OEB Seminar Series: Fuwen Wei

Fuwen Wei 
Professor in Wildlife Ecology and Conservation Biology 
Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Science

Conservation Evolutionary Biology of Flagship Species in China

Abstract: Dramatic global changes to the environment have wrought unprecedented reductions in biodiversity, with more than 26% species assessed by IUCN as threatened with extinction. China, as one of the world's megadiverse countries, plays a critical role in global biodiversity conservation. Flagship species, such as giant and red pandas, ungulates, big cats, snub-nosed monkeys, gibbons, dolphins in China, are threaten by habitat fragmentation and small populations, which need additional protection. During past decades, evolutionary theory and omics have been widely applied to non-model species especially flagship species, providing new insights to properly conserve them. In my talk, I will talk about achievements of the conservation evolutionary biology of several flagship mammals such as giant pandas, red pandas, takins and snow leopards conducted in my lab, and try to address how these new findings would be benefit to the conservation and management of these flagship species.

Host: Professor Scott Edwards