Honing our Understanding of MIcrobial Diversity in tropical peatlands (HUMID)

Applications are invited from suitably qualified candidates for a full-time PhD in the School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences (BEES) to complete a PhD on ‘Honing our Understanding of MIcrobial Diversity in tropical peatlands’ (HUMID). The HUMID project is funded by the Crawford Hayes Fellowship. HUMID is a joint project between the disciplines of environmental science and plant science at University College Cork

 Project Description

Soil microorganisms play essential roles in peatland ecosystems and are instrumental in the control turnover of organic carbon in soil. However, little is known about the quality of the organic matter in tropical South Pacific peatlands, along with the assemblage patterns, characteristics, and functionality of the microbial communities. The overarching goal of the HUMID project is to (i) increase our scientific understanding of the contemporary microbial diversity in tropical peatlands across the South Pacific region (Fiji and Wallis et Futuna), and (ii) identify the dominant environmental controls that drive changes in microbial community structure, (iii) explore historic levels of microbial turnover and assemblage patterns through time, (iv) develop a novel environmental inference model based on contemporary microbial structure and abiotic drivers to reconstruct past environmental change in tropical south pacific peatlands, and concurrently inform potential linkages to carbon storage in these unique ecosystems. The data and knowledge produced will provide a critical evidence-base for informing current and future policy relating to peatland conservation on these islands.