Ants as ecosystem engineers: using ants to promote biodiversity

我们正在寻找一个热情和雄心勃勃的学生开发一个令人兴奋的项目使用fieldexperiments来量化草地蚂蚁和管理制度之间的关系，以及它们如何共同影响生物多样性和土壤功能。理想的候选人将享受与学者和利益相关者的互动，并希望将他们的科学训练应用于一个重要的应用问题。蚂蚁作为有效的地球工程师，增加栖息地异质性和构建生态位。黄草地蚂蚁，黄蚁，在历史上是牧场上常见的，并促进生物多样性，例如增加植物物种的丰富度。许多现代农业措施减少或消灭了它们的数量。贝尔顿庄园是一个国家信托财产，包括650公顷历史悠久的森林牧场帕克兰，是英国的优先栖息地，有一些地区的草地蚂蚁密度异常高，但也有一些地区完全没有它们。以前对该地点的管理导致了一些过度放牧和土壤压实。该网站正在经历一个时期的管理变革，以更有利于生物多样性的方法混合和lightergrafing.Objectives的目标-评估管理制度对蚂蚁种群的影响，使用控制的操纵-评估土壤居住的蚂蚁的作用，作为代理人的恢复压实土壤usingexperimental transplantation-为了确定生态过程介导的异常高的蚂蚁种群密度在某些网站，使用行为和遗传数据项目好处学生将接受全面的研究生培训，由具有强大研究背景和研究生监督经验的多学科导师团队提供支持。学生获得生态研究技能，包括：经验领域技术;尖端的实验室设备技术;空间分析方法。这项研究将提供新的数据，蚂蚁对土壤恢复和生态系统功能的影响，以及草地管理如何影响这些过程：它将有利于学术生态学/进化社区，政策制定者和土地管理者。

We are looking for an enthusiastic and ambitious student to develop an exciting project using fieldexperiments to quantify the relationship between meadow ants and management regimes, and howthese together affect biodiversity and soil function. The ideal candidate will enjoy interacting with bothacademics and stakeholders and will want to apply their scientific training to an important appliedquestion.Ants act as effective geoengineers, increasing habitat heterogeneity and constructing niches. Yellowmeadow ants, Lasius flavus, were historically common on pastures and promote biodiversity, forexample increasing floral species richness. Many modern farming practices reduce or eliminate theirpopulations.Belton House, a National Trust property including 650 hectares of historic wood pasture parkland, a UKpriority habitat, has areas hosting unusually high densities of meadow ants, but also other areas wherethey are entirely absent. Previous management of the site has resulted in some over-grazing and soilcompaction. The site is undergoing a period of management change, to a more biodiversity-friendlyapproach of mixed and lighter grazing.Objectives- To assess the impact of management regimes on ant populations, using controlled manipulations- To assess the role of soil-dwelling ants as agents of rehabilitation of compacted soil usingexperimental transplantation- To identify the ecological processes mediating the unusually high ant population densities at certainsites, using behavioural and genetic dataProject benefitsThe student will receive thorough postgraduate training supported by a multidisciplinary team ofsupervisors with strong research backgrounds and experience in postgraduate supervision. The studentwill gain ecological research skills including: empirical field techniques; cutting-edge laboratoryequipment techniques; spatial analysis methods. This study will provide novel data on the impact ofants on soil rehabilitation and ecosystem function, and on how grassland management impacts theseprocesses: it will benefit the academic ecology/evolution communities, policy-makers and landmanagers.