Project Description
Supervisors
Dr James Gilroy (School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia) – Contact me
Dr Blaise Martay (British Trust for Ornithology)
Dr Simon Butler (School of Biological Sciences, University of East Anglia)
Project Background
Soils underpin the structure, composition and productivity of ecological communities, and yet the impact of anthropogenic soil degradation on biodiversity remains poorly studied. In Europe, declines in farmland wildlife have coincided with rapid and widespread soil degradation, including significant losses of soil carbon. Farmland birds – a key indicator group for biodiversity trends – depend heavily on plants and invertebrates that are highly sensitive to soils, suggesting a potential causative link between soil degradation and bird declines. Using both long-term datasets and novel field data collection, this studentship will examine the links between agricultural practices, soil properties and farmland biodiversity, generating new insights that will help inform strategies for sustainable agriculture.
Research Methodology
Using cutting-edge spatial analysis techniques and high-resolution remote-sensed soil maps, you will examine soil-bird relationships at a range of scales using long-term data for farmland birds in the UK and Europe (UK BBS, PECBMS and EBBA2). These analyses will take advantage of novel earth-observation data to account for effects of habitat structure (e.g. LIDAR), land management and agrochemical use (e.g. CEH Crop+), generating an unprecedented insight into the environmental drivers of farmland bird declines. You will also conduct field studies on farms across East Anglia to examine the mechanistic links between soils, invertebrates and birds, testing the hypothesis that soil degradation is an important driver of aboveground farmland biodiversity declines.
Training
Supervisors at UEA and the BTO will provide one-to-one training in a range of transferable research skills including advanced data science in R, machine-learning, Bayesian modelling and GIS. You will also be trained in theoretical and practical aspects of ecological research, including study design and hypothesis testing, scientific writing, data visualisation and science communication. You will be actively encouraged to develop your own ideals for research alongside the core project aims.
Person Specification
We seek an individual with a good life sciences degree, relevant experience either in avian/invertebrate ecology, agroecology or spatial modelling, and a strong interest in advancing scientific understanding of human impacts on our natural environment. Having a UK driving license is desirable. Please contact primary supervisor James Gilroy j.gilroy@uea.ac.uk for further details.