Examples of current and past EBI PhD projects
Carbon balance of Ghanaian Forests
Pollinator and plant extinctions: dynamics, land-use and socio-economic drivers
Urban gardens as routes to active participation in nature conservation & community building
The Impacts of Disturbance on the Trophic Organisation of Tropical Rainforest
New techniques to determine plant nutrient availability in natural ecosystems
Tenaghi Philippon revisited: The last intergacial complex
Biodiversity impacts of invasive species at multiple spatial scales
Integrated modelling of tropical forest structure and function
Late Quaternary climate change as viewed through Sr isotopes from pre-Aswan Nile sediment
Applications of Neutron Imaging in Earth Sciences and Biosciences
Molecular pathways of biomineralization
Herbivory in Antarctic fossil forests: evolutionary and palaeoclimatic significance
Local and regional factors affecting the population ecology of the winter moth
Impacts of disturbance on tropical ecosystems: a novel approach using diversity partitioning
The effect of gripping and grip blocking on runoff, dissolved organic carbon and colour dynamics in upland blanket peats
Monitoring and Modelling of Livestock Impacts on Upland Flood Generation
Carbon balance of Ghanaian forests
This project will use long-term forest inventories to measure how the carbon balance of the forests of Ghana has changed over the past few decades changing and whether there have been compositional shifts. Understanding the carbon dynamics of these forests will involve both careful measurement of tree and liana biomass through recensuses of 20 year-old permanent plots in Ghana and also assessment of the effect of local climatic and edaphic conditions and current and past disturbance histories. This is an interdisciplinary project funded by the Earth and Biosphere Institute and interaction with supervisors in both Earth Sciences and Biology will allow the student to explore a wide range of methods to achieve these goals. I
Pollinator and plant extinctions: dynamics, land-use and socio-economic drivers
Pollination is a key ecosystem service, affecting both biodiversity and agricultural production. Indeed, more than 75% of the world’s major vegetable, fruit and seed crops and a large share of wild flowering plants depend on animals for their pollination, which suggests that pollinator loss may have considerable economic and ecological impact. Recent work from our group has shown that pollinators, particularly bees, are indeed declining in Britain, together with the wild plants they pollinate. Local pollinator extinctions have resulted in more homogeneous communities dominated by fewer species, which might affect ecosystem functioning and could lead to extinction cascades. To remedy the loss of pollinators and pollination services we first need to identify the ultimate drivers of this process and then take measures towards sustainability of pollination services. Land use changes have been found to have substantial impacts on pollinator communities but are themselves driven by socio-economic processes. Thus the consideration of socio-economic processes may improve our understanding of the causes and effects of changing pollinator communities in the UK.
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Urban gardens as routes to active participation in nature conservation & community building
With the continued encroachment of urban areas into rural habitats and the decline of farmland habitat due to agricultural intensification, urban gardens constiture a major land use, and may well become an increasingly important refuge for birds and other wildlife i.e., an important resource for the conservation of biodiversity. There are a growing number of urban and suburban community initiatives being initiated through neighbourhood groups with a direct interest in the management of gardens and neighbouring ‘green’ areas as wildlife refuges. However, there has been little research on the role that gardens and nature conservation aims can play in helping to build more cohesive and active local community groups. Given that such social community building initiatives are central to Government efforts to establish more Sustainable Communities across urban Britain, an improved integration of garden and urban green space management offers the potential for a ‘win-win’ opportunity for improving the social structure and ecological biodiversity of urban areas.
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The Impacts of Disturbance on the Trophic Organisation of Tropical Rainforest
Understanding the relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning is one of the major challenges facing ecologists today. This is a particular concern for tropical rainforests, which are exceptionally species-rich and are being degraded at an alarming rate. One of the central aspects of ecosystem functioning concerns the trophic organisation of biological communities but detailed information is very limited. This project adopts a novel approach using stable nitrogen isotopes to examine the effects of anthropogenic disturbance on the trophic status and food web structure of highly diverse rainforest communities.
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New techniques to determine plant nutrient availability in natural ecosystems
Most methods of assessing soil nutrient availability have their origins in agricultural science and are based on concepts of available or exchangeable nutrient concentrations. This project will aim to determine the feasibility of using alternative approaches which may be more applicable to natural ecosystems, in particular, in situ measurements of soil solution concentrations using hydrogels the relatively new techniques of diffusive gradients in thin films (DGT) and diffusive equilibration in thin films (DET).
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Tenaghi Philippon revisited: The last intergacial complex
The site of Philippi, northeast Greece, has been long noted in Quaternary circles for providing the longest continuous European pollen record, spanning approximately the last one million years. What is remarkable about the TP record is its high coherence with the reference palaeoclimatic timeseries on glacial-interglacial timescales, a reflection of the sensitivity of local vegetation communities to climate variations. The aim of the project is to re-examine palynologically the interval from the end of MIS 6 (c. 140 ka) to the beginning of MIS 4 (c. 70 ka), with particular emphasis on the Last Interglacial (110-127 ka).
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Biodiversity impacts of invasive species at multiple spatial scales
Species translocations characterize human history, but rapid movement of people and global trade have increased the rate at which species colonize and become naturalized in a new range. These accelerated influxes of species are considered amongst the greatest threats to biodiversity. Although not all the species introduced to a new range succeed in establishing self sustaining populations nor do all the successful ones become harmful, there are several examples showing that exotic species may negatively affect biodiversity as well as economy. We will make use of mathematical models to derive species richness across scales.
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Integrated modelling of tropical forest structure and function
This research involves the development of a forest structure and function model, for use in the simulations of tropical forest carbon, water and energy fluxes and for the simulation of tropical forest canopy dynamics. I will be making use of the extensive dataset already collected by the RAINFOR network which includes tree-by-tree data on plant physiological characteristics, soil structure and fertility and tree growth and mortality rates for over 60 sites across Amazônia. Additional data will be be collected where needed, which will also form part of the RAINFOR dataset.
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Late Quaternary climate change as viewed through Sr isotopes from pre-Aswan Nile sediment
Strontium isotopes can be used as a proxy record for paleaoclimate, as in this study of pre-Aswan dam River Nile sediment. The sediment is as a mixture from two sources: The Blue and White Niles. During a ‘wet’ climate phase when the African Summer Monsoon is more intense the growing season is extended and vegetal cover over the Ethiopian Highlands is increased. This reduces the availability of sediment from the Blue Nile and increases the relative amount of White Nile sediment. This alters the bulk 87Sr/86Sr value of River Nile sediment, reflecting a greater input from the White Nile.
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Applications of Neutron Imaging in Earth Sciences and Biosciences
Neutron radiography (2-D) and tomography (3-D) are extremely powerful diagnostic tools in the non-destructive imaging of internal structures without the need to break or open the test sample. These techniques have already been applied to such diverse fields as imaging fluid flow in sandstone, imaging oil distribution in a running combustion engine, and imaging fossilised remains inside rocks (left).
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Molecular pathways of biomineralization
Silica deposition occurs in active geothermal systems around the world, yet the process is not well understood. Recent studies have shown that a strong link between inorganic and biogenic silicification exists. Understanding of the overall process is largely dependent on knowledge of the mechanisms of reactions that occur at molecular level at the organic-inorganic interface between microorganisms and the reacting solutions. The main goals of this project are to quantify the silicification processes involving microbial activity and to determine the kinetic rates and mechanisms of silicification.
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Herbivory in Antarctic fossil forests: evolutionary and palaeoclimatic significance
Insects form an important part of modern ecosystems, but their remains are rarely preserved in the fossil record. Aspects of their ecology can nonetheless be discerned from trace fossils, which represent a largely unexploited store of information about ancient plant-insect interactions, palaeoclimates, biogeography and evolution. Fossil leaves and wood of Cenozoic age from Antarctica contain a rich store of insect trace fossils.This project will combine quantitative studies of Antarctic fossil plant-animal interactions and contemporary insect faunas.
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Local and regional factors affecting the population ecology of the winter moth
The winter moth, Operophtera brumata, is one of the most polyphagous pests of the UK. This project will examine the extent to which biotic and abiotic factors interact to affect the patterns in abundance of the moth. It will focus on interactions with natural enemies in relation to habitat fragmentation (e.g. number, size and connectivity), latitudinal gradients (Scottish borders to Orkney) and environmental gradients (e.g. altitude, temperature, rainfall, wind direction).
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Impacts of disturbance on tropical ecosystems: a novel approach using diversity partitioning
This project is investigating landscape-scale patterns of species diversity within
natural and selectively-logged rainforests in Sabah, Borneo. A particular
focus of the study is on gap dynamics, which comprise a major component of tropical forest diversity; a working hypothesis is that logging enhances local plant
species diversity but depresses landscape-scale species diversity by favouring the regeneration of gap-dependent soil-generalist taxa over shade-tolerant soil-specialist species.
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The effect of gripping and grip blocking on runoff, dissolved organic carbon and colour dynamics in upland blanket peats
The primary aim is to determine exactly how and why gripping affects runoff, DOC and colour productivity and transportation. In addition, it aims to determine the efficiency of grip blocking at restoring these water quality and quantity variables back to the conditions found in undisturbed blanket peats. The results of the study will then facilitate the development of a conceptual model of the various hydrological and hydrochemical components, which has the potential for use in land management schemes aimed at reducing the flux of DOC and coloured water in upland water supplies.
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Monitoring and Modelling of Livestock Impacts on Upland Flood Generation
This research is expected to quantify impacts of a specific land use practice - livestock grazing - on upland flood generation, and to develop an efficient dynamic function in TOPMODEL as a tool in assessing effects of changes at a catchment scale of livestock grazing on flood risks. The work will provide a better scientific foundation for upland land management practice in the future.
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