Developing a habitability index for Earth’s biosphere

1. Interrogate records of deep time (geological) biotic change

2. Use your analysis to interpret the level of current environmental impacts on the biosphere

3. Develop a habitability index for Earth’s biosphere

Planet Earth has been continuously habitable for over 3 billion years. During that immense time the Earth has been subject to considerable environmental perturbation, resulting from both intrinsic and extrinsic forces. These range from the smaller-scale, such as solar radiation changes from orbital forcing mechanisms, to the very large scale, such as an asteroid strike. The biosphere has shown considerable resilience to environmental perturbation and provides the only quantifiable measure of habitability available to us in the Cosmos. Here we seek to examine and quantify the response of the biosphere to different levels of perturbation. 

We would focus on a range of key geological events with well-documented records, ranging from smaller-scale episodes of change, such as the Mid Miocene climate optimum, to much larger environmental perturbations, such as the end Permian extinction. We would seek to quantify the relative position of a range of more minor to more major biotic events and examine the driving mechanisms of such change. Events of intermediate scale include the Palaeocene-Eocene thermal maximum, which caused the loss of taxonomic and structural biodiversity (a minor extinction), but not a mass extinction. Finally, we would ask the question, do events lie on a continuum from ‘no change’ to ‘wholesale change’, or show diagnostic groupings indicative of a system in various degrees of state shift? We would use this analysis to examine questions of biosphere resilience and attempt to establish an index of habitability according to different levels of perturbation. Notably, we would then apply our index to try and understand the likely level of biotic change resulting from current (human-induced) environmental change in the 21st century.

Entry Requirements

Applicants are required to hold/or expect to obtain a UK Bachelor Degree 2:1 or better in a relevant subject. 

The University of Leicester English language requirements apply

Enquiries:

Project enquiries to: Professor Mark Williams [Email Address Removed] 

To apply

Please refer to the application advice, How to Apply section and link to our online application at

https://le.ac.uk/study/research-degrees/funded-opportunities/f50-ri-ef-williams

Please ensure you include the project reference, supervisor and project title on your application.