Collaborative Research: Assembling the foundation of modern mammal community structure in the first 7 million years after the K/Pg mass extinction

合作研究：为 K/Pg 大规模灭绝后的前 700 万年建立现代哺乳动物群落结构的基础

• 批准号: 2321343
• 负责人: Thomas Tobin
• 金额: $ 16.96万
• 依托单位: University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
• 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: 2023-08-01 至 2026-07-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2321343&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; Assembling; foundation; modern

Mammals are ecologically dominant in ecosystems today. Their rise to prominence after the mass extinction (K/Pg) that killed off the dinosaurs 66 million years ago is a classic example of evolutionary radiation. Study of such events not only impacts evolutionary theory but also our understanding of loss and origination of biodiversity and the fragility, collapse, assembly, and maintenance of today’s ecosystems. Detailed understanding of the ecological and evolutionary dynamics of this event are lacking. A diverse team of geologists and paleontologists will build a study system in eastern Montana that spans the first 7 million years after the K/Pg mass extinction to address two central questions: 1) How did mammals rise to ecological prominence in local ecosystems in deep time?, and 2) How did factors, like climate and vegetation, shape this trajectory? The team will generate and integrate critical records of fossil mammals and climate proxies in a highly resolved temporal framework across eastern Montana. This will provide a detailed Earth system view of the continental ecosystem across the K/Pg and through most of the Paleocene (the first ~7 million years) that will elucidate long-term connections between mammalian evolution, ecology, and climate. Analyses will also clarify how perturbations to these systems lead to large-scale ecosystem change and moderate biotic recovery and radiation. This work will have implications for geochronology, paleoclimatology, paleontology, ecology, and evolution. The team will engage a wider and more diverse audience through (1) the multi-year outreach initiative the Discoveries in Geosciences (DIG) Field School, which connects K-12 teachers and their classrooms with real Earth science research via fieldwork and classroom activities; (2) broadening the participation of underrepresented groups in research by supporting a PI and a graduate student who are early-career female scientists and a PI from an underrepresented group, in addition to providing full scholarships for 8 teachers from underrepresented groups to attend DIG; and (3) building STEM talent through the education and training of 4 graduate students and at least 6 undergraduate students who will be introduced to the Earth sciences through field and lab work.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.

哺乳动物在当今的生态系统上在生态上占主导地位。在6600万年前杀死恐龙的质量扩展（K/PG）之后，它们的突出是进化辐射的一个经典例子。对此类事件的研究不仅会影响进化论，而且还会影响我们对生物多样性损失和起源的理解以及当今生态系统的脆弱性，崩溃，组装和维护。缺乏对该事件的生态和进化动态的详细理解。一个地质学家和古生物学家的潜水团队将在蒙大拿州东部建立一个研究系统，该系统跨越了K/PG质量扩展后的头700万年，以解决两个核心问题：1）哺乳动物如何在深层时间内在当地生态系统的生态突出中崛起？该团队将在高度解决的分析中生成化石哺乳动物和气候代理的关键记录，还将阐明对这些系统的扰动如何导致大规模的生态系统变化以及中等的生物恢复和辐射。这项工作将对年代学，古气候学，古生物学，生态学和进化有影响。该团队将通过（1）多年宣传计划The Geosciences（DIG）野外学校吸引更广泛，更多样化的受众，该计划通过实地考察和课堂活动将K-12老师及其教室与真实的地球科学研究联系起来； （2）通过支持PI和研究生，他们是早期职业女性科学家和来自代表性不足的群体的PI，扩大了代表性不足的研究的参与，此外还为来自代表性不足的团体的8名老师提供全额奖学金，以参加DIG； （3）通过对4位研究生和至少6名本科生的教育和培训来建立STEM人才，他们将通过实地和实验室工作向地球科学介绍。该奖项反映了NSF的法定任务，并被认为是值得通过基金会的知识分子优点和更广泛影响的审查标准通过评估来获得支持的。