RCN: Ecological and Evolutionary Effects of Extinction and Ecosystem Engineers (E6)

RCN：灭绝和生态系统工程师的生态和进化效应（E6）

• 批准号: 2051255
• 负责人: Sara Lyons
• 金额: $ 50.01万
• 依托单位: University of Nebraska-Lincoln
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2021
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2021-09-01 至 2026-08-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2051255&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: RCN; Ecological; Evolutionary; Effects; Extinction

Ecosystem engineers are organisms that change the environment in which they live, and can create or eliminate habitats for other taxa. Ecosystem engineers therefore can be important drivers of local and regional diversity. Our own species – humans – offer a powerful example. Humans have adopted behaviors that have created, modified, and/or destroyed habitats used by a wide variety of animals and plants. The effects of these activities are leading to dramatic changes in the structure and function of ecosystems, and the current global biodiversity crisis that has been termed the ‘6th mass extinction’. Thus, some consequences of human activities are comparable to the environmental perturbations associated with mass extinctions, whereas others may be creating new ecological opportunities. A key question is therefore: what effect will human ecosystem engineering behaviors have as we continue to modify the global environment? This Research Coordination Network will bring together ecologists and paleontologists to synthesize information on the effects of ecosystem engineers in different kinds of biological systems at different times to develop predictive models for how human activity is expected to affect ecosystems. The researchers will also conduct outreach activities designed to increase diversity in STEM fields using partnerships with local community colleges, an undergraduate course taught concurrently at member institutions, and a conference workshop.The key to predicting the effects our activities may lie in the past. Although humans are among the most recently emerged ecosystem engineers with powerful effects, they are not the first. The evolution of biological groups such as oxygenic photosynthesizing cyanobacteria, marine animals capable of burrowing beneath the sediment surface, a wide variety of reef-building organisms and land plants are all thought to have had dramatic effects on global biodiversity. This Research Coordination Network will synthesize existing data across nearly 600 million years of evolutionary history to address the questions: 1) to what extent are the effects of new ecosystem engineers on communities predictable? And, 2) to what extent do we expect humans to continue to drive the 6th mass extinction, and/or create new ecological and evolutionary opportunities? The E6 RCN will unite scientists from the fields of paleobiology, geology, ecology, statistics, conservation, and phylogenetics to contrast the ecological and evolutionary consequences of ecosystem engineers. Activities will include twice yearly workshops and training of graduate students, postdocs, and faculty. In partnership with the University of California Museum of Paleontology, researchers will develop and run a paleobotany and paleoclimatology lab for Bay Area community college students. An interdisciplinary course on Extinction and Ecosystem engineers will be taught concurrently at participant institutions, and a workshop on approaches for studying ecosystem engineers and community ecology at large spatial and temporal scales will be developed for national and international conferences.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.

生态系统工程师是改变其生存环境的生物，可以为其他类群创造或消除栖息地。因此，生态系统工程师可以成为当地和区域多样性的重要驱动力。我们自己的物种--人类--提供了一个强有力的例子。人类已经采取了创造、改变和/或破坏各种动植物栖息地的行为。这些活动的影响正在导致生态系统的结构和功能发生巨大变化，目前的全球生物多样性危机被称为“第六次大规模灭绝”。因此，人类活动的某些后果可与大规模灭绝所造成的环境扰动相媲美，而另一些后果则可能创造新的生态机会。因此，一个关键问题是：随着我们继续改变全球环境，人类生态系统工程行为将产生什么影响？该研究协调网络将汇集生态学家和古生物学家，综合关于生态系统工程师在不同时间对不同类型生物系统的影响的信息，以开发人类活动预计如何影响生态系统的预测模型。研究人员还将通过与当地社区大学的合作、在成员机构同时教授的本科课程以及会议研讨会，开展旨在增加STEM领域多样性的外展活动。预测我们活动可能产生的影响的关键在于过去。虽然人类是最近出现的具有强大影响力的生态系统工程师之一，但他们并不是第一个。生物群体的进化，如产氧光合作用的蓝细菌、能够在沉积物表面下挖洞的海洋动物、各种各样的造礁生物和陆地植物，都被认为对全球生物多样性产生了巨大影响。该研究协调网络将综合近6亿年进化历史的现有数据，以解决以下问题：1）新生态系统工程师对社区的影响在多大程度上是可预测的？以及，2）我们预计人类将在多大程度上继续推动第六次大灭绝，和/或创造新的生态和进化机会？E6 RCN将联合来自古生物学，地质学，生态学，统计学，保护和生物遗传学领域的科学家，以对比生态系统工程师的生态和进化后果。活动将包括每年两次的研讨会和研究生，博士后和教师的培训。研究人员将与加州大学古生物学博物馆合作，为湾区社区大学的学生开发和运行一个古植物学和古气候学实验室。一个关于灭绝和生态系统工程师的跨学科课程将在参与机构同时教授，该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过利用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查进行评估，被认为值得支持的搜索.

项目成果

Ediacaran–Cambrian bioturbation did not extensively oxygenate sediments in shallow marine ecosystems

• DOI: 10.1111/gbi.12550
• 发表时间: 2023-02
• 期刊: Geobiology
• 影响因子: 3.7
• 作者: Alison T. Cribb;S. J. van de Velde;W. Berelson;D. Bottjer;F. Corsetti

After the mammoths: the ecological legacy of late Pleistocene megafauna extinctions

• DOI: 10.1017/ext.2023.6
• 发表时间: 2023-02
• 期刊: Cambridge Prisms: Extinction
• 作者: F. Smith;Emma A. Elliott Smith;C. Hedberg;S. K. Lyons;M. Pardi;Catalina P. Tomé

Causes and consequences of end-Ediacaran extinction – an update

• DOI: 10.1017/ext.2023.12
• 发表时间: 2023-05
• 期刊: Cambridge Prisms: Extinction
• 作者: S. Darroch;E. F. Smith;L. Nelson;M. Craffey;J. Schiffbauer;M. Laflamme