Collaborative Research: Understanding Temporal Variation in Primate Communities: Integrating Data from Extant and Fossil Species

Arizona State University, Scottsdale AZ

Investigators

Abstract

The distribution of species across the globe is influenced by several factors including climate, habitat, evolutionary history, and interactions with other organisms. Research on species distribution has primarily focused on modern climate variation and species distributions. In this project, a novel combination of paleontological and modern ecological data will be used to examine how past climate patterns and competition among mammals have contributed to current primate biodiversity. As habitat loss and fragmentation are occurring worldwide, research investigating the factors determining primate biodiversity has implications for conservation management and maintaining the integrity of tropical forest ecosystems. Obtaining a better understanding of how primate distributions change through time and in response to changing environments will inform models for predicting shifts in primate ranges and community structure for future climates and habitat changes. The project will include the development of a database and web-based science education resources, and training of students from traditionally under-represented populations in the STEM fields. Students will gain important skills in data management and analyses that can subsequently be used in a wide variety of future career paths. The project seeks to examine primate community phylogenetic and trait structure across space and through time with abiotic and biotic factors suggested to cause the changing distributions and adaptations of primate species. The project is unique because fossil species locations and traits will be integrated with extant community data for macro-ecological and evolutionary analyses. Some of the questions addressed will be: Do communities found in similar environments, but on different continents, converge on the same structures? Do climate patterns from the Miocene through the present influence primate community structure? Do the presence and diversity of non-primate mammals that are potential primate competitors impact primate community structure? Are trait and phylogenetic structures of fossil primate communities predicted by climatic characteristics? The research proposed in this project will address topics that are central to understanding the modern and past distribution and coexistence of primates and other mammals. Using a community-level approach is essential for understanding how species interact to impact the evolution of each other's behavior, ecology, and morphology. Obtaining a better understanding of how primate communities change through time and in response to changing environments will inform models for predicting future shifts in primate distributions and community structure related to climate and habitat change.