Ichnologic evidence of ecospace utilization in mid to late Paleozoic marine environments

生物化学包括研究生物和底物之间相互作用所产生的生物结构。由于遗迹化石通常是由软体动物产生的，它们不会受到与身体化石相同的保存限制。对遗迹化石的研究为我们提供了动物-底物在深层时间相互作用的视角，有助于我们理解过去不断变化的生态。此外，由于遗迹化石通常显示出与环境因素的密切联系，而且相分析已成为一项日益精细的技术，因此有可能提供比遗迹化石更详细的相限制特征。尽管大多数涉及宏观进化影响的生物科学研究侧重于生物扰动的程度，但目前有一套更复杂和更丰富的概念和方法工具，包括生物多样性、生物多样性、生物多样性差异以及对海底生态空间占据和生态系统工程的分析。这一建议旨在进一步探索中、晚古生代生态空间利用模式。因此，该项目的目标是：(1)记录志留纪至二叠纪海洋遗迹动物的环境背景；(2)评估志留纪至二叠纪期间的生物多样性和生物多样性轨迹；(3)分析中、晚古生代海洋沉积剖面上的生态空间利用和生态系统工程。该项目包括编制志留纪-二叠纪数据库，修订遗迹化石收藏，以及在志留纪-二叠纪的各个关键地点进行田野调查。通过将研究扩展到古生代的其余部分，该项目代表了申请者开展的更广泛研究计划的延续。所建议的方法已经产生了埃迪卡拉纪-奥陶纪时间跨度的高影响论文的出版，这一事实证明了该项目的重要性。

Ichnology comprises the study of biogenic structures that result from the interactions between organisms and the substrate. Because trace fossils are commonly produced by soft-bodied animals, they are not subjected to the same preservational constrains than body fossils. The study of trace fossils has much to contribute to our understanding of the changing ecology of the past by providing a perspective of animal-substrate interactions in deep time. Also, because trace fossils typically display a close link with environmental factors and facies analysis has become an increasingly refined technique, it is possible to provide a more detailed characterization of facies constraints for trace fossils than for body fossils. Although the majority of ichnologic studies dealing with macroevolutionary implications has focused on degree of bioturbation, a more sophisticated and rich set of conceptual and methodological tools is currently available, including ichnodiversity, ichnodisparity and analysis of benthic ecospace occupation and ecosystem engineering. This proposal aims to further explore patterns of ecospace utilization during the mid to late Paleozoic. Therefore, the objectives of this project are to: (1) document Silurian to Permian marine ichnofaunas in their environmental context, (2) assess ichnodiversity and ichnodisparity trajectories during the Silurian to Permian, and (3) analyze ecospace utilization and ecosystem engineering along the marine depositional profile during the middle to late Paleozoic. This project implies compilation of a database for the Silurian-Permian, revision of trace-fossil collections, and fieldwork in various key Silurian-Permian localities. By expanding research to the rest of the Paleozoic, this project represents a continuation of a broader research program undertaken by the applicant. The significance of this project is demonstrated by the fact that the suggested approach has already generated the publication of high-impact papers for the Ediacaran-Ordovician timespan.