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.

由于栖息地遭到破坏、过度开发、物种入侵、疾病和气候变化，平均每天估计有200种动植物灭绝。这些物种中的许多早在人类之前就存在了。它们在人类赖以生存的生态系统中扮演着重要的角色，人类依靠这些生态系统获得食物、清洁的空气、清洁的水、肥沃的土壤，以及一系列使地球上的生活成为可能和舒适的其他服务。几十年来，保护工作主要集中在拯救精选物种上。不幸的是，这些方法不能涵盖大部分生物多样性或物种之间更复杂的相互作用。这些方法在实施有效保护行动所需的生态系统层面过程和相互作用的科学理解方面留下了空白。这对于多样性高但研究较少的群体尤其明显，比如蜗牛，它们是人类历史上有记录的灭绝数量最多的物种。夏威夷岛的陆地蜗牛包括地球上最多样化的蜗牛群。它们也是受灭绝影响最严重的物种之一，在已知的750多种物种中，有一半以上已经消失。拯救剩下的物种和恢复夏威夷森林的这些珠宝需要物种相互作用和它们的生态要求的知识。了解蜗牛为什么生活在它们生活的地方，它们以什么为食，以及它们对栖息地的其他要求，对于成功圈养剩余物种以及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方面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，应用保护和蜗牛等鲜为人知的群体的生物学。在更深层次的社区层面，这将扩大对土著实践和理解方式的认识和参与。夏威夷的蜗牛有着深厚的文化底蕴，夏威夷人对自然世界有着世代相传的自然历史见解。该项目将有助于将陆地蜗牛生物文化知识与实物、自然历史数据和基因组学联系起来。总的来说，这将加强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，并为子孙后代灌输对宝贵资源的欣赏和保护。研究人员将整合微生物基因组学、野外生态学和圈养饲养饮食方面的研究，以解决夏威夷陆地蜗牛生态学中最紧迫的知识空白。通过研究夏威夷陆地蜗牛的资源偏好和摄食生态，本项目将1)确定蜗牛对生长在其原生寄主植物上的细菌和真菌的摄食偏好；2)描述可能构成蜗牛饮食关键成分的微生物群落特征；3)确定能提高圈养蜗牛存活率和繁殖能力的首选植物和微生物群落。收集到的数据将用于扩大圈养饲养能力，用首选植物资源恢复退化的栖息地，并建立有效保护夏威夷陆地蜗牛的长期能力。了解哪些微生物组合能提高蜗牛的存活率、生长和繁殖力，将为保护主义者提供一个评估蜗牛栖息地质量的有力工具。它还将使恢复从业者能够创造栖息地，以支持野外现存的种群。该项目由环境生物学和综合有机体系统部以及保罗·g·艾伦家族基金会共同资助。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。