Microscopes for paleoecological and paleoclimatic research

该提案要求为维多利亚大学的古生态和古气候研究和培训提供两台显微镜的资金。为了训练学生识别花粉、针叶树气孔和水生昆虫遗骸等微化石，以及研究过去的环境变化，需要一台带有数字成像系统的明视场显微镜。为了更好地了解未来的气候变化及其对我们森林的影响，这项研究检查了数千年来沉积在湖泊沉积物中的证据，以研究过去气候的自然变异性如何影响植物群落。主要研究目标是了解自上一个冰河时代以来加拿大太平洋沿岸植被群落的发展情况，并确定在此期间气候如何变化。我们从不列颠哥伦比亚省海岸的湖泊中收集沉积物岩心，并识别出过去沉积在这些湖泊中的花粉和种子等化石，今天保存在它们的沉积物中。这使我们能够确定自沉积物沉积以来，周围森林的组成发生了怎样的变化。我们还识别水生昆虫遗骸，这使我们能够推断过去气候的变化。像这样的古环境数据提供了测试全球气候模型的机会，这些模型是预测未来气候变化的主要工具。通过了解过去气候和植被的变化，我们可以预测并更好地为未来气候变化的影响做好准备。

This proposal requests funds for two microscopes for paleoecological and paleoclimatic research and training at the University of Victoria. A bright-field microscope with a digital imaging system is needed for training students to identify microfossils such as pollen, conifer stomata and aquatic insect remains and for conducting research on past environmental change. A stereomicroscope is required for training and research that involves macrofossils such as seeds and leaf fragments.To better understand future climate change and its impacts on our forests, this research examines evidence deposited in lake sediments over thousands of years to study how natural variability in climate affected plant communities in the past. The main research objectives are to understand the development of vegetation communities on the Pacific coast of Canada since the last ice age and to determine how climate has changed during that time. We collect cores of sediment from lakes along the coast of British Columbia and identify fossils such as pollen and seeds that were deposited in those lakes in the past and are preserved in their sediments today. This allows us to determine how the composition of surrounding forests has changed since deposition of the sediments. We also identify aquatic insect remains, which allow us to infer past changes in climate. Paleoenvironmental data like these provide opportunities to test global climate models, which are the main tools for predicting future climatic change. By understanding past changes in climate and vegetation, we can predict and better prepare for the impacts of future climate change.