Maisteri Haukka Anna

Understanding the drivers and species ecological traits underpinning the global trade in wild birds

Tieteellinen tutkimus / siihen pohjautuva työ | Nelivuotinen

Human beings live in close neighborhoods with other species and have a history of using and translocating other species for human use and benefits in multiple ways. Yet, despite other species uses for us, human actions in the Anthropocene have led to big declines in numbers of wildlife. Nowadays one of the most pressing issues in conservation science is to understand the drivers of unsustainable use of the Earth´s resources, including wildlife. As bird species are one of the groups most traded by humans both internationally and locally on illegal and legal markets, this PhD project aims at combining multiple data sources at different spatio-temporal scales to understand these drivers of threat to bird species. This is done based on both global existing datasets (CITES trade database, IUCN RedList, Birdbase database & bird distributions) as well as new local empirical datasets collected at markets in Southern Africa and Southeast Asia. The aims include understanding the ecological factors and traits that make wild birds vulnerable to trade as well as identifying regions for this threat both for birds known to be traded as well as those not currently listed for trade. The new information produced will be extremely timely and relevant for targeting conservation actions to the species and regions where trade represents a most pressing current or future threat. They can inform the relevant institutions, such as CITES.