Hindcasting faunal distributions in the holocene to understand interactions between ancient societies, biodiversity and climate

背景：面对预测当前和未来气候变化后果的紧迫挑战，我们迫切需要从过去的长期记录中学习气候-动物-人类关系的经验教训。旧大陆在全新世期间经历了剧烈的气候变化，对野生动物和家畜种群的栖息地适宜性产生了重大影响。考虑到它们的规模，这些变化被认为是非洲和亚洲几个社会崩溃的原因。物种分布模型的最新进展和我们对古气候的了解，现在为重建史前和历史事件展开的生态环境提供了令人兴奋的机会。目标：以更广泛的北非/中东地区为重点，你将把考古和古生物学记录的数据与生态模型结合起来，调查史前/古代社会动物种群趋势和生存变化的驱动因素，也可以探索与历史事件的联系。建议的目标：(i)确定研究区域内野生动物局部灭绝和定植的驱动因素。评估替代生存战略的可持续性随时间的变化。调查历史事件的潜在环境驱动因素

Summary: BACKGROUND: Faced with the urgent challenge of predicting the consequences of current and future climate change, it is imperative that we seek to learn lessons about climate-animal-human relations from the long-term records available from the past. The Old World witnessed drastic changes in climate over the Holocene, with significant consequences for habitat suitability for both wild and domestic animal populations. Given their scale, these changes have been proposed as the explanation for the collapse of several societies in Africa and Asia. Recent advances in species distribution modelling and our knowledge of palaeoclimates now offer exciting opportunities to recreate the ecological settings in which prehistorical and historical events unfolded.OBJECTIVES: Focusing on an area within the wider North African/Middle Eastern region, you will combine data from the archaeological and paleontological records with ecological models to investigate drivers of animal population trends and subsistence change in prehistoric/ancient societies, with the option also to explore links to historical events.Proposed objectives:(i) Identify drivers of local extinctions and colonisations of wildlife within the study area.(ii) Assess changes in the sustainability of alternative subsistence strategies over time.(iii) Investigate potential environmental drivers of historical events