About the Project
Approximately a quarter of all living species are found in soils. The soil biota underpin functions which provide essential ecosystem services such as carbon and nutrient cycling, critical for primary production and human food security. Intensive farming practices often impact negatively on soil biodiversity leading to concerns over agricultural sustainability.
Agri-environment schemes provide financial support to farmings to implement measures that will benefit wildlife and agricultural sustainability. Currently, little is known about the development of soils following restoration efforts such as the creation of woodlands, the expansion of which is now a key Government policy within the UK and many other temperate countries which have undergone long-term deforestation.
In this project, the student will examine changes in soil properties and below-ground biodiversity resulting from woodland creation over the last 160 years. Sampling will take advantage of sites that are part of an existing long-term natural experiment to assess the impact of historic land use change on current biodiversity (The WrEN project; http://www.wren-project.com). A three-way comparison of farmed land, secondary woodlands (10-150 years from establishment on the former farmed land) and ancient woodlands will be made to test the following hypotheses:
1. Taxonomic and functional diversity of soil biota increase from actively farmed land to those under woodlands of increasing age and size.
2. The soil physical structure and its biogeochemical properties change significantly from actively farmed land to those under woodlands of varying characteristics.
3. There are strong linkages between soil fauna biodiversity, soil function and above-ground biodiversity.
Work outlined in this proposal will examine how woodland creation influences soil stabilisation, carbon and nutrient accumulation, long term C sequestration and below-ground biodiversity, and the time-scales required for the development of these processes. In addition, it will enable us to understand how the below-ground soil function and biodiversity relates to overall forest biodiversity, ecosystem services and resilience (e.g. soil formation).
The PhD training will have four main components:
1) Fieldwork, lab skills and experimental design. Training in the required field skills, invertebrate identification, laboratory analyses and sampling design.
2) Numeracy, data analysis, ecological modelling & informatics. These skills will be gained through targeted training courses within the IAPETUS consortium (e.g. Programming and Analysis of Environmental Data in R, GIS & Remote Sensing for Environmental Managers) and at Forest Research.
3) Land-use policy and management (e.g. stakeholder engagement at an early stage; dialogue and advice from WrEN project partners).
4) Complementary training in transferable skills. Training in core scientific skills (data management, analysis, presentations, paper writing).
This is a CASE award with Forest Research and in addition to those listed above the supervisory team will include Drs Clare Wilson, Elisa Fuentes-Montemayor (UoS), Drs Elena Vanguelova, Francis Ashwood & Kevin Watts (Forest Research).
The PhD will be based at Stirling and the student will visit Newcastle for meetings, seminars and specific training. It is anticipated that the student will spend approximately one month per year working with researchers based at Forest Research, the research agency and the main research provider for the Forestry Commission. It aims to address social, economic and environmental components of forest sustainability. The student will gain insights into understanding and formulating policy relevant research questions, skills for interdisciplinary research and the process of translating research into guidance and advice.
Applications
The deadline for all IAPETUS PhDs is 19th January 2018 (17.00 GMT). However, serious candidates are strongly advised to submit your application by 8th January 2018 (17.00 GMT) to enable sufficient time for short listing.
To apply please complete the following:
1) make an online application through UoS system:
https://www.stir.ac.uk/postgraduate/how-to-apply (select Research Degree in Ecology under Biological & Environmental Sciences) AND
2) send a CV and a cover letter outlining your suitability for this studentship to Prof. Kirsty Park, Email: [Email Address Removed].
Funding Notes
This is a 3.5 year PhD studentship with a tax-free stipend set at the RCUK national rate (forecast to be £14,663 for 2017/18) with an anticipated start date of October 2018. Part-time award-holders are funded for seven years and receive a maintenance grant at 50% of the full-time rate.
We are only able to consider applications from UK candidates or European Union candidates who have been resident in the UK for 3 years or more prior to the commencement of their studies. For more information go to: http://www.iapetus.ac.uk/aboutstudentships.
References
Baritz et al. (2010). Carbon concentrations and stocks in forest soils of Europe. Forest Ecology and Management, 260, 262–27
Lavelle et al. (1997). Soil function in a changing world: The role of invertebrate ecosystem engineers. European Journal of Soil Biology, 33:159–193.
Soil changes under long-term woodland establishment (a pilot study); www.forestry.gov.uk/fr/beeh-afpfxv
Watts et al. (2016). Using historic woodland creation to construct a long-term, large-scale natural experiment: the WrEN project. Ecology & Evolution 6: 3012-3025.
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