About the Project
As we witness the accelerating pace of Earth’s sixth mass extinction, with approximately one million species already at the brink (Díaz et al. 2019), the loss of biodiversity and its far-reaching impacts demands us to reconsider the applicability of our research to the conservation of species, but also beyond that to the communities and associated traditional cultures which rely on them. Marine mammals are often important indicator species of overall ecosystem health and of cultural importance to coastal communities.
This call for PhD project proposals requires potential candidates to develop a research plan and project objectives that centre on the use of non-invasive genetic sampling techniques for the assessment of population structure, kinship and relatedness of large marine mammals, with a view towards long-term monitoring and conservation. The incorporation of blow sampling, a novel technique that is still being tested for its viability within population genetics research, is of heightened interest due to the low behavioural response levels detected in pilot studies to date, and thus allows access to modern sources of cetacean DNA whilst avoiding creating perturbations around these populations. In addition, project proposals should recognise the importance of community-engagement in research and should incorporate citizen-science approaches. This underpins the need for long term and constant monitoring of marine mammals in order to work towards meaningful conservation management goals, which is next to impossible without the participation of local communities.
eDNA has recently emerged as a fast, non-invasive and cost-effective tool for biodiversity monitoring (Bohmann et al. 2014; Valentini et al. 2016) and is one that can be readily incorporated into citizen-science based research (Biggs et al. 2015; Deiner et al. 2017). Several studies have demonstrated the use of eDNA for detecting freshwater and marine fishes as well as phytoplankton (Valentini et al. 2016; Elferink et al. 2017; Sigsgaard et al. 2017), and recently the usefulness of the method for genetic monitoring of bowhead whales in Disko Bay, Greenland, has been demonstrated (Székely et al., in review). However, to date there has been little effort to test the applicability of eDNA for holistic ecosystem-level monitoring, and the ability to target indicator species and the seasonal variability in their distribution and ranges. These challenges should also be encapsulated by proposed projects.
As part of the selection process, candidates need to include a one-page Thesis project identifying a specific system that could be used to develop this framework, which should include a previous connection to the involved local community. Please contact Prof Oscar Gaggiotti to discuss project ideas on [Email Address Removed]. The candidate will learn wet and dry laboratory skills needed for bulk DNA metabarcoding, right from the extraction of DNA to the analytical pipelines applied to analyse these genetic data.
Applications can be made online via our online portal- https://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/study/apply/postgraduate/research/
References
Agersnap, Sune, William Brenner Larsen, Steen Wilhelm Knudsen, David Strand, Philip Francis Thomsen, Martin Hesselsøe, Peter Bondgaard Mortensen, Trude Vrålstad, and Peter Rask Møller. 2017. “Monitoring of Noble, Signal and Narrow-Clawed Crayfish Using Environmental DNA from Freshwater Samples.” PloS One 12 (6): e0179261.
Biggs, Jeremy, Naomi Ewald, Alice Valentini, Coline Gaboriaud, Tony Dejean, Richard A. Griffiths, Jim Foster, et al. 2015. “Using eDNA to Develop a National Citizen Science-Based Monitoring Programme for the Great Crested Newt (Triturus Cristatus).” Biological Conservation 183 (March): 19–28.
Bohmann, Kristine, Alice Evans, M. Thomas P. Gilbert, Gary R. Carvalho, Simon Creer, Michael Knapp, Douglas W. Yu, and Mark de Bruyn. 2014. “Environmental DNA for Wildlife Biology and Biodiversity Monitoring.” Trends in Ecology & Evolution 29 (6): 358–67.
Deiner, Kristy, Holly M. Bik, Elvira Mächler, Mathew Seymour, Anaïs Lacoursière-Roussel, Florian Altermatt, Simon Creer, et al. 2017. “Environmental DNA Metabarcoding: Transforming How We Survey Animal and Plant Communities.” Molecular Ecology 26 (21): 5872–95.
Díaz, Sandra, Josef Settele, Eduardo S. Brondízio, Hien T. Ngo, John Agard, Almut Arneth, Patricia Balvanera, et al. 2019. “Pervasive Human-Driven Decline of Life on Earth Points to the Need for Transformative Change.” Science 366 (6471). https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aax3100.
Elferink, Stephanie, Stefan Neuhaus, Sylke Wohlrab, Kerstin Toebe, Daniela Voß, Marc Gottschling, Nina Lundholm, et al. 2017. “Molecular Diversity Patterns among Various Phytoplankton Size-Fractions in West Greenland in Late Summer.” Deep Sea Research Part I: Oceanographic Research Papers 121 (March): 54–69.
Sigsgaard, Eva Egelyng, Ida Broman Nielsen, Henrik Carl, Marcus Anders Krag, Steen Wilhelm Knudsen, Yingchun Xing, Tore Hejl Holm-Hansen, Peter Rask Møller, and Philip Francis Thomsen. 2017. “Seawater Environmental DNA Reflects Seasonality of a Coastal Fish Community.” Marine Biology 164 (6): 128.
Székely, Dóra, Natasja L. Corfixen, Louise L. Mørch, Steen W. Knudsen, Morgan L. McCarthy, Jonas Teilmann, Mads P. Heide-Jørgensen, and Morten Tange Olsen. n.d. “Environmental DNA Captures the Genetic Diversity of Bowhead Whales (Balaena Mysticetus) in West Greenland.” Environmental DNA.
Valentini, Alice, Pierre Taberlet, Claude Miaud, Raphaël Civade, Jelger Herder, Philip Francis Thomsen, Eva Bellemain, et al. 2016. “Next-Generation Monitoring of Aquatic Biodiversity Using Environmental DNA Metabarcoding.” Molecular Ecology 25 (4): 929–42.