Forest edge effects on wood decomposition and fungal community development - NERC GW4+ DTP project

This project is one of a number that are in competition for funding from the NERC GW4+ DTP. The GW4+ DTP consists of the Great Western Four alliance of the University of Bath, University of Bristol, Cardiff University and the University of Exeter plus six Research Organisation partners. The partnership aims to provide a broad training in earth and environmental sciences, designed to train tomorrow’s leaders in earth and environmental science. For further details about the programme, please see http://nercgw4plus.ac.uk/.

Project background, aims and methods

Woodlands are increasingly fragmented. In the UK, three quarters of woodland area is within 100m of the edge. Edges tend to be drier and warmer, due to insolation, wind and associated evapotranspiration, with gradients that penetrate hundreds of metres into forests.

Wood and leaf litter decomposition – key components of the carbon cycle – are controlled by saprotrophic fungi. The rate at which decomposition occurs is determined predominantly by the effects of water and temperature on the activity of individual fungi and on the composition of the fungal community (since different species cause different rates of decay).

A preliminary study has revealed that edge effects, particularly due to water regime, have a major effect on the wood decay rate in southern England, but effects on and of fungal communities are unknown.

The aim of this PhD project is to determine edge effects on fungal community structure, and on the rate of wood decomposition. A combination of different field and laboratory approaches will be employed.

Fungal community composition in naturally fallen and colonised wood along transects from the woodland edge inwards will be determined by culturing, and by DNA extraction and next generation sequencing. Experiments will be conducted in woodlands under two different climatic regimes (low annual rainfall in eastern England and high annual rainfall in the South West), to determine how edge effects on decomposition vary spatially.

Wood discs colonised by a range of fungal species, representing early, middle and late stage colonisers, will be deployed along transects from the forest edge, to determine effect of distance from edges on subsequent fungal community development and decay rate.

A hardwood (beech) and softwood (Norway spruce) will be compared. Field experiments will be backed up by laboratory experiments on decay rate under controlled temperature on moisture regimes. The relationships between climate and decomposition rates will be combined with spatial data on woodland extent, to build a model of the influence of edge effects across the UK. Climate change projections will be used to estimate potential wood decomposition rates and fungal community composition in the future.

This is a Case project with Earthwatch, Oxford. During a short placement with Earthwatch, you will gain insight into how the public can participate in high quality research. Citizen science is a growing field and likely to play a larger role in environmental science research in the future.

Training

You will be based at Cardiff University in the Fungal Ecology research group, which has vast experience of ecology of wood decomposing fungi, including interactions with the biotic (other fungi, bacteria, invertebrates and plants) and abiotic environment (including microclimate and climate change).

Most of the mycological and molecular work will be done there. The other 20% of the time will be spent at Exeter, where you will benefit from the supervisors excellence in statistical and mathematical approaches, and forest ecology.

While the Exeter supervisor is early career with no personal research group, he is embedded within one of the largest fungus-focussed research communities in the UK, and you will benefit immensely from exposure to other mycological disciplines.

As well as generic courses within the DTP, training will include use of modern molecular microbiological approaches, ecological experimental design, statistical analysis, R, modelling, fungal culture, quantification and activity assessment, fungal identification, empirical data collection and analysis, including bioinformatics, literature reviewing and meta-analysis.

Cardiff University’s Doctoral Academy Programme offers an integrated research and professional skills programme including more than 200 topics delivered via workshops, online materials and events. Transferable skills include: scientific writing, poster and oral presentations, and project management. Attendance at national and international scientific meetings is strongly encouraged, as is short stays at other research labs.