个人简介：

Keller Kopf 博士是澳大利亚查尔斯达尔文大学的生态学者，先后在美国、新西兰及澳大利亚开展学习与科研工作，研究范围涵盖河流、湖泊和海洋等各类水生生态系统。他主要围绕鱼类生态及其栖息环境保护展开，致力为渔业可持续发展与水生生态系统管护提供科学指导，他的研究融合野外实地调研、实验室实验与统计建模方法，聚焦应用及基础科研课题，相关成果发表在Science、Nature Ecology & Evolution、Journal of Animal Ecology等核心期刊。本次报告，他将分享发表于Science上关于地球古老大型珍稀动物消亡问题的相关研究，并介绍近期被世界自然保护联盟（IUCN）正式采纳的长寿物种保护这一全新理念。

讲座摘要：

Earth's old animals are in decline. Despite this, emerging research is revealing the vital contributions of older individuals to cultural transmission, population dynamics, and ecosystem processes and services. Often the largest and most experienced, old individuals are most valued by humans and make important contributions to reproduction, information acquisition and cultural transmission, trophic dynamics, and resistance and resilience to natural and anthropogenic disturbance. These observations contrast with the senescence-focused paradigm of old age that has dominated the literature for more than a century yet are consistent with findings from behavioral ecology and life history theory. In this work, we review why the global loss of old individuals can be particularly detrimental to long-lived animals with indeterminate growth; those with increasing reproductive output with age; and those dependent on migration, sociality, and cultural transmission for survival. Longevity conservation is needed to protect the important ecological roles and ecosystem services provided by old animals.