NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology FY 2020: Biodiversity and a High-Resolution Recovery of Fossil Plant-Insect Associations Across the Cretaceous-Paleogene Boundary

This action funds an NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology for FY 2020, Research Using Biological Collections. The fellowship supports research and training of the fellow that will use biological collections in innovative ways. Plants and the insect herbivores that consume them comprise over half of all described species and their interactions are a cornerstone of food webs.

The fossil record of plants has the marks of insect herbivory, such as holes chewed into a leaf, and these provide an excellent source of evidence for understanding ancient forests and how they changed through time. The research fellow will measure the recovery of plants and insects before, during, and after the Cretaceous/Paleogene (K/Pg) extinction event, which occurred 66.04 million years ago.

There are many studies on the extinction of the dinosaurs and the subsequent rise of mammals, but the recovery of plants and insects is poorly understood and is the focus of this study. This research project will enhance the fellow’s curatorial skills, data analytical skills, publication record, and experience in public outreach and mentoring. The outreach will connect citizens with exciting stories about fossils from the Corral Bluffs site, highlight the importance of museum collections in cutting-edge scientific research, emphasize the significance of museums in our communities, and engage the general public with scientific concepts to increase awareness of the connections with nature.

The research will constitute the most highly-resolved stratigraphic analysis of plant‒insect associations across the K/Pg boundary to-date, documenting the extinction and recovery of plant and insect life into the first million years following the extinction. This research will utilize the Corral Bluffs Paleobotanical Collection at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science (DMNS), under the guidance of Dr.

Ian Miller (Curator of Paleobotany, DMNS) and Dr. Ellen Currano (University of Wyoming). By analyzing the diversity and intensity of plant‒insect associations at the Corral Bluffs study site, the fellow will generate one of the largest data sets of plant–insect interactions for the terminal Cretaceous and early Paleocene, and the highest quality plant‒insect associational dataset collected from across the K/Pg boundary.

The statistical analyses for this research will include building bipartite networks linking plant species. The fellow will be trained on paleobotanical identification, taxonomic descriptions, and will learn new statistical analyses. Broadly anticipated results include more diverse and specialized insect damage during the Cretaceous, very little insect damage immediately after the extinction, and a step-wise increase of plant and insect diversity in the following one million years. Broader impacts will include public outreach through the Denver Museum of Nature & Science.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.