Project Description
Supervisor: Andrew Hirst (University
of Liverpool), Angus Atkinson (Plymouth Marine Laboratory), David
Atkinson (University of Liverpool),
This fully-funded studentship is available for UK/EU nationals and includes £14,777 per annum maintenance for the successful candidate for 3.5 years, as well as covering the associated University fees. Based within the School of Environmental Sciences at the University of Liverpool, you will work with Profs. Andrew Hirst and David Atkinson (both at the University of Liverpool), and Dr Angus Atkinson (Plymouth Marine Laboratory) on this project.
As our planet warms, profound shifts in species and communities are occurring. Three ‘universal’ ecological responses to warming have been described; namely the redistribution of species in space (often retreating towards the poles and to greater depths in the ocean); shifts in phenology (seasonal timing of life cycle events, e.g. earlier reproduction in spring); and changes in body size (higher temperatures are associated with reductions in body size). Although each of these responses has been measured in a wide array of animal and plant species, they have typically been measured in isolation. This means we have little appreciation of how the three responses interact. Are these responses co-dependent? For example, does a species which strongly shifts its phenology have reduced geographic and body size shifts? Furthermore, the implications of the three universal climate change responses are poorly known. For example, phenology shifts can differ between trophic levels, potentially leading to a mismatch in the seasonal timing of zooplankton and their food. Our incomplete knowledge of the climate change responses of zooplankton is severely limiting our ability to predict future changes in marine ecosystems.
This fully-funded studentship is available for UK/EU nationals and includes £14,777 per annum maintenance for the successful candidate for 3.5 years, as well as covering the associated University fees. Based within the School of Environmental Sciences at the University of Liverpool, you will work with Profs. Andrew Hirst and David Atkinson (both at the University of Liverpool), and Dr Angus Atkinson (Plymouth Marine Laboratory) on this project.
As our planet warms, profound shifts in species and communities are occurring. Three ‘universal’ ecological responses to warming have been described; namely the redistribution of species in space (often retreating towards the poles and to greater depths in the ocean); shifts in phenology (seasonal timing of life cycle events, e.g. earlier reproduction in spring); and changes in body size (higher temperatures are associated with reductions in body size). Although each of these responses has been measured in a wide array of animal and plant species, they have typically been measured in isolation. This means we have little appreciation of how the three responses interact. Are these responses co-dependent? For example, does a species which strongly shifts its phenology have reduced geographic and body size shifts? Furthermore, the implications of the three universal climate change responses are poorly known. For example, phenology shifts can differ between trophic levels, potentially leading to a mismatch in the seasonal timing of zooplankton and their food. Our incomplete knowledge of the climate change responses of zooplankton is severely limiting our ability to predict future changes in marine ecosystems.
Marine ectotherms, including plankton
and fish, have been shown to be undergoing rapid changes to climate warming over
recent decades, with zooplankton described as “sentinels of climate change”.
These organisms are typically fast growing and their free dispersal within the
ocean means that they can colonise new areas across large distances. Zooplankton
are also critical to ocean functions, major grazers on the algal primary
producers, and a key conduit of energy to higher tropic levels, including
commercially important fish and marine mammals. These attributes make
zooplankton ideal candidates to examine climate-related change, and are a group
that must be understood given their socio-economic relevance.
This PhD will utilise existing long-term
collections of zooplankton, spanning a wide geographic range, as well as giving
the successful candidate the opportunity to collect your own data through the analysis
of samples from across Europe. Experimental work can also be an important part
of the planned work. The successful candidate will quantify major responses of
a wide range of zooplankton species to climate warming, develop methods to
compare these different responses, and determine their interactions. This PhD
work will lead to an improved ability to understand and predict future climate
change responses of marine plankton.
Candidates should ideally have a BSc
degree or Masters in a related discipline (e.g. zoology, marine biology,
biological sciences), with strong interests in ecology and / or eco-physiology.
Ideally you will have some mathematical skills and a knowledge of R, although
full training on all aspects of the project will be provided. The supervisors
have a strong track-record in working collaboratively together over many years,
and have published and successfully co-supervised many students. Our ethos is to
grow the skills of the PhD students we work with, in a co-operative and
encouraging environment, providing the expertise needed for a research career.
Informal enquiries can be made to Prof Andrew Hirst (email: Aghirst@liverpool.ac.uk). Also see: www.aquatic-ecology.co.uk. This PhD studentship has an intended start date of 1st Oct 2018. The application deadline is 15th August 2018, and applications can be made via the websites:
Relevant References
Atkinson A, Harmer RA, Widdicombe
CE, McEvoy AJ, Smyth TJ, Cummings DG, Somerfield PJ, Maud JL, McConville K (2015) Questioning the role of phenology
shifts and trophic mismatching in a planktonic food web. Progress in Oceanography 137: 498-512. 10.1016/j.pocean.2015.04.023
Edwards M, Richardson AJ (2004) Impact
of climate change on marine pelagic phenology and trophic mismatch. Nature 430: 881–884
Forster J, Hirst AG, Atkinson D (2012) Warming-induced reductions in body size are greater in aquatic than
terrestrial species. PNAS 109: 19310-19314. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1210460109
Horne CR, Hirst AG,
Atkinson D, Neves A, Kiørboe T (2016) A global synthesis of seasonal temperature-size responses in copepods. Global Ecology and Biogeography 25:
988-999. DOI: 10.1111/geb.12460
Richardson
AJ (2008) In hot water: zooplankton and climate change. ICES Journal of Marine Science 65: 279–295. https://doi.org/10.1093/icesjms/fsn028