This PhD will investigate the relative importance of habitat quality, predation pressure and their interactions on declining wader populations in Orkney, Scotland. The islands support internationally important densities of breeding waders across the diverse agricultural landscape; populations that are also threatened by introduced mammalian predators including stoats and hedgehogs. However, the importance of the habitat matrix in affecting breeding success, predation rates and source-sink wader population dynamics remains unknown. This hinders our ability to effectively implement conservation efforts to reverse population declines.
Anthropogenic changes are driving biodiversity losses worldwide. Habitat losses to agricultural development, and the introduction of predatory invasive species, are responsible for many of these declines. However, disentangling the impacts of, and interactions between, the fundamental processes of habitat change and predation pressure remains a key issue within wildlife management worldwide. While agriculture exerts a massive global footprint on biodiversity, key questions remain over how land should be apportioned within farmed landscapes to maintain biodiversity while meeting increasing food demands. Understanding this spare-share dilemma, and the role of different management regimes in supporting wildlife, is essential given the significant sums invested in agri-environment schemes.
This multidisciplinary project will utilise the unique opportunity provided by the introduction and ongoing removal of a non-native predator, the European stoat, across a gradient of farmland management intensities. The results from this natural experiment will inform how agricultural land management should be directed to enhance key wader populations at the landscape scale that is essential for reversing the substantial declines seen in these farmland breeding birds in Orkney and elsewhere.
Building on an outstanding data set collected by the Orkney Native Wildlife Project, this studentship will utilise a range of monitoring tools and technologies including: trail cameras, tracking tunnels, temperature loggers, radio transmitters, and ecological fieldcraft to assess both breeding wader abundance and productivity, and mammalian predator and prey activity and density, across the diverse agricultural landscape. Outcomes from this work will address current knowledge gaps, providing evidence required for conservation action and policy by collaborative partners at NatureScot and RSPB.
You will be based at the University of Aberdeen, but the project will involve multiple field seasons in Orkney, placements with NatureScot and RSPB and time spent at Edinburgh Napier University. You will receive comprehensive training in a suite of transferable skills that will make you highly competitive for a career in research, applied conservation or consultancy, including: experimental design and fieldwork skills; GIS and advanced statistical techniques; remote monitoring technologies; communication skills with a wide variety of audiences; application of scientific outcomes to meet conservation and policy needs. As part of the Scottish Universities Partnership for Environmental Research Doctoral Training Programme, you will be able to gain a Postgraduate Certificate in professional development of broad employability skills.
We encourage applications from all backgrounds and communities, and are committed to having a diverse, inclusive team. Unsure about applying? Email the lead supervisor at [Email Address Removed]
Academic Eligibility:
Applicants to the SUPER DTP are expected to have a minimum of a 2:1 UK honours degree (or equivalent). Applicants with a 2:2 at honours level will be considered on the condition they have a distinction at Masters level (or equivalent).
Applicants to this project should also have a full driving license.
Application Procedure:
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- Please DO NOT apply through the University application portal
Application enquiries should be made to [Email Address Removed] . Please ensure you enter SUPER DTP in the subject box.