A GIS Analysis to Assess the Effect of Large-Scale Perturbations in the Physical Environment on the Evolution of Neogene Mammal Faunas in the Western United States

利用地理信息系统（GIS）对美国西部中新世哺乳动物类群、地点和相关数据进行时空分析。这是一个为期三年的研究项目，旨在利用地理信息系统（GIS）对美国西部中新世哺乳动物类群、地点和相关数据进行时空分析。与主要物理环境扰动（如构造运动和气候变化）对分类丰富度的影响有关的假设将得到检验。中新世扰动的影响发生在一百万年的时间尺度上，将利用已有的FAUNMAP数据库与千年尺度上的气候扰动的影响进行比较。该研究还将探索现代美国西部哺乳动物动物群的一些主要特征在时间上的根深蒂固程度，特别是组成特征，如科内物种的相对数量、省域性和某些地区的总体多样性。除了阐明自然环境作为进化动力的作用外，提出的研究还具有以下重要意义：(1)研究生境破碎化与动物周转率之间的相互作用，这是保护生物学和土地管理界感兴趣的；(2)为古生物学界开发数据库和其他网络资源。

9909353Anthony D. BarnoskyA GIS Analysis to Assess the Effect of Large-Scale Perturbations in the Physical Environment on the Evolution of Neogene Mammal Faunas in the Western United States A three-year research project will utilize a Geographic Information System (GIS) to spatially and temporally analyze Miocene mammal taxa, localities, and associated data for the western United States. Hypotheses relating to the effect of major physical-environmental perturbations (such as tectonism and climate change) on taxonomic richness will be tested. Effects of the Miocene perturbations, which took place over a million-year time scale, will be compared to effects of climatic perturbations at the thousand-year scale by utilizing the already existing FAUNMAP database. The study will also explore how deeply in time some major features of the modern Western U.S. mammal fauna are rooted, notably compositional features such as relative number of species within families, provinciality, and overall diversity within certain regions. Besides clarifying the role of the physical environment as a motor of evolution, the proposed research is important in: (1) examining the interplay between habitat fragmentation and faunal turnover rates, of interest to conservation biology and the land-management community; and (2) developing databases and other web-based resources for the paleobiological community.