1. The Beringian Coevolution Project: holistic collections of mammals and associated parasites reveal novel perspectives on evolutionary and environmental change in the North
- Author
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John M. Kinsella, Robert Mulders, Kayce C. Bell, Jason L. Malaney, Schuyler W. Liphardt, Andrew G. Hope, Jackson S. Whitman, Anson V. Koehler, Joseph A. Cook, Bryan S. McLean, Eric Waltari, Heather M. Toman, Suzanne Carrière, Batsaikhan Nyamsuren, Dianna Krejsa, Donavan J. Jackson, Thomas S. Jung, Albina Tsvetkova, S. O. MacDonald, Jon Martin, Genevieve M. S. Haas, Heikki Henttonen, Ralph P. Eckerlin, Jocelyn P. Colella, Susan J. Kutz, Kurt E. Galbreath, Vadim B. Fedorov, Voitto Haukisalmi, Stephen E. Greiman, Arseny A. Makarikov, Sandra L. Talbot, Eric P. Hoberg, Mariel L. Campbell, Jonathan L. Dunnum, Natalie G. Dawson, and Vasyl V. Tkach
- Subjects
geographic and host colonization ,museum specimen archives ,0106 biological sciences ,0301 basic medicine ,ecological perturbation ,Environmental change ,Ecology ,Environmental engineering ,beringia ,bioinformatics ,TA170-171 ,010603 evolutionary biology ,01 natural sciences ,Field (geography) ,Environmental sciences ,03 medical and health sciences ,climate change ,030104 developmental biology ,Geography ,arctic ,General Earth and Planetary Sciences ,GE1-350 ,General Agricultural and Biological Sciences ,Coevolution ,General Environmental Science - Abstract
The Beringian Coevolution Project (BCP), a field program underway in the high northern latitudes since 1999, has focused on building key scientific infrastructure for integrated specimen-based studies on mammals and their associated parasites. BCP has contributed new insights across temporal and spatial scales into how ancient climate and environmental change have shaped faunas, emphasizing processes of assembly, persistence, and diversification across the vast Beringian region. BCP collections also represent baseline records of biotic diversity from across the northern high latitudes at a time of accelerated environmental change. These specimens and associated data form an unmatched resource for identifying hidden diversity, interpreting past responses to climate oscillations, documenting contemporary conditions, and anticipating outcomes for complex biological systems in a regime of ecological perturbation. Because of its dual focus on hosts and parasites, the BCP record also provides a foundation for comparative analyses that can document the effects of dynamic change on the geographic distribution, transmission dynamics, and emergence of pathogens. By using specific examples from carnivores, eulipotyphlans, lagomorphs, rodents, ungulates, and their associated parasites, we demonstrate how broad, integrated field collections provide permanent infrastructure that informs policy decisions regarding human impact and the effect of climate change on natural populations.
- Published
- 2017
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