Individual fitness in spatially-structured plant populations

Individual plants in natural populations are typically clustered at small scales. The position of a plant within an aggregation has numerous implications for competition with conspecifics and interactions with pollinators and herbivores. In this project we will use a combination of observational and experimental approaches to investigate the impacts of population spatial structure on plant properties, and assess whether plants are able to make adaptive adjustments in response to their neighbourhoods. This will involve assessing spatial variation in flower morphology, seed characteristics or relative investment in vegetative versus reproductive tissues. Initial censuses will map distributions of naturally-occurring plants and their traits, followed by experimental plantings with predetermined patterns to investigate their impacts.

Project time will be divided between experimental work and the field, with approximately 12 months fieldwork over three years. A suitable candidate will have strong interests in either plant ecology/botany or mathematical modelling.