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2022/04/06 上午9:17:24 星期三
Female elephant feeding in a Malaysian dipterocarp forest (credit: Lisa Ong)
在马来西亚热带龙脑香林中觅食的母象（图片来源：Lisa Ong）
大型兽类主导陆地生态系统的历史离并不是很遥远，这些大型兽类包括大型食草动物和食肉动物，它们自上而下对生态系统的功能产生了显著影响。这些大型兽类大多在晚更新世（大约15000年前）已经灭绝，而幸存的大型兽类由于受到人类的负面影响（狩猎、栖息地丧失和人兽冲突），目前种群呈小而破碎的状态。在人类世，了解如何与大型兽类共存以及它们的种群灭绝或恢复的生态意义非常重要，尤其是东南亚和喜马拉雅山脉西部这些受威胁大型兽类分布的全球热点地区。
大型兽类多样性与保护研究组（Megafauna Ecology and Conservation Group，MEC）于2020年成立，隶属于东南亚生物多样性研究中心（SEABRI）和综合保护中心（CIC）。本研究组的使命是将科学知识转化为驱动社会进步的政策，并运用于21世纪及未来亚洲大型兽类的保护实践。
MEC的核心研究主题是：
1.大型兽类的生态功能：以亚洲象（Elephas maximus）和其他大型食草动物为研究对象，探讨食草动物与种子散播过程的关系对亚洲热带生态系统的影响。
2.人类与野生动物的冲突和共存：研究人类与野生动物冲突的驱动因素，以及如何减轻其对人类和野生动物影响，以此来促进人类与野生动物和谐共存。
Not long time ago, most terrestrial ecosystems were dominated by megafauna – very large herbivores and carnivores that exerted strong top-down influence on ecosystem function. Many of these megafauna species disappeared at the end of the Late Pleistocene (~15,000 years ago), and those that survived to our days occur now in small and fragmented populations threatened by negative interactions with people (hunting, habitat loss, and human-wildlife conflicts). In the Anthropocene, it is important to understand how to coexist with megafauna and the ecological consequences of their local loss or recovery. This is particularly true in Southeast Asia and the Western Himalayas, the global hotspot for threatened megafauna.
The Megafauna Ecology and Conservation group (MEC) was formed in March 2020. MEC is the youngest research group in CAS’ Southeast Asia Biodiversity Research Institute (SEABRI) and XTBG’s Center for Integrative Conservation (CIC). Our mission is to generate useful knowledge and translate it to the policy and practice domains for the conservation of Asia’s megafauna beyond the 21st century.
MEC core research themes are:
1. Megafaunal ecological function: we study the ecological impacts of Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) and other large herbivores on tropical Asian ecosystems through processes such as herbivory and seed dispersal.
2. Human-wildlife conflicts and coexistence: we also study the drivers of human-wildlife conflicts and how to mitigate their negative impacts on both people and wildlife as a way to promote human-wildlife coexistence.
MEC group Members
大型兽类多样性与保护研究组成员