The Impact of Climate on Tropical Forests: A natural experiment within the Eastern Arc Mountains, Tanzania

这位博士将使用坦桑尼亚的东弧山(全球生物多样性热点)作为一个自然实验。这一山脉的森林经历了广泛的气候条件(例如，气温从10-30摄氏度不等，季节模式不同[北部森林经历了两个雨季，而南部地区只有一个雨季])。这种自然变化将有助于我们区分气候的各个方面(例如，温度和干旱)对森林生态系统的影响，并有助于预测热带森林可能如何受到未来气候变化的影响。这项研究涉及使用关于树木物候(生活史事件[例如开花]的时间)和种子产量的罕见的长期数据集。成功的候选人将通过在坦桑尼亚进行广泛的实地考察来补充这些数据，重新调查10年前最后一次访问的树木清单地块。

This PhD will use the Eastern Arc Mountains, Tanzania (a global biodiversity hotspot) as a natural experiment. Forests across this mountain range experience a wide range in climate conditions (e.g. with temperatures ranging from 10-30C, and variations in seasonal patterns [with northern forests experiencing two rainy seasons, compared to only one in southern regions]). Such natural variation will help us to differentiate the effects of each aspect of climate (e.g. temperature vs drought) on forest ecosystems and assist predictions in how tropical forests might be impacted by future climate change. This research involves using rare long-term datasets on tree phenology (the timing of life cycle events [e.g. flowering]) and seed yield. The successful candidate will compliment these data with extensive fieldwork within Tanzania, re-censusing tree inventory plots that were last visited 10 years ago.