PhD scholarship opportunity on insects and the forest canopies

[Akihiro Nakamura]

Dear all Canopy Sci Comm members

Below message from Christophe Bouget who is looking for a prospective PhD candidate to work on insects and the forest canopies. 

Please feel free to share the message below.

Aki

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I propose a thesis on the characterization of forest layering of insect communities and microclimate.

The subject is financed from October 2023 (October, 2023-September 2026) and the student will be based in the 'Forest Ecosystems' Research Unit on the INRAE site of Nogent-sur-Vernisson (France), with a co-supervision INRAE Orléans.

Please contact : christop...@inrae.fr and mathieu...@inrae.fr

The deadline for application is April 9.

 

PhD Topic

Forest strata applied to insects and microclimate: a sentinel of climate change

Keywords

dieback ; canopy; insectivory; sensors

Abstract

In temperate forests, which are naturally stratified ecosystems, the canopy hosts strong vertical abiotic gradients, where arthropod communities are stratified, but the food web functional processes are poorly understood. Because of its difficulty of access, the canopy remains little explored, and the canopy-atmosphere interface (CAI) even constitutes a cutting-edge topic. The CAI is at the forefront of atmospheric climate change. In recent decades, the combination of heat waves and water deficits in most European forests has led to dieback and mortality.

By causing crown dieback, climate change could affect the stratification of several ecosystem dimensions. The objective of the PhD project is to measure whether and how current climate change affects the stratification of microclimates, communities and biotic interactions (insects and insectivores) in declining oak forests.

This PhD project will compare vertical patterns of 4 parameters (microclimates, habitat structure, insect communities, insectivory) at 4 levels (supra-canopy, upper intra-canopy, lower intra-canopy, infra-canopy) in two study cases: (i) on a gradient of forest decline and (ii) at the edge and deeper inside of “ageing islands” varying in area.

By providing a comprehensive overview of forest stratification, comparing biotic and abiotic patterns between the atmospheric component above the canopy, the middle of the tree crown and the understory, this PhD project takes up several technical challenges and involves technical innovations in data acquisition and pairing.

Disciplines

Community ecology, ecology of biotic interactions, entomology, microclimatology, data analysis

Student profile

You have a background in ecology (Master's degree/engineer), you are trained in general scientific methods (bibliography, hypotheses, statistics...), with a taste for and training in data analysis, knowledge of forest ecology, a good level of reading and writing in English and French, qualities for the rigorous production of scientific knowledge, and good interpersonal skills to interact with the two supervisors and with the multiple partners of the projects around which the thesis is structured.

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