NERC : Species range dynamics and global change, London

Species range dynamics and global change.

NERC Funded PhD studentship
Division of Biology, Imperial College London.

Understanding how species respond to habitat loss driven by global
change allows conservation planning to be forward-looking. Instead of
focussing solely on current patterns of biodiversity, such an
understanding would permit conservationists to identify which areas
are likely to retain their importance and which areas may increase in
importance, for example as a refuge from habitat loss. At present,
models commonly use species' current environmental preferences to
identify suitable areas under projected global change scenarios. This
project will use data on species' geographic ranges to investigate
ways in which the current spatial patterns of diversity may help to
inform the future movements of those species.

This studentship will be supervised by Dr. David Orme at the
College's Silwood Park campus. The campus is home to the Ecology and
Evolution section and to the NERC Centre for Population Biology. For
further information on research in the section see http://
www3.imperial.ac.uk/biology/research/ecologyandevolution/themes.

Initial enquiries should be made to David Orme
(d.orme@imperial.ac.uk). Applicants should submit a CV and the names
of 3 referees to Diana Anderson (d.anderson@imperial.ac.uk). There is
no official deadline - applicants will be reviewed as they are received.