Late Cenozoic dynamics of the latitudinal biodiversity gradient: Regional extinction, range expansion, and biological attributes

University Of Chicago, Chicago IL

Investigators

Abstract

The most dramatic biological pattern on Earth, the gradient of increasing diversity of species and major groups from the poles to the tropics, is well-documented but the processes generating and maintaining this pattern remains poorly understood. Understanding the factors behind the latitudinal diversity gradient is crucial for developing a more rigorous picture of the dynamics of biodiversity, and for better management of marine biodiversity informed by history to predict species' responses to future global changes. To investigate those processes, this research will inventory the past and present spatial distributions of species in an ecologically and economically important group, the marine bivalves, an ideal target because their excellent fossil record can track the origin, spread, and range-contraction of lineages in response to past episodes of global change. Factors potentially shaping the present-day diversity gradient, such as the rate of environmental change and features of the species themselves, such as food source and body size, will be evaluated by synthesizing museum collections and published records. The work will contribute a large block of data to the public Paleobiology Database, support training of undergraduates and a postdoctoral scholar, and produce on-line educational resources, including a high-school teaching module derived from the research.