Conservation Paleobiology

我们将开发可用于了解稀有和濒危物种的生物学和生态学的技术，而无需对这些物种进行直接观察或实验。 稀有和濒危物种通常很难研究，因为它们的种群非常小，而且直接观察和实验可能会伤害物种。 我们将应用地球化学和古生物学的方法来分析博物馆收藏，考古遗址和自然积累的贝壳和骨头。 我们将使用骨骼和牙齿中的生长线来确定年龄跨度和生长速度。 我们将利用骨骼和贝壳的地球化学来确定食物，水源和盐度。 我们将考察加州北方海湾的三种珍稀濒危物种：科罗拉多三角洲蛤（一种软体动物）、托托阿巴（一种鱼）和加州海湾鼠海豚（一种海洋哺乳动物）。 这些物种受到直接的人类活动或由于科罗拉多河水几乎完全改道供人类使用而造成的环境变化的威胁。 本项目所开发和测试的技术可应用于其他珍稀濒危物种的保护生物学和恢复。

We will develop techniques that can be used to understand the biology and ecology of rare and endangered species without direct observations or experiments on those species. Rare and endangered species are often difficult to study because their populations are very small and because direct observations and experiments can harm the species. We will apply geochemical and paleontological methods to the analysis of shells and bones in museum collections, archeological sites and natural accumulations. We will use growth lines in bones and teeth to determine age spans and growth rates. We will use the geochemistry of the bones and shells to determine diet, water sources, and salinity. We will examine three rare and endangered species in the northern Gulf of California: the Colorado delta clam (a mollusk), the totoaba (a fish) and the Gulf of California harbor porpoise (a marine mammal). These species are endangered by either direct human activity or through environmental changes caused by the near-complete diversion of Colorado River water for human uses. The techniques developed and tested in this project may be applied to the conservation biology and restoration of other rare and endangered species.