MScProject
Resilienceofmeta-ecosystems:howopennessanddiversitybufferforecosystemfunctioningunderperturbation.
WearelookingforanenthusiasticMScstudentwhowillbeworkingoncommunitydynamicsand ecosystem functioning. The project involves laboratory work using microcosmexperimentsandispartofalargerresearchprogram(basedatEawag,Dübendorf).
Ecosystemsareconnectedbyanexchangeofbothorganismsandresourceflows(i.e.degreeof openness). Metacommunity studies have showed that intermediate dispersal rates oforganismsfromaregionalspeciespoolcanbufferagainstchangesinecosystemfunctionanddiversityafterenvironmentalchange(spatialinsurancehypothesis).However,thesestudiesignorethefactthatecosystemsdiffernotonlyintheiropennesstospeciesdispersal,butalsoin resource flows. The recently developed meta-ecosystem theory integrates this, andpostulatesthatresourceflowsbetweenecosystemsmatterforecosystemfunctioninganditsresponsetoanthropogenicpressure.
InthisMScproject,youwoulddevelopameta-ecosystemmicrocosmexperimenttoobtainamechanistic understanding if and how organism dispersal versus resource flow affectecosystemdiversity and functioningunderenvironmental stress. This is important, as thedegreeofopennessofecosystemsiscurrentlychanging:systemsbecomeeithermoreclosedthroughhabitat fragmentationormore open throughhuman-induced transportation.Weexpect that organism dispersal as resource flow can have similar effects to ecosystemfunctioning,butmaystronglydependontheseverityof theenvironmentalstressandthediversitypresentinthemeta-ecosystem.
Requirements: Interest in ecology and ecosystem functioning, andwillingness to performlaboratory microcosm experiments with protist species using well-equipped facilities toperformvideoanalysis.TheMScprojectcanstartanytime.
Contact/Supervision:
Prof.Dr.FlorianAltermatt([email protected]),IEU,UniversityofZurichand
Dr.LynnGovaert([email protected]),Eawag,Dep.AquaticEcology,Dübendorf.
Moreinfo:www.altermattlab.ch
Wearelookingforwardtomeetingyou!
Paramecium Euglena
Cephalodella Tetrahymena
