I am part of a National Evolutionary Synthesis Center (NESCent) working grout to address (1) whether there are universal determinants of extinction risk in the sea and (2) whether we can use particular times in Earth history to predict the responses of extant species to projected environmental change. Answering these questions is of pressing import as we struggle to understand the impacts of current extinctions on the future of biodiversity. The group is employing two modes of synthesis (data aggregation and meta-analysis) and will generate a publicly-accessible synoptic database that allows for evaluation of extinction risk in marine organisms across different spatial and temporal scales.
People:
John M. Pandolfi
Collaborators:
NESCent