Tropical forests contain more carbon (C) than any other terrestrial ecosystem, at least half of which is stored belowground. Roughly 50% of the world\u2019s tropical forests are now degraded, making them crucial for C sequestration. The regeneration of tropical forests following disturbance involves substantial changes in tree species composition, growth, and soil properties over time. Although there is a clear pattern of increasing C storage aboveground as forests re-establish, we know very little about changes in C cycling belowground.<\/p>\n
This project aims to advance current knowledge of the links between above- and belowground processes during secondary succession in tropical forests. The project will assess soil C dynamics along an established chronosequence of secondary forest stands (40 to >100 years old). A series of experiments and detailed measurements will assess the impact of changes in tree species composition on soil processes and properties during secondary succession to determine: (i) how belowground C stocks and fluxes vary through forest succession and (ii) how these changes relate to functional composition of above- and belowground communities.<\/p>\n
The successful candidate will conduct field campaigns in the Barro Colorado Nature Monument in Panama, Central America to gather a comprehensive dataset on belowground C dynamics and work with researchers at four institutions to identify links between above- and belowground processes affecting carbon storage and turnover during forest succession.<\/p>\n
The student will work in a supportive and collaborative research team at four institutions (CEH, Lancaster University, Stirling University and Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute) to develop a range of specialist skills including ecological and ecosystem theory; experimental design; gas flux measurements; chemical analyses of soil and plant material; analysis of microbial communities and ecological statistics. The student will also have the opportunity to develop transferable skills such as project management, science communication, critical thinking, team-work and leadership.<\/p>\n
Eligibility: The successful applicant will hold a minimum of a UK Honours Degree at 2:1 level or equivalent in a related subject. Fieldwork experience and organization skills highly desirable. A strong work ethic and willingness to learn new techniques are essential. For further details please contact Prof Ute Skiba (ums@ceh.ac.uk) or Dr Emma Sayer (e.sayer@lancaster.ac.uk).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Tropical forests contain more carbon (C) than any other terrestrial ecosystem, at least half of which is stored belowground. Roughly 50% of the world\u2019s tropical forests are now degraded, making them crucial for C sequestration. The regeneration of tropical forests following disturbance involves substantial changes in tree species composition, growth, and soil properties over time.… Read More »Linking functional diversity with soil carbon dynamics in secondary tropical forests<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":363,"featured_media":1728,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"neve_meta_sidebar":"","neve_meta_container":"","neve_meta_enable_content_width":"","neve_meta_content_width":0,"neve_meta_title_alignment":"","neve_meta_author_avatar":"","neve_post_elements_order":"","neve_meta_disable_header":"","neve_meta_disable_footer":"","neve_meta_disable_title":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1778","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-2015-projects"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/envision\/files\/2017\/01\/Linking-functional-diversity-with-soil-carbon-dynamics-in-secondary-tropical-forests-400-x-400-px.jpg?fit=400%2C400","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8kFzn-sG","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/envision\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1778","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/envision\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/envision\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/envision\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/363"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/envision\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1778"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/envision\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1778\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1779,"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/envision\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1778\/revisions\/1779"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/envision\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1728"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/envision\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1778"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/envision\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1778"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/envision\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1778"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}