Collaborative Research: Addressing knowledge and capacity shortfalls to advance conservation science and action for native Hawaiian land flora and fauna

合作研究：解决知识和能力不足的问题，以推进夏威夷本土动植物群的保护科学和行动

• 批准号: 2301564
• 负责人: Kenneth Hayes
• 金额: $ 22.07万
• 依托单位: Bernice P Bishop Museum
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2023-05-01 至 2026-04-30
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2301564&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; Addressing; knowledge; capacity

On average, an estimated 200 species of plants and animals go extinct each day because of habitat destruction, overexploitation, invasive species, disease, and climate change. Many of these species existed long before humans. They evolved to fill critical roles in ecosystems on which humanity relies for food, clean air, clean water, fertile soils, and a host of other services that make life possible and comfortable on this planet. For decades conservation efforts have focused primarily on saving select species. Unfortunately, such approaches do not encompass the bulk of biodiversity or the more complex interactions among species. These approaches leave gaps in scientific understanding of ecosystem level processes and interactions needed to implement effective conservation actions. This is especially evident for high diversity but poorly studied groups like snails, which account for the highest number of recorded extinctions in human history. Hawaiian Island land snails include some of the most diverse groups of snails on the planet. They are also among the most heavily impacted by extinction, with more than half of the more than 750 known species already lost. Saving the remaining species and restoring these jewels of the Hawaiian forests requires knowledge of species interactions and their ecological requirements. Understanding why land snails live where they do, what they feed on, and what their other habitat requirements are is critical to successful captive rearing of the remaining species and to returning them to the wild in protected and restored habitats. In addition, this project will help fill the human resource capacity shortfall by providing conservation experiences and broadening participation of groups underrepresented in science and conservation specifically. Students and researchers will engage and contribute to a broader understanding of ecology, applied conservation, and the biology of lesser-known groups like snails. At a deeper community level, this will expand knowledge and engagement with indigenous practices and ways of understanding. Hawaiian land snails hold deep cultural presence and Hawaiians hold generations of natural history insights about the natural world. This project will help bridge biocultural land snail knowledge with physical objects, natural history data, and genomics. Collectively, this will increase stewardship and sustainability of environmental resources, support conservation management efforts through indigenous value systems, and instill appreciation and protection of our precious resources for generations. Researchers will incorporate studies in microbial genomics, field ecology, and captive rearing diets that address the most urgent knowledge gaps in Hawaiian land snail ecology. By examining resource preferences and feeding ecology of Hawaiian lands snails this project will 1) determine snail feeding preferences on bacteria and fungi that grow on their native host plants; 2) characterize the microbial communities that likely form key components of snail diets; and 3) identify preferred plants and microbial communities that improve snail survivorship and breeding in captivity. The data gathered will be used to expand captive rearing capacity, restore degraded habitats with preferred plant resources, and build long term capacity for effective land snail conservation in Hawaii. Knowing which microbial assemblages enhance snail survivorship, growth, and fecundity will provide conservationists with a powerful tool to assess quality of snail habitat. It will also enable restoration practitioners to create habitats to support extant populations in the wild.This project is being supported via a joint program involving the Divisions of Environmental Biology and Integrative Organismal Systems and the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation.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.

据估计，平均每天有200种动植物因栖息地破坏、过度开发、入侵物种、疾病和气候变化而灭绝。这些物种中的许多在人类之前就存在了。它们进化到在生态系统中扮演关键角色，人类依赖这些生态系统来获得食物、清洁空气、清洁水、肥沃土壤以及其他一系列服务，这些服务使地球上的生活变得可能和舒适。几十年来，保护工作主要集中在拯救选定的物种上。不幸的是，这些方法并不包括生物多样性的大部分或物种之间更复杂的相互作用。这些方法在对生态系统一级进程和实施有效保护行动所需的相互作用的科学理解方面留下了空白。这一点在物种多样性高但研究不足的群体中尤其明显，比如蜗牛，它们是人类历史上记录最多的物种。夏威夷岛的陆生蜗牛是地球上最多样化的蜗牛群体之一。它们也是受灭绝影响最严重的地区之一，750多个已知物种中有一半以上已经消失。拯救剩余的物种和恢复这些夏威夷森林的宝石需要物种相互作用及其生态要求的知识。了解为什么陆生蜗牛生活在它们所生活的地方，它们以什么为食，以及它们的其他栖息地要求是什么，对于成功圈养剩余物种并将它们送回受保护和恢复的栖息地至关重要。此外，该项目将通过提供保护经验和扩大在科学和保护领域代表性不足的群体的参与，帮助填补人力资源能力的不足。学生和研究人员将参与并有助于更广泛地了解生态学，应用保护以及蜗牛等鲜为人知的群体的生物学。在更深的社区一级，这将扩大对土著做法和理解方式的了解和参与。夏威夷陆蜗牛有着深厚的文化底蕴，夏威夷人对自然世界有着几代人的自然历史见解。该项目将有助于将生物培养的陆生蜗牛知识与实物、自然历史数据和基因组学联系起来。总的来说，这将提高环境资源的管理和可持续性，通过土著价值体系支持保护管理工作，并为后代灌输对我们宝贵资源的欣赏和保护。研究人员将结合微生物基因组学，野外生态学和圈养饲养饮食的研究，以解决夏威夷陆地蜗牛生态学中最紧迫的知识空白。通过研究夏威夷土地蜗牛的资源偏好和摄食生态，该项目将1）确定蜗牛对生长在其原生宿主植物上的细菌和真菌的摄食偏好; 2）表征可能形成蜗牛饮食关键成分的微生物群落; 3）确定改善蜗牛生存和繁殖的首选植物和微生物群落。收集的数据将用于扩大圈养饲养能力，恢复退化的栖息地与首选的植物资源，并建立长期有效的土地蜗牛保护能力在夏威夷。了解哪些微生物组合提高蜗牛的生存，生长和繁殖力将提供一个强大的工具来评估蜗牛栖息地的质量。它也将使恢复从业者创造栖息地，以支持现存的种群在野外。艾伦家庭基金会。该奖项反映了NSF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。