Small carnivore ecology and the impact of heavy metals in the environment

学生将在生态毒理学，野生动物，保护和农业之间的交叉点，并将发展与这些主题相关的技能，并转移到其他学科。人类活动，特别是农业发展造成的生境破碎和退化，威胁着全球生物多样性。这方面的一个例子是沙巴（马来西亚婆罗洲）的基纳巴丹甘河下游泛滥平原，那里的热带雨林已被油棕种植园所取代。下Kinabatangan野生动物保护区（LKWS）由河两岸的几片森林碎片组成，它们彼此相连，形成了一条野生动物沿河运动的走廊。特别令人感兴趣的是在LKWS周围的种植园中存在的顶级捕食者，它们以与油棕有关的小型哺乳动物种群为食。先前我们已经发现马来果子狸的毛发和油棕种植园中巨蜥的脂肪组织中多种重金属的增加，然而，我们还不知道这些观察是否延伸到其他小型食肉动物，以及它们对物种种群动态的影响。该项目将重点研究居住在LKWS的小型食肉动物，由于它们在食物链中的位置和获取携带这些金属的猎物而暴露于金属生物积累中。为了实现这一目标，学生将一方面确定LKWS周围农业环境中重金属的存在，并使用从种植园捕获的小型食肉动物身上收集的样本，评估这些动物身上（例如在它们的头发中）重金属的存在。另一方面，学生将研究具有遗传标记（例如ddRad-seq）的小型食肉动物，以表征其遗传多样性和种群结构，然后共同评估特定个体或种群是否比其他个体或种群更容易受到污染。从这项工作中获得的信息将有助于沙巴物种管理计划的发展和更新，并将突出金属生物积累对小型食肉动物的作用。导师拥有互补和独特的技能组合，将在项目的各个部分中最大限度地为学生提供支持。监督小组由Pablo Orozco-terWengel博士（主要导师，卡迪夫大学），种群遗传学家和保护遗传学家，具有丰富的热带分子生态学经验，Claus svensen博士（联合导师，CEH），农药和生物利用度专家，Benoit Goossens教授（联合导师，卡迪夫大学）。卡迪夫大学（Cardiff University）是一位在热带地区有丰富经验的环保主义者，同时也是位于沙巴州的加的夫Danau Girang野外研究中心的主任，这项工作将在该中心进行。Jason Weeks教授（联合自然保护委员会的联合主管）在监测污染和化学物质对野生动物的影响方面拥有丰富的经验。

The student will be at the intersection between ecotoxicology, wildlife, conservation and agriculture and will develop skills relevant to those topics and transferrable to other disciplines. Habitat fragmentation and degradation by human activities, particularly agricultural development, threatens global biodiversity. An example of such is the floodplain of the Lower Kinabatangan river in Sabah (Malaysian Borneo) where tropical rainforests have been replaced with oil palm plantations. The Lower Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary (LKWS) consists of several forest fragments on either side of the river which are connected to each other forming a corridor for wildlife movement along the river. Of particular interest is the presence of top predators in the plantations surrounding the LKWS and who forage on the small mammal populations associated with the oil palms. Previously we have identified an increase of multiple heavy metals on the hair of Malay civets and the fat tissue of monitor lizards inhabiting oil palm plantations, however, we don't know yet whether these observations extend to other small carnivores and what is their impact on the species' population dynamics. This project will focus on studying small carnivores inhabiting the LKWS and who are exposed to metal bioaccumulation due to their position in the food chain and the access to prey that carries such metals. To address this aim, the student will on one hand identify the presence of heavy metals in the agricultural setting around LKWS, and using samples collected form small carnivores trapped in the plantations, assess the presence of such heavy metals on the animals (e.g. in their hair). On the other hand, the student will study the small carnivores with genetic markers (e.g. ddRad-seq) to characterise their genetic diversity and population structure, and then jointly assess if particular individuals or populations are more susceptible to contamination than others. The information derived from this work will contribute to the development and update of species management plans in Sabah, and will highlight the role of metal bioaccumulation on small carnivores. The supervisors have a complementary and unique combination of skills that will maximise the support provided to the student during the various parts of the project. The supervisory team is made of Dr. Pablo Orozco-terWengel (main supervisor, Cardiff University), a population geneticist and conservation geneticist with ample experience in tropical molecular ecology, Dr. Claus Svendsen (co-supervisor, CEH) who is an expert on pesticides and bioavailability, Prof. Benoit Goossens (co-supervisor, Cardiff University) a conservationist with ample experience in the tropics and director of Cardiff's Danau Girang Field Centre in Sabah where the work will take place, and Prof. Jason Weeks (co-supervisor, Joint Nature Conservation Committee) who has a wealth of experience on monitoring the impact of pollution and chemicals on wildlife.