Biocomplexity: The Co-evolution of Biodiversity and the Environment through Geologic Time

Harvard University, Cambridge MA

Investigators

Abstract

0083983 Marshall Our goal is to search for generalities and common processes, or "laws", that govern the co-evolution of biodiversity and the environment over geological time scales. Given that available time series are inadequate for our purposes, we will continue to develop our paleontological and geochemical databases. The paleontological database will document the occurrences of macroscopic organisms throughout the Phanerozoic (the last 543 million years), and will include geographic, stratigraphic, paleoenvironmental, phylogenetic, body mass, and trophic relationship data. The geochemical database will include the record of the isotopic compositions of organic and inorganic carbon from the rock record. Using these databases we will conduct a series of analyses to characterize the intrinsic dynamic properties of the evolution of the biosphere. Further, the paleontological and environmental data will be dissected regionally to determine the extent to which intrinsic and extrinsic factors mediate local diversity changes.