Collaborative Research: Integrative ecological perspectives on extinction processes - a multi-proxy case study of Hispaniolan subfossil and extant rodents

这个项目将遗传学、解剖学和生态学方面的研究人员和教育工作者聚集在一起，探索导致伊斯帕尼奥拉岛上特有啮齿动物最近灭绝的因素。伊斯帕尼奥拉岛的啮齿动物为研究岛屿灭绝事件的触发因素和时间轴提供了一个特殊的案例研究。生物多样性丧失是一个全球关注的问题，在过去500年里，超过70%的哺乳动物灭绝发生在岛屿上。加勒比地区遭受了世界上任何地区最严重的物种损失。该项目产生的化石数据有可能通过阐明导致灭绝事件的主要因素来为保护政策做出贡献，并将有助于了解其他岛屿上物种的消失。该项目将通过向包括加勒比和加勒比裔美国本科生在内的多个层次的青年科学家提供指导，以及为K-12学生开发教学模块，为教育做出贡献。最后，一个灭绝的伊斯帕尼奥拉哺乳动物数据库将为海地和美国的公众提供更好的科学信息。该项目将使用形态计量学、稳定同位素生态学和古代DNA来(1)确定伊斯帕尼奥拉岛灭绝的特有啮齿动物之间的生态关系，(2)确定物种消失的时间，(3)解决灭绝类群之间的系统发育关系，以及(4)澄清灭绝诱因。研究小组将依靠先前从海地西南部蒂布隆半岛的三个古生物学丰富的洞穴中收集的化石材料。生成的数据将使我们对人类行为、气候和个体物种特征（如体型、栖息地、遗传多样性）在伊斯帕尼奥拉岛物种灭绝中所起的作用有更细致的了解。保护生物学家可以利用所产生的数据，为旨在保护伊斯帕尼奥拉岛和更广泛的岛屿系统上剩余的生物多样性的保护政策提供信息。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识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 project brings together researchers and educators specializing in genetics, anatomy, and ecology to explore the factors that led to the recent extinction of endemic rodents on Hispaniola. Hispaniolan rodents provide an exceptional case study for examining the triggers and timeline of island extinction events. Biodiversity loss is a global concern, and over 70% of mammalian extinctions in the last 500 years have occurred on islands. The Caribbean has suffered the greatest species loss of any region in the world. Fossil data generated from this project have the potential to contribute to conservation policy by clarifying which factors most contributed to extinction events, and will be helpful for understanding the disappearance of species on other islands. This project will contribute to education by providing mentorship to young scientists at multiple levels, including Caribbean and Caribbean-American undergraduates and by developing teaching modules for K-12 students. Finally, a database of extinct Hispaniolan mammals will provide better public access to scientific information both in Haiti and the USA. This project will use morphometrics, stable isotope ecology, and ancient DNA to (1) identify the ecological relationships among Hispaniola’s extinct endemic rodents, (2) determine the timing of species loss, (3) resolve phylogenetic relationships among extinct taxa, and (4) clarify extinction triggers. The research team will rely on previously collected fossil material from three paleontologically-rich caves on the Tiburon Peninsula in southwestern Haiti. The data generated will allow a more nuanced understanding of the roles that human behavior, climate, and individual species characteristics (e.g., body size, habitat, genetic diversity) have played in extinctions on Hispaniola. The data generated can be leveraged by conservation biologists to inform conservation policy aimed at preserving the remaining biological diversity on Hispaniola and in island systems more generally.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.