Collaborative Research: Have transantarctic dispersal corridors impacted Antarctic marine biodiversity?

合作研究：跨南极扩散走廊是否影响了南极海洋生物多样性？

• 批准号: 1916661
• 负责人: Kenneth Halanych
• 金额: $ 66.76万
• 依托单位: Auburn University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2019
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2019-09-01 至 2022-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1916661&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; transantarctic; dispersal; corridors

Antarctica is among the most rapidly warming places on the planet, and some reports suggest the Antarctic environment is approaching, or possibly beyond, the tipping point for ice shelf collapse. The loss of ice around Antarctica is dramatically changing habitat availability for marine fauna, particularly benthic marine invertebrate species. Building on past studies, this research will provide insights into how changing climate impacts species distribution and community structure. Geological data suggests that during periods when ice extent was much reduced relative to modern levels, marine seaways connected the Ross and Weddell Seas on either side of Antarctica. However, most theories about the origins of current marine invertebrate distribution patterns fail to consider this transantarctic connection. This research will use molecular genomic tools to probe the DNA of Antarctic marine invertebrates and explore alternative hypotheses about factors that may have shaped current patterns of animal biodiversity in the Southern Ocean. Research will inform predictions about how species distributions may change as Antarctic ice sheets continue to deteriorate and provide critical information on how organisms adjust their ranges in response to environmental change. This work includes several specific outreach activities including presentations in K-8 classrooms, several short-format videos on Antarctic genomics and field work, and two 3-day workshops on bioinformatics approaches. A minimum of 4 graduate students, a postdoc and several undergraduates will also be trained during this project.The overarching goal of this research is to understand environmental factors that have shaped patterns of present-day diversity in Antarctic benthic marine invertebrates. Evidence from sediment cores and modeling suggests ice shelf collapses have occurred multiple times in the last few million years. During these periods, transantarctic seaways connected the Ross and Weddell Seas. This research will assess whether the presence of transantarctic waterways helps explain observed similarities between the Ross and Weddell Seas benthic marine invertebrate fauna better than other current hypotheses (e.g., dispersal by the Antarctic Circumpolar Current, or expansion from common glacial refugia). Seven Antarctic benthic invertebrate taxa will be targeted to test alternative hypothesis about the origins of population genetic structure in the Southern Ocean using Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNP) markers that sample thousands of loci across the genome. Additionally, research will test the current paradigm that divergence between closely related, often cryptic, species is the result of population bottlenecks caused by glaciation. Specifically, SNP data will be mapped on to draft genomes of three of our target taxa to assess the degree of genetic divergence and look for signs of selection. Research findings may be applicable to other marine ecosystems around the planet.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.

南极洲是地球上变暖最快的地方之一，一些报告表明，南极环境正在接近或可能超过冰架崩溃的临界点。南极洲周围冰层的消失正在极大地改变海洋动物的栖息地，特别是底栖海洋无脊椎动物物种。在过去研究的基础上，这项研究将对气候变化如何影响物种分布和群落结构提供见解。地质数据表明，在冰范围相对于现代水平大大缩小的时期，海洋航道连接了南极洲两侧的罗斯海和韦德尔海。然而，大多数关于当前海洋无脊椎动物分布模式起源的理论都没有考虑到这种横跨北极的联系。这项研究将使用分子基因组工具来探测南极海洋无脊椎动物的DNA，并探索关于可能影响南大洋动物生物多样性当前格局的因素的替代假设。研究将提供有关随着南极冰盖继续恶化物种分布可能如何变化的预测，并提供有关生物如何调整其活动范围以应对环境变化的关键信息。这项工作包括几项具体的外联活动，包括在K-8课堂上的介绍，关于南极基因组学和实地工作的几个短格式视频，以及关于生物信息学方法的两个为期3天的讲习班。至少4名研究生、一名博士后和几名本科生也将在这个项目中接受培训。这项研究的首要目标是了解影响南极底栖海洋无脊椎动物现今多样性格局的环境因素。来自沉积物岩心和模型的证据表明，在过去的几百万年里，冰架坍塌已经发生过多次。在这些时期，横贯北极的航道连接了罗斯海和韦德尔海。这项研究将评估横贯北极水道的存在是否有助于更好地解释观察到的罗斯海和韦德尔海海底无脊椎动物动物群之间的相似之处，而不是目前的其他假说(例如，南极绕极洋流的扩散，或普通冰川避难所的扩张)。七个南极底栖无脊椎动物分类群将被瞄准，以测试关于南大洋种群遗传结构起源的替代假说，使用单核苷酸多态(SNP)标记对基因组中的数千个基因座进行采样。此外，研究将测试目前的范式，即密切相关的物种之间的分歧是冰川造成的种群瓶颈的结果。具体地说，SNP数据将被映射到我们的三个目标分类群的基因组草图上，以评估遗传分化的程度并寻找选择的迹象。研究成果可能适用于地球周围的其他海洋生态系统。这一奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。