The Geological Record of Ecological Dynamics Understanding the Biotic Effects of Future Environmental Change (2005) / Chapter Skim
Currently Skimming:
1 Introduction
1 Introduction
Pages 12-29
The Chapter Skim interface presents what we've algorithmically identified as the most significant single chunk of text within every page in the chapter.
Select key terms on the right to highlight them within pages of the chapter.
From page 12... ...
How flexible are species, functional groups, and ecosystems in the face of climate and other environmental change under genuinely natural conditions? How do communities reassemble following major perturbations or significant decreases in diversity?
|
From page 13... ...
There is thus a growing realization that only geohistorical data -- the organic remains, biogeochemical signals, and associated sediments of the geological record -- can provide a time perspective sufficiently long to establish the full range of natural variability of complex biological systems, and to discriminate human perturbations from natural cycles (e.g., Jablonski and Sepkoski, 1996; Swetnam et al., 1999; Lawton, 1999; McDonald and Chure, 2001; Woodruff, 2001; Hubbell, 2001; Barnosky et al., 2004)
|
From page 14... ...
Collectively, the geologic record is incomplete, but individual geohistorical records (e.g., subannual growth increments in skeletal remains, annual- to decadal-resolution sediment layers, assemblages of skeletal remains before and after critical environmental changes) are more than adequate to docu ment past ecological dynamics and are a key to understanding the biotic effects of future environmental change.
|
From page 15... ...
proposed an initiative to foster research on intervals of geologic time that constituted natural experiments on the structure and dynamics of the earth-life system. Such an initiative would take advantage of the deep-time perspective available in the geologic record to elucidate the biotic responses to environmental change across a broad range of temporal and spatial scales.
|
From page 16... ...
to assess the prospects for the use of the geologic record as a key for understanding the biotic effects of future environmental change, the committee made a strategic decision to focus its efforts on the processes and biotic consequences that would most likely be expressed over the next decades, centuries, and millennia. This decision was made in recognition of the imminent impact of environmental change on ecosystem services provided to society, and the need for society to manage and mitigate change and its consequences in the very near future.
|
From page 17... ...
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES AND THE GEOLOGIC RECORD OF ECOLOGICAL DYNAMICS Analysis of the geologic record of ecological dynamics is a critical means of addressing many aspects of the challenging environmental problems that confront society. Recent National Research Council (NRC)
|
From page 18... ...
Importantly, the geologic record has the unique advantage of providing evidence for how ecological systems behave in the absence of human influence, thus allowing the discrimination of human-induced variability from other causes of biotic change, and of providing evidence for how ecological systems behave under a range of natural conditions different from those of the present day. The geologic record permits two complementary approaches to basic research in the environmental and ecological sciences.
|
From page 19... ...
UNDERSTANDING PROCESSES -- DIFFERENT PERCEPTIONS Full use of geohistorical records in the analysis of ecological dynamics must overcome several challenges. Some of these challenges are scientific, for example, continuing to improve proxies for environmental conditions and species abundances, refining our ability to establish relative and absolute ages of deposits, and developing statistical treatments of incomplete or biased information (see Chapter 2)
|
From page 20... ...
Pioneering paleobiologic analyses of geohistorical records already are having a tangible effect on the biosciences, in ecology, evolution, and conservation biology (e.g., Smith et al., 2004; Jablonski, 2001, 2002; Erwin, 2001; Hadly et al., 2003; Pääbo, 2000; and see examples in Chapter 3) , in part because so many biological attributes critical to larger-scale phenomena are amenable to analysis in geologic records (e.g., richness, evenness, body size, habitat type, functional/trophic group, geographic range, raw speciation, and extinction rates)
|
From page 21... ...
Projects are reviewed and prioritized, largely internally, within the Geology, Biology, and Water Disciplines, each of which establishes its own strategic plan in the context of broader USGS and Department of the Interior strategic plans. That both agencies support research on the geologic record of biosphere dynamics attests to the importance of this topic in both applied and basic research.
|
From page 22... ...
NSF Activities on Geologic Records Research on the geologic record of biosphere dynamics is supported at NSF through core programs in the Directorate for Geosciences (GEO) , which includes the Divisions of Atmospheric Sciences (ATM)
|
From page 23... ...
have the intellectual scope or sufficient resources to accommodate a prolonged emphasis on geobiology." Other programs that fund research on, or are relevant to, geologic records of biosphere dynamics are the crosscutting Earth Systems History program (ESH) , administered by ATM (no award data available)
|
From page 24... ...
, the incorporation of the ~1,600 scientists from the National Biological Service (individuals formerly employed by the Fish and Wildlife Service, National Park Service, and Bureau of Land Management) into the USGS earth science community was in itself a more radical change than any in the 120-year history of the USGS (see also NRC, 2001b)
|
From page 25... ...
In the earth sciences, the planned USGS Earth Surface Processes Research Institute (ESPRI) in Tucson is also a promising model.
|
From page 26... ...
Other Agency Activities In general, other federal agencies play complementary roles in support of research on the geologic record of biosphere dynamics.
|
From page 27... ...
· The Department of Energy's Program for Ecosystem Research supports experimental work on the "mechanistic understanding and quantification of ecosystem-scale responses to ongoing and potential future environmental changes associated with energy production."7 Support for examining the record of past ecosystem response to environmental change is weak. · The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
|
From page 28... ...
COMMITTEE CHARGE AND SCOPE OF THE STUDY Despite the considerable efforts of academic and federal researchers within the broad scope of the geologic record of ecological dynamics, there is insufficient collaboration between the earth science and biological research communities. Recognizing the enormous potential benefits, as well as the significant challenges, involved with promoting truly interdisciplinary research at the interface of earth science and biology, the NSF and USGS requested that the NRC undertake a study to identify the significant research questions and priorities and to provide advice on optimum ways to promote interdisciplinary research (see Box 1.2)
|
From page 29... ...
, described three research themes where the rich and detailed geological record provides information on the response of past ecosystems to environmental and climatic change at a variety of timescales (Chapter 3) , described the collaborative culture that will be required to make optimum use of the considerable capabilities of these two communities (Chapter 4)
|
Key Terms
This material may be derived from roughly machine-read images, and so is provided only to facilitate research.
More
information on Chapter Skim is available.