EAGER: Chronological context of species loss in a Caribbean vertebrate community

当今的生物多样性危机因物种丧失的速度比基于化石记录的预期高出许多倍而更加突出。据估计，自公元1500年以来，大约61%的物种灭绝和37%的极度濒危物种被限制在岛屿上。环境变化和直接的人类影响（如栖息地破坏和过度捕猎）等因素是岛屿物种面临的最大威胁。这些压力增加造成的物种损失可能会破坏生物群落并长期影响其功能。了解这些因素如何影响生物多样性，以及为什么一些物种存活而另一些物种灭绝，对于在面临环境变化的情况下制定强有力的生物多样性保护政策至关重要。本研究的目的是研究伊斯帕尼奥拉岛和波多黎各岛上脊椎动物群落的过去和现在的变化，以调查物种在人类到来之前和之后对不同因素的反应。通过结合保存完好的化石和现代群落的数据，本研究将针对以下问题：每个岛屿群落的变化时间表是什么？物种的损失是否因每个岛屿的特点而异？随着时间的推移，每个岛屿社区的哪些成员持续存在或丢失？什么因素导致了物种的消失？这些问题的答案将提供一个机会，让我们了解随着时间的推移，生物多样性的丧失和社区变化的背景，并从这些过程中学习，以帮助减轻今天的生物多样性丧失。这项研究将培养本科生，其中许多人来自科学界代表性不足的群体；通过外展活动促进当地的科学素养；并通过提供有关生物多样性变化的信息来造福社会。通过对脊椎动物群落变化的详细时间顺序研究，该项目将为预测物种对过去环境变异性、人类殖民历史、岛屿和物种特征等因素的反应提供基础。主要的重点将是对岛屿之间蝙蝠群落的比较分析，但是，根据岛屿生物地理学的理论期望，其他脊椎动物的化石遗骸也将被量化。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，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。

Today’s biodiversity crisis is underscored by species loss at a rate many times higher than expected based on the fossil record. It is estimated that since 1500 CE about 61% of species extinctions and 37% of all critically endangered species have been confined to islands. Factors such as environmental variability and direct human impacts, such as habitat destruction and overhunting, are among the top threats to insular species. Species losses caused by these increased pressures may disrupt biotic communities and affect their function in the long term. Understanding how these factors affect biodiversity and why some species survive while others become extinct is important to devise strong policies for biodiversity conservation in the face of environmental change. The aim of this research is to examine past and present changes in the island vertebrate communities of Hispaniola and Puerto Rico to investigate how species responded to different factors before and after the arrival of humans. By combining data from well-preserved fossils and modern communities, this study will target the following questions: What is the timeline of change in each island community? Does species loss vary with the characteristics of each island? What members of each island community persist or were lost over time? What factors contributed to species loss? The answers to these questions will provide an opportunity to contextualize losses and community change across time and learn from these processes to help mitigate biodiversity loss today. This research will train undergraduate students, many of whom are from underrepresented groups in science; promote local scientific literacy via outreach; and benefit society by providing information about biodiversity change.Through a detailed chronological study of the changes in vertebrate communities, this project will provide a basis for predicting species responses to factors related to past environmental variability, human colonization history, and island and species characteristics. The primary focus will be on a comparative analysis of bat communities between islands, however fossilized remains of other vertebrates will also be quantified, in light of theoretical expectations of island biogeography.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.