How quickly can agri-environment schemes lead to nature recovery?

Description

The ACCE DTP is committed to recruiting extraordinary future scientists regardless of age, disability, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, faith or religious belief, pregnancy or maternity, parental or caring responsibilities or career pathway to date. We understand that a student’s potential can be shown in many ways and we strive to recruit students from all backgrounds, and support them on their scientific journey.

We have designed our application systems to identify candidates who are likely to be successful in research regardless of what opportunities may have been available to them prior to their application.

Various support and guidance on applying for an ACCE DTP studentship, including how to apply; what we’re looking for (including our assessment rubric); details of financial support, training, and placement opportunities available; and details of our recruitment process, can be found at https://accedtp.ac.uk, in the ‘prospective applicants’ tab.

Project overview

“Nature recovery” is a galvanising goal for 2050, but very difficult to achieve, especially under climate change. The restoration of significant areas of nature-rich habitat will be needed, and agri-environment schemes (AES) are a central policy to deliver this restoration. There are targets for the areas of habitat to restore, but the time taken for biodiversity to recover is highly uncertain. Recovery depends on local site factors such as the build-up of soil carbon, as well as the process of colonisation from the existing nature-rich habitat, and neither of these time-dependent factors are currently included in large-scale scenario models. Therefore, this project will quantify how quickly agri-environment schemes implemented now could lead to nature recovery at landscape and national scales. It will use grasslands in Wales as an exemplar ecosystem type.

You will work within the research group of Dr Jenny Hodgson at the University of Liverpool. Dr Hodgson and her postdocs have a large grant to explore new methods to achieve ‘robust conservation for a dynamic world’, and this PhD aligns to their ongoing research. The project is also co-supervised by Dr Simon Smart at the UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology and Dr James Latham at Natural Resources Wales (NRW), and in partnership with the Botanical Society of the British Isles. Together, this team has access to a wealth of biodiversity data and existing models that can be linked together to predict the future configuration of habitats, and whether plant species will be able to take advantage of increased habitat availability (for example see Bede et al 2023 and Smart et al 2019 in references below). A holistic understanding of the impact of restoration at a national scale, accounting for the co-dependencies between sites as well as the gradual soil changes wrought by management, has never been possible before. The insights we uncover will be directly relevant to policymakers, helping them to assess the amount of action it will take to meet the key headline goals they have adopted for 2030 and 2050. By collaborating with NRW and the Welsh Government, we will maximise the influence our results can have.

More specifically, we will use spatially explicit modelling to ask:

• How long does nature recovery take under optimistic assumptions of agri-environment scheme uptake, existing semi-natural habitat protection and climate change?
• Does the recovery of rare species take much longer than the recovery of the dominant species that define the habitat?
• To which of the external drivers is nature recovery most sensitive?

The best candidate for this project will have GIS skills and an aptitude for modelling, combined with knowledge of ecology (the processes that contribute to species survival). Familiarity with one programming language, preferably R, and experience of running simulations are desirable. During the project you will benefit from advanced training in computational methods alongside teamworking with conservation professionals. Opportunities are likely available for a placement embedded within NRW or the Welsh Government.

Essential and desirable criteria

Essential

• Knowledge of ecology
• Aptitude for modelling
• GIS skills

Desirable

• Familiarity with one programming language, preferably R
• Skills in running simulations

How to apply

Notes and details of how to apply are available here: https://accedtp.ac.uk/phd-opportunities/

All applicants to ACCE must complete the ACCE personal statement proforma. This is instead of a personal/supporting statement or cover letter. The proforma is designed to standardise this part of the application to minimise the difference between those who are given support and those who are not. Candidates should also submit a CV and the contact details of 2 referees.

Part-time study options

All ACCE PhDs are available as part time or full time, with part time being a minimum of 50% of full time. Please discuss potential part time arrangements with the primary supervisor before applying to the programme.

Project CASE status

This project is not a CASE project. While individual applicant quality is our overriding criterion for selection, the ACCE DTP has a commitment for 40% of all studentships to be CASE funded - as such, CASE projects may be favoured in shortlisting applicants when candidates are otherwise deemed to be equal or a consensus on student quality cannot be reached. This will only be done as a last resort for separating candidates.