Natural and Social Sciences, Francis Close Hall, University of Gloucestershire, Cheltenham, GL50 4AZ, UK.
Oecologia. 2022 Jun;199(2):275-287. doi: 10.1007/s00442-022-05190-z. Epub 2022 May 28.
Palaeoecology involves analysis of fossil and sub-fossil evidence preserved within sediments to understand past species distributions, habitats and ecosystems. However, while palaeoecological research is sometimes made relevant to contemporary ecology, especially to advance understanding of biogeographical theory or inform habitat-based conservation at specific sites, most ecologists do not routinely incorporate palaeoecological evidence into their work. Thus most cross-discipline links are palaeoecology → ecology rather than ecology → palaeoecology. This is likely due to lack of awareness and/or the misnomer that palaeoecology invariably relates to the "distant past" (thousands of years) rather than being applicable to the "recent past" (last ~ 100-200 years). Here, we highlight opportunities for greater integration of palaeoecology within contemporary ecological research, policy, and practice. We identify situations where palaeoecology has been, or could be, used to (1) quantify recent temporal change (e.g. population dynamics; predator-prey cycles); (2) "rewind" to a particular point in ecological time (e.g. setting restoration/rewilding targets; classifying cryptogenic species); (3) understand current ecological processes that are hard to study real-time (e.g. identifying keystone species; detecting ecological tipping points); (4) complement primary data and historical records to bridge knowledge gaps (e.g. informing reintroductions and bioindicator frameworks); (5) disentangle natural and anthropogenic processes (e.g. climate change); and (6) draw palaeoecological analogues (e.g. impacts of pests). We conclude that the possibilities for better uniting ecology and palaeoecology to form an emerging cross-boundary paradigm are as extensive as they are exciting: we urge ecologists to learn from the past and seek opportunities to extend, improve, and strengthen their work using palaeoecological data.
古生态学涉及对沉积物中保存的化石和亚化石证据进行分析，以了解过去的物种分布、栖息地和生态系统。然而，尽管古生态学研究有时与当代生态学相关，特别是为了推进生物地理理论的理解或为特定地点的基于栖息地的保护提供信息，但大多数生态学家并没有将古生态学证据常规地纳入他们的工作中。因此，大多数跨学科联系是古生态学→生态学，而不是生态学→古生态学。这可能是由于缺乏认识和/或错误地认为古生态学总是与“遥远的过去”（几千年）有关，而不是适用于“最近的过去”（过去~100-200 年）。在这里，我们强调了在当代生态研究、政策和实践中更广泛地整合古生态学的机会。我们确定了古生态学已经或可以用于以下情况：（1）量化最近的时间变化（例如，种群动态；捕食者-猎物循环）；（2）“倒带”到生态时间的特定点（例如，设定恢复/重新野化目标；分类隐源性物种）；（3）理解当前难以实时研究的生态过程（例如，确定关键物种；检测生态临界点）；（4）补充主要数据和历史记录以弥合知识差距（例如，为重新引入和生物指标框架提供信息）；（5）解开自然和人为过程（例如，气候变化）；（6）借鉴古生态学类比（例如，害虫的影响）。我们得出的结论是，将生态学和古生态学更好地结合起来形成一个新兴的跨边界范式的可能性是广泛而令人兴奋的：我们敦促生态学家从过去中吸取教训，并寻求机会利用古生态学数据来扩展、改进和加强他们的工作。
