Biology ETDs

Publication Date

7-1-2016

Abstract

A pressing conservation challenge is understanding how organisms will be impacted by climate change. From the paleontological record, we know organisms have options when facing change: they can do nothing, move, or adapt. These responses shape an organism's niche (a foundational concept in biology) that is abiotically constrained, but modified by biotic interactions. The greatest disturbances in recent North American geologic history is the human mediated extinction of megafauna ~11,700 years B.P. and climate change following the last glacial period. We used the fossil record to address ecological questions concerning conservationists; our focus was on Canidae and humans. Species distribution modeling and body size analyses revealed changing guild interactions with humans. At the continental scale, range shifts were independent of climate, and guild cohesion decreased through time. Canids in our study coped with ecological challenges by changing their ranges and interspecific interactions, but not body size.

Project Sponsors

The University of New Mexico, the Department of Biology, Biology Department donors, the American Society of Mammalogists, and the Society of Vertebrate Paleontologists

Language

English

Keywords

Pleistocene, Canidae, Quaternary, Body-size, Extinction

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Biology

Level of Degree

Doctoral

Department Name

UNM Biology Department

First Committee Member (Chair)

Felisa A. Smith

Second Committee Member

Seth D. Newsome

Third Committee Member

Sherry V. Nelson

Fourth Committee Member

Sara Kathleen Lyons

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