DeepTrees · Computational modelling of evolutionary dynamics in the deep sea
„Хоризонт 2020“ — Действия „Мария Склодовска-Кюри“
- Период
- 2015-11-01 → 2018-10-31
- Финансиране от ЕС
- 251 858 €
- Участници
- 2
- Схема
- MSCA-IF-GF
Линиите свързват координатора с партньорите.
Накратко на български
Еволюционната динамика на морските безгръбначаки в дълбокото море се анализира чрез сравнение между живи видове и техните окаменелости. Това помага за по-точното разбиране на настоящата криза с биоразнообразието чрез изследване на минали масови измирания.
Кратко обяснение, генерирано от езиков модел по текста на CORDIS. Оригиналът е по-долу.
Резултати накратко
Computational modelling of evolutionary dynamics in the deep sea
DeepTrees is developing accurate methods to compare living and fossil species diversity. The research focusses on marine invertebrates that have persisted through past mass extinction events: the survivors, found in large density in natural deep-sea communities on organic substrata, using samples already secured for this project. Therefore the scope of the project encompasses evolutionary biology, bioinformatics, and deep sea biology. Human society is facing an accelerating loss of biodiversity. This is a significant threat, not only to wild places, but also to human health. We depend on the environment for consumable resources, but also the biotic interchange of large-scale environmental phenomena interact with climate in ways that are not fully understood. The modern extinction of species is frequently compared to past mass extinction events in earth's history; however, the metrics used to assess biotic change in the fossil record are substantially different to the living biota as the fossil record is far more data limited. These past extinction events, however, provide the best guide to accurately predict environmental responses to future and ongoing diversity loss. Developing strong, quantitatively robust comparisons between past, and present extinctions is imperative to understand the present diversity crisis. A further, important task of this project, was to communicate among scientific disciplines, developing new ways to articulate the lessons of long-term evolutionary patterns in the fossil record to ecologists and environmental managers who work primarily in modern systems without formal training in palaeontology. These aims were achieved through the publication of 20 papers and 1 book authored by Julia Sigwart, as well as numerous conference presentations, invited seminars, and participation in international networks, knowledge transfer and training activities around the world.
Текст от CORDIS, на английски · Данни: CORDIS, © Европейски съюз
Цел на проекта
DEEPTREES will unite disciplines across life sciences, to use DNA barcoding to put error bars on the fossil record. A major challenge remains to unlock the data from past mass extinction events in earth’s history to help prepare us for the future. This is only possible by combining the cutting edge work of the University of California Museum of Paleontology and Centre for Computational Biology with the unique approach of integrating fossil and living deep-sea biodiversity in Sigwart’s established research programme. The hosts will provide intensive training for Sigwart in computation modelling to investigate evolutionary dynamics during and after the ancient mass extinction events that are the only basis for understanding our current global biodiversity crisis.The patchy nature of the fossil record in space and time means that our knowledge of past extinction dynamics is estimated, usually from counting the first and last appearance of species-groups. It has been impossible to know how much diversity is contained within each group, or how comparable they are, until now. DEEPTREES will focus on marine invertebrates that have persisted through past mass extinction events: the survivors, found in large density in natural deep sea communities on organic substrata, using samples already secured for this project. Morphological and genetic features that separate living species will be quantified to develop a Bayesian framework to determine how many species cannot be counted because their defining features were not preserved. A novel modelling approach developed by Sigwart with input from Berkeley colleagues will integrate all these new data to calculate the hidden diversity in past extinction rates, bridging the gap between fossil and living species. DEEPTREE‘s new tools for quantifying diversity will revolutionise biodiversity assessments, with special relevance for the Marine Strategy Framework Directive, and may change the way we think about extinction forever.
Оригинален текст от CORDIS (на английски).
Участници
- THE QUEEN'S UNIVERSITY OF BELFAST · BELFASTКоординаторОбединеното кралство
- University of California - Berkeley. Department of Integrative BiologyСъединени щати
Връзки
Данни: CORDIS, © Европейски съюз