REU Site: Research Experiences for Undergraduates in Biodiversity Conservation

这个位于北卡罗来纳大学威尔明顿分校的REU站点将汇集一个多学科的本科生和教师小组，以解决人为生物多样性丧失和生态系统改变的关键社会问题。每年有9名来自地质学、生物学、环境学和考古学的学生将在现场参与这个项目，为期8周，他们有机会在自己的家乡继续研究，并展示和发表他们的研究成果。学生将从化石、考古记录和现代海洋群落中收集和比较数据，以了解人为的生态系统变化。科学目标是了解：1)在大约200万年前西大西洋发生的大规模灭绝之前，海洋软体动物群落的结构，那次灭绝的规模和原因与目前的生物多样性危机相似；2)从化石记录来看，动物对这次灭绝的反应和恢复；3)现代人类活动剧烈变化前的贝壳丘考古记录提供的群落结构证据；(4)不同人为干扰程度站点海洋群落的组成、结构和健康现状。这项工作将记录系统的自然变异性，使生物系统的自然变化与人类活动引起或放大的变化分离开来。对海洋群落时间变化的研究将用于确定人为变化的程度和性质，评估现代群落的健康状况，并确定保护生物多样性的可能方法。该项目将为多元化的学生群体创造积极的研究体验，鼓励他们继续在该领域工作，为他们的研究生学习和职业生涯做好准备，并提高他们在多学科团队中工作的能力。该项目具有潜在的社会影响，可以培养一批意识到生物多样性保护问题的多元化学生，他们可以跨学科合作，开发解决这些问题的创新方法。学生的收藏将被重新安置在古生物研究所，供其他学生、教育工作者和研究人员使用，并形成公共宣传的基础（将单独资助），包括PRI的生物多样性保护展览？地球博物馆。

This REU site at University of North Carolina Wilmington will bring together a multidisciplinary group of undergraduate students and faculty to address the critical societal issue of anthropogenic biodiversity loss and ecosystem modification. Nine students a year, from geology, biology, environmental studies, and archeology will participate in the project for eight weeks on site, with the opportunity to continue the research at their home institution and to present and publish their results. Students will collect and compare data from the fossil and archeological record and modern marine communities to understand anthropogenic ecosystem change. The scientific goal is to understand: 1) the structure of the marine molluscan community prior to a mass extinction in the western Atlantic about two million years ago that was similar in scale and cause to the current biodiversity crisis; 2) faunal response to and recovery from this extinction as seen in the fossil record; 3) evidence of community structure from the archeological record of shell middens prior to intensive modern anthropogenic change; and 4) the current composition, structure and health of the marine community at sites varying in degree of anthropogenic disturbance. The work will document natural variability of the system, allowing natural changes in biological systems to be disentangled from those induced or magnified by human activities. Study of temporal changes in the marine community will be used to determine the degree and nature of anthropogenic alteration, assess the health of the modern community, and identify possible approaches to protecting biodiversity. The project will create a positive research experience for a diverse group of students that will encourage them to continue in the field, equip them for graduate study and careers, and enhance abilities to work in multidisciplinary teams. The project has potential societal consequences in building a diverse pool of students who are aware of issues in biodiversity conservation and who can work across disciplines to develop innovative approaches to addressing these issues. Student collections will be reposited at the Paleontological Research Institution, where they will be available for use by other students, educators and researchers as well as form a basis for public outreach (to be funded separately), including an exhibit on biodiversity conservation at PRI?s Museum of the Earth.