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   PID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
   TID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
    Scientists advocate for integration of biogeography and behavioral   
   ecology to rapidly respond to biodiversity loss    
      
     Date:   
         April 10, 2023   
     Source:   
         University of Oklahoma   
     Summary:   
         An interdisciplinary team of researchers is advocating for   
         convergent research that integrates the fields of biogeography and   
         behavioral ecology to more rapidly respond to challenges associated   
         with climate change and biodiversity loss.   
      
      
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   FULL STORY   
   ==========================================================================   
   An interdisciplinary team of researchers at the University of Oklahoma has   
   published a perspective article in the journal Proceedings of the National   
   Academy of Sciences advocating for convergent research that integrates   
   the fields of biogeography and behavioral ecology to more rapidly respond   
   to challenges associated with climate change and biodiversity loss.   
      
      
   ==========================================================================   
   While news about climate change fills headlines, the crisis of   
   biodiversity loss has gotten less attention. In their article, the   
   authors contend that "identifying solutions that prevent large-scale   
   extinction requires addressing critical questions about biodiversity   
   dynamics that - despite widespread interest - have been challenging to   
   answer thus far."  From microorganisms that support soil health, fish that   
   we eat, forests that clean water, to pollination, lumber and medicine,   
   protecting ecosystems and the variety of plants and animals within them   
   is vital to the health of the planet and for humanity to thrive.   
      
   "The ways that we respond to climate change also have a big impact on   
   outcomes for biodiversity - which is also a critical part of how the   
   global climate system works," said article co-author Katharine Marske,   
   Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Biology, Dodge Family   
   College of Arts and Sciences.   
      
   "Climate change is a major threat to biodiversity, but it's not the only   
   threat. We also have habitat loss and degradation, direct overharvest of   
   some species and so forth, so it's also its own unique crisis that needs   
   to be considered on equal footing."  "Historically in Oklahoma, we can   
   point to cases where we have rapidly removed or changed natural habitats,   
   such as the Dust Bowl," said co-author Hayler Lanier, Ph.D., assistant   
   curator of mammalogy at the Sam Noble Museum and an assistant professor   
   of biology. "That was a case where we came through and stripped out a lot   
   of the existing natural systems that do things to hold onto the soil and   
   create nutrients, and that was sort of one small example. As we move into   
   the future, we need to think about what sort of world we want to live in,   
   and it is definitely one where we have these sorts of ecosystem services."   
   By integrating the fields of biogeography, or the study of how and why   
   biological diversity varies across the Earth, with behavioral ecology,   
   or the study of the evolution of behavior in relation to ecological   
   pressures, the authors argue that scientists will be better able to   
   develop a more comprehensive understanding of how to leverage "existing   
   biodiversity knowledge into predictive frameworks for how biodiversity   
   will respond to environmental change, and where habitat conservation can   
   be most effective."  "This interdisciplinary connection between behavioral   
   ecologists and scientists who study biogeography has not been linked well   
   to date," said Laura Stein, Ph.D., article co-author and an assistant   
   professor of biology. "I think in many cases, biogeographers are not   
   thinking about day-to-day activities of animals as much as behavioral   
   ecologists are, and behavioral ecologists are not necessarily considering   
   differences and overlaps in both current and historical ranges and how   
   behaviors have been shaped by past geographic events that might help   
   predict where they will be in the future. And so, by combining these two   
   fields, we can get a much broader picture of what we can do now and what   
   is important for protecting biodiversity into the future."  The article's   
   authors have led a pilot of such integrative efforts at the University   
   of Oklahoma, supported by funding from the National Science Foundation.   
      
   Co-author Cameron Siler, Ph.D., associate professor of biology and   
   associate curator of herpetology at the Sam Noble Museum, said "We,   
   in the Department of Biology, together with the Sam Noble Museum,   
   carried out a series of cluster hires over the last five years aimed   
   strategically at bringing together integrative researchers with the   
   capacity to think beyond these typically isolated fields, and what's   
   exciting is this work is a culmination of the success of that early   
   effort to bring scientists like this together at OU."  Lanier described   
   their work as hopeful. Biodiversity loss and climate change are large,   
   complex and challenging problems to solve. "What we're trying to do is   
   to harness a lot of information that we already have as scientific and   
   conservation communities and bring it together in new ways to very quickly   
   answer some of these questions."  Agreeing, Marske added, "The scope   
   of the challenges that society faces require integration, so providing   
   opportunities for this across biology, and amongst all disciplines,   
   increases your chances to bring people together and talk about novel   
   solutions. The more people you can have at that table, the better."   
       * RELATED_TOPICS   
             o Plants_&_Animals   
                   # Ecology_Research # Nature # Endangered_Animals #   
                   Extinction   
             o Earth_&_Climate   
                   # Ecology # Biodiversity # Environmental_Awareness #   
                   Environmental_Issues   
       * RELATED_TERMS   
             o Global_warming_controversy o   
             Unified_neutral_theory_of_biodiversity o   
             Deforestation o Kyoto_Protocol o Global_climate_model   
             o Consensus_of_scientists_regarding_global_warming o   
             Climate_change_mitigation o Attribution_of_recent_climate_change   
      
   ==========================================================================   
   Story Source: Materials provided by University_of_Oklahoma. Original   
   written by Chelsea Julian. Note: Content may be edited for style and   
   length.   
      
      
   ==========================================================================   
   Journal Reference:   
      1. Katharine A. Marske, Hayley C. Lanier, Cameron D. Siler, Ashlee   
      H. Rowe,   
         Laura R. Stein. Integrating biogeography and behavioral ecology   
         to rapidly address biodiversity loss. Proceedings of the National   
         Academy of Sciences, 2023; 120 (15) DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2110866120   
   ==========================================================================   
      
   Link to news story:   
   https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/04/230410123644.htm   
      
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