Balancing human & biodiversity needs from agricultural landscapes.

Agricultural intensification and expansion are major drivers of the current global biodiversity crisis. It is therefore essential that we understand the nuances of the relationship between agricultural land-use, biodiversity and the ecosystem services it provides in order to mediate the effects of increasing global demand for food. While there is much work on enhancing ecosystem services on farmland, less is known about how to support a broad range of biodiversity. Indeed, while we have some understanding of the impacts of agriculture on some species and functional groups, we do not have the broad taxonomic understanding that is required if we are to avoid the unintended consequences of managing landscapes for a single or narrow range of outcomes. Even less is known about how biodiversity directly contributes to farmland production, meaning it can be devalued by farmers.

Biodiversity can be measured in a wealth of ways. An increasingly supported measure of biodiversity is that of functional diversity: the range of ways by which organisms influence ecosystem functioning. Understanding how changes in biodiversity driven by agriculture affect functional diversity is crucial for many reasons. Firstly, understanding the effects of environmental change on functional diversity provides greater generality and predictability than focussing on species’ identities alone. Secondly, the most affected species may be providing similar or unique ecological functions, leading to a loss of that function. Finally, functional traits provide the link between biodiversity and ecosystem resilience and function, and therefore ecosystem services.

The aim of this project is to gain an understanding of the relationship between agricultural land-use – in the context of the wider landscape – and functional diversity, covering a wide range of functions and taxonomic groups via the following questions: 1) which functional groups are most impacted by agricultural land-use?; 2) are communities in agriculturally intensive landscapes more functionally homogenised (and less resilient) compared to other land-uses?; and 3) how can we design agricultural landscapes to avoid loss of functional diversity and ecosystem services? The project will lead to new insights and syntheses concerning how multiple species are impacted by agriculture and how these impacts alter ecosystem functioning.

How to apply

Applications need to be submitted via the University of Birmingham postgraduate portal by midnight on 11.01.2021. Please first check whether the primary supervisor is within Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, or in Biosciences, and click on the corresponding PhD program on the application page.

This application should include

• a brief cover letter, CV, and the contact details for at least two referees

• a CENTA application form

• the supervisor and title of the project you are applying for under the Research Information section of the application form.

Referee’s will be invited to submit their references once you submit your application, but we strongly encourage applicants to ensure referees are aware of your submission and expecting a reference request from us. Students are also encouraged to visit and explore the additional information available on the CENTA website.