Collaborative Research: Paleoenvironmental and paleoecological responses to climate change in the Early Eocene Climatic Optimum

科学证据表明，地球的气候正在迅速变化。了解生态系统如何应对气候变化将为帮助人类适应这些变化提供关键信息。这项研究将研究古代哺乳动物群落是如何对大约5300万年前的全球变暖事件做出反应的。有关饮食、运动活动和体型的数据将从美国博物馆的化石中收集，以重建这些哺乳动物生活的生态系统。牙齿化石的化学特征将用于解释古代环境。评估这些群落在这段气候变暖期间如何应对栖息地变化，将为了解现代生态系统如何应对未来变暖提供有用的数据。该项目将包括与历史上在科学领域代表性不足的社区合作，向美洲原住民和农村社区的图书馆提供一系列关于气候变化和化石记录的书籍。该项目还包括为服务不足的高中生开发为期一年的课程，并为纽约市公立学校教师提供专业发展。这项研究将重点关注早始新世气候最佳期开始时的变暖，当时平均气温在20万至30万年的时间间隔内上升了约5°C。利用哺乳动物牙齿中的稳定碳同位素建立模型，重建古环境。古生态学解释将通过部分基于骨骼和牙齿数字化扫描的形态计量学分析来完成。化石将来自怀俄明州的两个盆地（风河和大角），以测试古生态和古环境的地理差异。将定量分析古生态和哺乳动物群落结构的变化，并与古新世-始新世边界较早的气候变暖时期的生态变化进行比较。这将测试哺乳动物对气候的反应是否以一致的、可重复的方式发生。项目外展包括与部落和农村社区的图书馆合作，提供有关气候变化的书籍和资料。它还包括为城市高中生开设的课程和为科学教师开设的专业发展课程。所有外联组成部分都基于对有效实践的研究，并纳入形成性评价反馈。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。

Scientific evidence shows that Earth’s climate is rapidly changing. Understanding how ecosystems respond to climate change will provide critical information to help human populations adjust to these changes. This study will examine how ancient mammal communities responded to an episode of global warming about fifty-three million years ago. Data about diet, locomotor activity, and body size will be gathered from fossils in U.S. museums to reconstruct the ecosystems in which these mammals lived. Chemical signatures from fossil teeth will be used to interpret ancient environments. Assessing how these communities responded to habitat change through this interval of warming climate will provide useful data for understanding how modern ecosystems may respond to future warming. This project will include collaboration with communities that have been historically underrepresented in the sciences by providing sets of books about climate change and the fossil record to libraries in Native American and rural communities. The project also includes development of a year-long course for underserved high school students and professional development for New York City public school teachers.This research will focus on warming at the onset of the Early Eocene Climatic Optimum when average temperatures increased by about 5°C over an interval of 200,000 to 300,000 years. Paleoenvironments will be reconstructed by developing a model using stable carbon isotopes in mammal teeth. Paleoecological interpretations will be made with morphometric analyses based in part on digitized scans of bones and teeth. Fossils will be sourced from two Wyoming basins (Wind River and Bighorn) to test for geographic differences in paleoecology and paleoenvironments. Changes in paleoecology and mammalian community structure will be analyzed with quantitative methods, and compared to ecological changes during an earlier interval of warming climate at the Paleocene-Eocene boundary. This will provide a test of whether mammalian response to climate occurred in a consistent, repeatable fashion. Project outreach includes collaborations with libraries in Tribal and rural communities, providing books and materials on climate change. It also includes a course for urban high school students and professional development for science teachers. All outreach components are based on research on effective practices, and incorporate formative evaluative feedback.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.