Details of Award
NERC Reference : NER/A/S/2003/00535
Investigating genetic records preserved in sedimentary deposits: The effects of environmental change on plant diversity and composition.
Grant Award
- Principal Investigator:
- Professor B Shapiro, University of Oxford, Zoology
- Grant held at:
- University of Oxford, Zoology
- Science Area:
- Terrestrial
- Earth
- Overall Classification:
- Earth
- ENRIs:
- Global Change
- Biodiversity
- Science Topics:
- Quaternary Science
- Palaeoenvironments
- Population Genetics/Evolution
- Climate & Climate Change
- Abstract:
- Recent NERC-funded research has revealed that sedimentary deposits (le dirt) can contain DNA from plants and animals that formerly occupied the area, up to 300,000 years ago. This finding creates a new means to examine past environments, and the effects of major environmental changes, such as climatic oscillations at the end of the last Ice Age. We will examine sediment from a wide variety of sites (UK, Europe, Greenland, Yukon) to investigate the extent and usefulness of this new genetic record. At each site, we will focus on whether the DNA relates to the layers of sediment it is found in, or whether water movement may have carried it up or down the profile. We will amplify plant DNA from a variety of trees, shrubs and herbs at each site, to determine the effects of climate change during the height of the last glaciation, the end of the Pleistocene, and the current Holocene age.
- NERC Reference:
- NER/A/S/2003/00535
- Grant Stage:
- Completed
- Scheme:
- Standard Grants Pre FEC
- Grant Status:
- Closed
- Programme:
- Standard Grant
This grant award has a total value of £189,944
FDAB - Financial Details (Award breakdown by headings)
| Total - Staff | Total - T&S | Total - Other Costs | Total - Indirect Costs | Total - Equipment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| £83,395 | £5,014 | £58,175 | £38,362 | £5,000 |
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