Re-Examining Southern California Lake Sediment Cores with Environmental DNA to Revolutionize How We Study the Past

地理学空间科学（GSS）项目1759756韦恩，罗伯特加州大学洛杉矶分校（无替补）本研究项目将调查从晚更新世时代（约120，000 BP）到现在的人与环境的关系，以提供新的理解之前，人类在北美的环境动态。 研究人员将使用环境DNA（eDNA）来提供新的见解，以解决长期存在的问题，即过去的人类与环境的关系以及由环境变化、火灾和人类活动引起的生物多样性动态。 该项目将使美洲原住民社区参与进来，以形成古代eDNA研究在获取有关其祖先活动的信息方面所采取的程序。研究人员将通过这个美洲原住民网络建立伙伴关系，启动eDNA公民科学项目和虚拟eDNA学习内容。 通过这些活动，调查人员将为这些代表性不足的群体提供教育和研究机会。环境DNA（eDNA）是一种用于生物多样性监测的新方法。 对植物、动物和其他生物体脱落的DNA进行测序和评估，从而使科学家能够在一个位置对群落进行清点。 以前使用eDNA对古土壤和沉积物的研究只在较冷的气候下进行。 该项目将开发适合于编目古沉积物在温暖的气候，重点是南加州，一个地区的环境和景观变化的历史，随着时间的推移，其特点是连续的人类存在的eDNA方法。 研究人员将从年代久远、对环境敏感的湖泊沉积物岩心中恢复植物、动物和微生物脱落的DNA，并将这些数据与其他古生态学代用品结合使用。 利用涉及元条形码和杂交的DNA技术，调查人员将清点过去在低海拔和高海拔以及不同温度下的植物群和动物群。这项研究的成果将为科学界和公众提供解释古代eDNA结果的适当机制。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATIONGEOGRAPHY SPATIAL SCIENCES (GSS) PROGRAMABSTRACT1759756Wayne, RobertUniversity of California-Los Angeles (No subs)This research project will investigate the human-environment relationship from the late Pleistocene era (approximately 120,000 BP) to the present in order to provide new understanding of the environmental dynamics prior to the arrival of humans in North America. The investigators will use environmental DNA (eDNA) to provide new insights for addressing long-standing questions of past human-environment relationships and biodiversity dynamics resulting from environmental change, fire, and human activities. The project will engage Native American communities in order to shape the procedures ancient eDNA studies take with regard to obtaining information about their ancestral activities. The investigators will build partnerships through this Native American network to initiate eDNA citizen science projects and virtual eDNA learning content. Through these activities, the investigators will offer educational and research opportunities to these underrepresented groups.Environmental DNA (eDNA) is a new methodology used for biodiversity monitoring. DNA shed by plants, animals, and other organisms is sequenced and evaluated, thereby allowing scientists to inventory the community at a location. Previous studies using eDNA on paleosoils and sediments have only been done in colder climates. This project will develop eDNA methods suitable for inventorying paleosediments in warmer climates by focusing on southern California, an area with a diverse history of environmental and landscape change over the timespan characterized by continuous human presence. The investigators will recover DNA shed by plants, animals, and microbes from well-dated, environmentally sensitive lake sediment cores, and they will use these data in combination with other paleoecological proxies. Using DNA techniques involving metabarcoding and hybridization, the investigators will inventory the flora and fauna of the past at low and high elevations levels and with different temperatures. Outcomes of this research will provide the scientific community and the public with the appropriate mechanisms to interpret ancient eDNA results.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.