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.

平均而言，由于栖息地破坏，探索，入侵物种，疾病和气候变化，估计每天有200种动植物灭绝。这些物种中的许多存在早在人类之前就存在。他们演变为填补人类依赖食物，清洁空气，清洁水，肥沃土壤以及许多其他服务的生态系统中的关键作用，这些服务使这个星球上的生活成为可能和舒适。几十年来，保护工作主要集中在节省某些物种上。不幸的是，这种方法并不包含大部分生物多样性或物种之间更复杂的相互作用。这些方法在科学理解生态系统级别的过程以及实施有效的保护措施所需的互动方面留下了差距。对于高度多样性而言，这尤其明显，但是蜗牛等研究的群体却是人类历史上记录的灭绝最多的群体。夏威夷岛的蜗牛包括地球上一些最多样化的蜗牛。它们也是灭绝最严重的影响之一，其中有750多种已知物种丢失了一半以上。保存其余物种并恢复夏威夷森林的这些珠宝需要了解物种相互作用及其生态要求。了解为什么土地蜗牛居住在他们所做的地方，他们进食的地方以及其他栖息地要求对于成功俘虏其余物种至关重要，并在受保护和修复的栖息地中将其归还给野外。此外，该项目将通过提供保护经验并扩大在科学和保护方面不足的群体的参与来帮助填补人力资源能力短缺。学生和研究人员将参与并为对生态学，应用保护以及蜗牛等鲜为人知的群体的生物学有更广泛的了解。在更深层次的社区层面上，这将通过土著实践和理解方式扩大知识和参与。夏威夷土地蜗牛拥有深厚的文化存在，夏威夷人拥有有关自然世界的几代自然历史见解。该项目将有助于用物理对象，自然史数据和基因组学桥接生物文化土地蜗牛知识。总体而言，这将增加环境资源的管理和可持续性，通过土著价值体系来支持保护管理工作，并灌输对世代相传的宝贵资源的欣赏和保护。研究人员将纳入微生物基因组学，现场生态学和圈养养育饮食的研究，以解决夏威夷土地蜗牛生态学中最紧急的知识差距。通过检查资源偏好和喂食夏威夷土地蜗牛的生态学，该项目将确定蜗牛喂食对本机寄主植物生长的细菌和真菌的偏好； 2）表征可能构成蜗牛饮食关键组成部分的微生物群落； 3）确定可圈养的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能力，恢复具有首选植物资源的退化栖息地，并在夏威夷建立有效的土地蜗牛保护的长期能力。知道哪些微生物组合可以增强蜗牛的生存，生长和繁殖力将为保护主义者提供有力的工具来评估蜗牛栖息地的质量。它还将使恢复实践者能够创建栖息地，以支持野外现有的人群。该项目通过涉及环境生物学和综合有机系统的划分以及Paul G. Allen Family Foundation的共同计划得到支持。这项奖项反映了NSF的立法使命，并被认为是通过基金会的智力上的评估来评估的，并值得通过评估来进行评估。