The trade of exotic animals has been a central component of human culture for over 10,000 years. However, while the volume and diversity of species traded has increased dramatically over the last few decades, no systematic programmes of research have been implemented to quantify with precision the impacts of this industry at large-scale. This project is the first aimed to identify the drivers and conservation implications of pet traded species across the globe.
The trade of wildlife as pets has been part of human culture for over ten millennia. However, the diversity of species in the pet trade and the volume of individuals traded has increased to unprecedented scales in recent decades as a result of an ever more connected international market. Despite the rapid growth of the pet industry, and the frequency of animal trade against the law, the extent to which the intensification of this industry has contributed to the ongoing decline of biodiversity worldwide remains contested. For example, colourful birds are likely to be traded and face high risk of extinction (Senior et al 2022). Similarly, the rarest species (which are often more vulnerable) tend to be primary targets of animal traffickers (Meiri et al. 2018).
Furthermore, some of the species traded as pets internationally may be released in non-native environments, become invasive and have detrimental impacts on the native biodiversity and ecosystems within their new range. Thus, identifying which species are at risk of extinction or decline because involved in the pet trade and/or pose risk of becoming invasive if released, are urgent issues. Using state-of-the-art comparative approaches, we recently demonstrated that species internationally traded possess prolific life history strategies which can promote their success as alien invasive species if released in novel environments (Street et al 2022). Building on this successful approach, in this project you will investigate the drivers and conservation implications of the pet trade and address the following questions in vertebrates:
Does the pet trade lead to population declines and higher extinction risk?
Does the international pet trade increase the risk of release of alien species in novel regions and the risk of biological invasions?
Why do we trade some species but not others as pets?
Are species in the legal pet trade different from those traded illegally?
To address the above questions, the student will build a global scale database of pet-traded and non-traded vertebrate species, their biological characteristics, extinction risk and population trends, and analyse the data with cutting-edge phylogenetic comparative methods and machine learning approaches.
While working on important ecological questions and global challenges, the student will gain a rare set of interdisciplinary skills that are highly valued by employers, including assembling and managing large databases (‘big data’); cutting edge statistical modelling and machine learning approaches; numeracy; evaluating risk and uncertainty; as well as gaining in depth understanding of fundamental principles in ecology and evolution.
Skills/experience required: Essential - the ideal candidate will hold at least a 2:1 degree in biology, ecology, zoology or related discipline and interests in ecology and evolution; have very strong quantitative skills, outstanding organisational skills, excellent attention to detail, be reliable and independent. Desirable - a Master's degree in a relevant discipline, previous research experience with phylogenetic comparative methods.
Start Date: 1 October 2023
Duration: 3 years
How to apply: Applications must be submitted online via: https://dap.qub.ac.uk/portal/user/u_login.php
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