Extreme conservation: reproductive strategies of Malagasy shorebirds

Do you want to build your career in wildlife conservation or behavioural ecology? Our project offers the extraordinary opportunity to conduct cutting-edge research in one of the world's most captivating and ecologically diverse locations: Madagascar.

Madagascar is one of the global biodiversity hotspot with an outstanding frequency of endemism. This diversity, however, is rapidly eroding before the fundamental aspects of natural history, behaviour and ecology have been explored. Our team is monitoring the behaviour, ecology, and reproduction of three species of Malagasy shorebirds: the Kittlitz’s plover, white-fronted plover and, black-banded plover. This studentship offers a fieldwork opportunity to study these shorebirds enabling us  to better understand the factors driving their diverse reproductive behaviours and use this information to design conservation strategies. One of these species, the black-banded plover, is listed as Vulnerable by the IUCN, making your work critical and impactful.

The student will observe mate choice, pair-bonding, and parenting behaviours following a protocol recently developed by our team, which can be found at https://elvonalshorebirds.com/. S/he will have hands-on field experience in the Southwestern coasts of Madagascar, observing and studying shorebirds in their natural habitat. Additionally, investigate the ecological factors influencing  reproduction. The student will also test whether reproductive behaviours can be predicted by population density and sex ratios through field observations and demographic data analysis. Previous work by our team has revealed significant variations in reproductive behaviour; however, the underlying evolutionary drivers and the fine-scaled details of the associations between reproduction, ecology, and demography remain unclear. Understanding the outcome of reproductive decisions will, in turn, inform conservation efforts of these plovers and shed light on the critical stages of their reproduction.

The student will have access to data on behaviour, ecology and demography of plovers compiled by our team. Using theoretical frameworks, s/he will investigate reproduction from both ecological and demographic perspectives. The student will receive comprehensive training in behavioural ecology and demographic analyses and will apply evolutionary theory to advance biodiversity conservation. The PhD will be based at the Milner Centre for Evolution at the University of Bath, England. We have an extensive network of collaborators in the UK and abroad, and have a track record of helping PhD students in publishing in top research journals. We seek bright, motivated, and independent students from any country with an interest in evolution, behaviour, and biodiversity conservation. Interest in field biology and willingness to work in wild and remote study areas are essential for this PhD position.

The studentship will start in October 2024.

For further details, please see the supervisor’s details:

Prof Tamas Székely

https://www.szekelylab.com/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tam%C3%A1s_Sz%C3%A9kely_(biologist)

https://elvonalshorebirds.com/group/core-team/tamas-szekely/

https://www.bath.ac.uk/announcements/staff-spotlight-on-tamas-szekely/