The impact of storm-damage on global forest function

Storm-damage and other forest disturbances are known to play a crucial role in forest dynamics, but how they vary in time and space across different ecosystems globally is not well understood. What fraction of tree mortality occurs as a result of storms? Is climate change likely to drive increases in damage from extreme winds? Could such effects modify the resilience of forests to other climatic pressures such as droughts, or speed transitions to new forest types? These questions are of fundamental importance for our understanding the likely impacts of environmental change on forests, which, among many other functions, are huge stores and sinks of carbon. This PhD project will investigate these questions, combining big data observations from remote sensing and forest inventories with state-of-the-art ecosystem modelling. The studentship is fully funded as part of the ERC-funded project TreeMort, which aims to understand and quantify how rates and drivers of tree mortality vary across the globe, and thus better constrain projections of terrestrial carbon uptake.

The student will become a member of a young and dynamic team of researchers at the Birmingham Institute of Forest Research, where they will also benefit from the exciting training opportunities and international activity resulting from the huge recent investment in the first temperate forest FACE (Free Air CO2 Experiment; http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/activity/bifor/face/index.aspx), which has recently been established at Birmingham. They will develop skills in analysis of big data, quantitative ecosystem modelling and scientific code development. There will be substantial opportunities for travel and to build strong links international links, collaborating with partners from across Europe.

Applicants should be submitted via the Environmental Health Sciences PhD programme at the University of Birmingham, marking Dr Tom Pugh as supervisor and giving the title of the PhD as the research proposal (https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/postgraduate/courses/research/gees/environmental-health-risk-mgt.aspx?OpenSection=HowToApply). For informal enquiries contact [Email Address Removed]. Deadline for applications has been extended to 11th December 2017.