforms supporting indigenous communities and managers in understanding the effects of global change on traditional foods, wildlife, and ecosystems. The fellow will be mentored by Dr. Laura Prugh, a wildlife ecologist, and Dr. Janneke Hille Ris Lambers, a plant community ecologist, at the University of Washington. The opportunity will further the fellow's academic training, by broadening the research focus to include plant-animal interactions and phenology, and through development of a network of academic and agency collaborations and outreach opportunities.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.