Tracking the impact of Holocene environmental change in Patagonia on pinniped distribution, abundance and dispersion using ancient DNA

When environments change, as during the current process of anthropogenic climate change, regional populations may respond by migrating to track suitable habitat, they may expand, decline or go extinct, or they may adapt. Adaptation to climate change may be plastic or by the process of natural selection, and there is empirical evidence for both. Understanding these dynamics will become increasingly critical for effective management and nature reserve design to promote conservation in the future as environments change. This will also improve our understanding of the process of biodiversity evolution, which is determined by both effective population size and connectivity. In this study the student will employ next generation sequencing methods, ancient DNA and coalescent analyses to determine past demographic profiles of two sympatric pinniped species with contrasting life histories. The study will focus on the marine coastal habitat off Patagonia, a region of major transitions during the Holocene, providing the opportunity to test hypotheses about the importance of various environmental parameters. Ancient materials for the study have been acquired from middens left by indigenous people along the coast.

For further details please see:

http://www.iapetus.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/IAP_15_25-DUR-Hoelzel.pdf

and contact Rus Hoelzel ([Email Address Removed]). Application materials should include a c.v., academic records and at least two letters of reference sent to [Email Address Removed] by January 22, 2016.