GBP 12,900 bursary per annum plus fees

The Centre for Conservation Ecology and Environmental Change in the School of Conservation Sciences is seeking an ecological modeller, or ecologist, with strong mathematical skills to undertake doctoral research on the responses of key freshwater fish species to climate change. This DEFRA-funded PhD will be undertaken at Bournemouth University under to co-supervision of Dr. R.E. Gozlan and Dr. G.H. Copp (CEFAS-Lowestoft).

Background
The communities of species in natural freshwater ecosystems are linked to one another via a dynamic web of inter-specific interactions, with each species performing a different role in the ecosystem. Some species can have a disproportionate effect on the ecosystem relative to their abundance. However, these keystone species are usually only noticed when they have been removed or they disappear, and as a consequence dramatic changes can take place in the ecosystem. Of the various factors potentially responsible for the decline or disappearance of keystone species, and thus ecosystem change, two future threats are introduced non-native fishes and climate change.

Although it is difficult to predict the impact of a climate change on our ecosystems, it is quite clear that some native species will decline and some non-native species will become more prominent (through range expansion). In addition, if the decline of native species includes one or more keystone species, then it is clear that changes in climate can be expected to impact our ecosystems severely. At present, little effort has been put in place to identify the presence of keystone species in UK rivers and to test their resilience when faced with the combined threats of climate change and introduced species.

Specific objectives:

• Review the scientific literature on the quantification of stream food-web links, using different empirical measures of interaction strength
• Identify key stone species of UK rivers and complete ground-truthing studies associated with the climate-response models for native species
• Model the survival of keystone species under a set of climate change scenarios and profile the biological traits of non-native species expected to thrive under these conditions
• Evaluate the impact of introduced species (e.g. pumpkinseed, topmouth gudgeon) on steam food web structure and ecosystem function
• Completion of the PhD within the allocated time scale

Further details are available from Dr. Rudy Gozlan (rgozlan@bournemouth.ac.uk; 01202 965384).