「Fossils are data too!

　Studying natural experiments from historical and paleontological records」

 

Alexis Mychajliw 博士（北海道大学，低温科学研究所）

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Abstract 

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　　Humans have been shaping ecosystems for thousands of years, such that our inferences of fundamental ecological relationships in the present day may in fact be biased by hidden anthropogenic variables. The Late Quaternary fossil record (Pleistocene and Holocene, often the last ~50,000 years) represents the roots of our modern ecosystems and contains natural experiments such as past climatic warming and cooling events and the spread of human populations worldwide. These data from the past enrich studies of the present by expanding the spatial and temporal ranges of datasets, increasing sample sizes, and enhancing modeling outcomes. In this talk, I will discuss the ways in which fossil and historical data have been used to test ecological hypotheses such as mesocarnivore release, reconstruct past climatic conditions, and have directly informed conservation planning, such as the case of the California grizzly bear. Given the excellent fossil and historical collections at the Hokkaido University Museum, I hope this talk can inspire new collaborations between paleontology, archaeology, and ecology on campus.