University of St Andrews

Project description

The next 20 years will involve considerable development in offshore industries including renewable energy and exploration for oil and gas in deep water. These activities are likely to be happening simultaneously off Brazil and off over the continental shelf of Europe, especially around Scotland. There are considerable uncertainties around the effects that this industrial activity may have upon populations of marine mammals. Research to study this includes the assessment of risk to populations through quantitative approaches but there is a major requirement for data about the distribution, abundance and vulnerability of marine mammals to different technologies and activities. This includes the risk of collision and the risk associated with disturbance. The project(s) will involve focusing on specific aspects of this problem, including the estimation of marine mammal distribution and abundance; the collection of data to populate risk models and the development of potential mitigation advice and mitigation tools.

Availability

Co-tutelle PhD (12 months UK, 24 in Brazil)

Supervisers

• University of St Andrews Supervisor(s):

  Professor Peter Tyack, Dr Vincent Janik, Dr Mark Johnson, Dr Patrick Miller, Dr David Thompson, Dr Luke Rendell, Professor John Harwood and Professor Ian Boyd.

• Brazilian University Supervisor(s):

  To be confirmed.

Additional notes

The work will be conducted within the Sea Mammal Research Unit (SMRU http://www.smru.st-and.ac.uk/) which is a part of the Scottish Oceans Institute at the University of St Andrews but operates globally. SMRU is a globally-leading centre for marine mammal research and it is responsible for developing many of the current technologies used to study marine mammals including both instruments and software tools. It has a close working relationship with industry , through its commercial arm SMRU Ltd (http://www.smru.co.uk/).

Start date

September 2012 or February 2013

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Project description

Freshwater cetaceans are among the world’s most critically endangered mammals. They inhabit complex habitats in densely populated human environments, making them difficult to survey and promoting conflict between wildlife conservation and humans.  Surveys of these species have been conducted on the Amazon and Orinoco rivers, but they require non-standard analysis methods and method development lags behind data gathering. We have access to survey data via a partnership with Fundacion Omacha, and we propose to develop appropriate survey and analysis methods via PhD studentships, to make Brazillian students self-sufficient in the conduct and analysis of surveys of these species.

Availability

Co-tutelle PhD (12 months UK, 24 in Brazil) or Full PhD (36 months in UK)

Supervisers

• University of St Andrews Supervisor(s):

  Dr David Borchers, Dr Rob Williams

• Brazilian University Supervisor(s): n/a

Additional notes

The Convention on Biological Diversity set targets to reduce biodiversity loss by 2010 and to meet them, sustainable management of the planet’s wildlife resources and biodiversity is required. This must be informed by appropriate quantification of the state of wildlife resources and how they are changing, which in turn requires estimation of trends in abundance and species turnover. The Centre for Research into Ecological and Environmental Modelling (CREEM) specializes in developing statistical methods for such problems. The Science without Borders programme provides an opportunity for exchange of ideas and methods that are relevant for conservation problems of relevance to Brazil.

Start date

September 2012 or February 2013

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Project description

The Drosophila community of Brazil formed a major part of early studies of biodiversity and speciation.  They are an ideal system for understanding Brazil’s biodiversity at the level of identifying genetic variation underpinning adaptation and processes involved in forming reproductive isolation between developing species.  The St Andrews laboratory has previously analysed variation in behaviour in Brazilian Drosophila and identified unusual patterns of variation.  The student will analyse genetic changes underlying this behavioural radiation, and examine the causes and consequences for speciation.  In addition, the Brazilian lab has been using Drosophila behavioural genes and assays to study speciation in sandflies, vectors of leishmaniasis, a very important tropical disease, and the two groups have started to collaborate on applying genetic principles developed form studying Drosophila to understanding complex speciation in this vector species.  This investigation will address fundamental processes involved in biodiversity and will be in collaboration with the Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro.  Training will be provided in molecular ecology, behavioural analysis and population genetics.

Availability

Co-tutelle PhD (12 months UK, 24 in Brazil) or Full PhD (36 months in UK)

Supervisers

• University of St Andrews Supervisor(s):

  Prof Michael G Ritchie

• Brazilian University Supervisor(s):

  Dr Alexandre Afranio Peixoto, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz.

Additional notes

The Ritchie-Peixoto laboratories recently started collaborating and a postdoctoral fellow is shortly due to arrive in St Andrews on a Brazilian Government (CNPq) postdoctoral fellowship.  This will develop techniques for the analysis of behavioural genetics in the melanogaster group of Drosophila.  Ritchie has previously described behavioural variation in Brazilian species, but few labs current study the evolutionary genetics of behavioural variation in endemic Brazilian Drosophila.  In addition, the two groups will apply the knowledge and techniques developed in Drosophila to expand the speciation studies the Brazilian lab is currently carrying out in sandflies. Because speciation in disease vectors is often associated with changes in vector capacity, this has not only an academic interest but is also relevant to disease epidemiology.

Start date

September 2012 or February 2013

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Project description

The aim of this work is to quantify community structure and temporal change in both natural and impacted ecosystems in Brazil. This investigation will address fundamental questions about the maintenance of diversity in a range of species rich systems and will be in collaboration with Brazilian institutions (UFSCAR) and NGOs (ISDM) who are directly involved in conservation planning. Training will be provided in field research, and the quantitative analysis and interpretation of ecological data, particularly the assessment of biological diversity.

Availability

Co-tutelle PhD (12 months UK, 24 in Brazil) or Full PhD (36 months in UK)

Supervisers

• University of St Andrews Supervisor(s):

  Professor Anne Magurran

• Brazilian University Supervisor(s):

  Profa. Dra. Dalva Matos

Additional notes

Professor Anne Magurran has a 20-year collaboration (with on-going research supported by an ERC advanced grant) with the Mamirauá Institute for Sustainable Development, Amazonas, Brazil.  This work focuses on the biological diversity of the flooded forest with a particular emphasis on freshwater fish.

Start date

September 2012 or February 2013

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Project description

Multiple stressors, including those form climate change, industrialization, fisheries and high levels of human population, on marine and coastal ecosystems can result in major changes in biodiversity. Some indicators suggest that most of these changes will lead to a greater prevalence of invasive species and the possibility that marine ecosystems could be less resilient to perturbation. This may result in an overall erosion of the goods and services supplied by coastal and marine ecosystems. A major challenge to this field is the development of underlying theory of ecosystem structure and function. In order to tackle this we need well developed case studies and also use, or build, ecosystem models to examine the stability and resilience of these ecological systems. These systems could include everything from coastal and benthic to pelagic. The projects(s) will involve specific studies of perturbed and unperturbed marine and coastal ecosystems and the use of validated ecosystem models to examine the potential dynamics of these systems.

Availability

Co-tutelle PhD (12 months UK, 24 in Brazil)

Supervisers

• University of St Andrews Supervisor(s):

  Dr Maria Dornelas, Professor David Paterson, Professor Chris Todd, Professor Ian Johnston, Prof Anne Magurran and Professor Andrew Brierley

• Brazilian University Supervisor(s):

  To be confirmed.

Additional notes

The work will be conducted within the Scottish Oceans Institute (http://soi.st-andrews.ac.uk/) at the University of St Andrews.

Start date

September 2012 or February 2013

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Project description

Modelling changes in the distribution of single and multiple species in space and time is important for wildlife population management as well as population monitoring and biodiversity monitoring. Data on abundance and species turnover in space frequently exhibit strong spatial patchiness due to observable heterogeneity in the environment and spatial autocorrelation due to unobserved processes. This project will involve the development and application of spatial modelling methods for distance sampling and spatially explicit capture- recapture survey data, in order to provide methods for drawing inferences about processes driving spatial and spatio-temporal distributions of fauna and flora.

Availability

Co-tutelle PhD (12 months UK, 24 in Brazil) or Full PhD (36 months in UK)

Supervisers

• University of St Andrews Supervisor(s): Dr Janine Illian and Dr David Borchers.
• Brazilian University Supervisor(s): To be confirmed

Additional notes

The Convention on Biological Diversity set targets to reduce biodiversity loss by 2010 and to meet them, sustainable management of the planet’s wildlife resources and biodiversity is required. This must be informed by appropriate quantification of the state of wildlife resources and how they are changing, which in turn requires estimation of trends in abundance and species turnover. The Centre for Research into Ecological and Environmental Modelling (CREEM) specializes in developing statistical methods for such problems. The Science without Borders programme provides an opportunity for exchange of ideas and methods that are relevant for conservation problems of relevance to Brazil.

Start date

September 2012 or February 2013

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Project description

For many parts of the world, existing collections of plant specimens in major herbaria, such as the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, provide valuable information about species distributions that can be brought to bear on strategies for biodiversity management. One initiative that has drawn on such information is the Sampled Red List Index for Plants. Using current and projected range information for plant species, based on GIS analysis, the SRLI for plants is assigning IUCN Red List categories for a sample of > 5,000 plant species randomly sampled from global species lists, with the intent to conduct future reassessments of these same species so that a Red List Index based on changes in IUCN Red List category can be calculated.  A key limitation to this process is that for many plant species included in the SRLI sample there is insufficient information to make any assessment of extinction risk based on distribution and/or population status.  Such species are categorised as Data Deficient (DD) within the IUCN Red List system and excluded from the index. If DD species were randomly distributed with respect to taxonomy, geography, biome and threat status they would have little impact on SRLI results. However, preliminary analyses and experience from other taxonomic groups suggest that DD species are non-randomly distributed prompting further investigation in order to detect, quantify and, where feasible, minimise any resulting bias in the SRLI . Such explicit recognition of uncertainty in biodiversity assessment is increasingly recognised as best practice (note 1). A critical re-evaluation of range-based assessment is particularly timely in the Brazilian context.  Building on the recent completion of the Catalogo de Plantas e Fungos do Brasil, the Brazilian government has made a commitment to assess the conservation status of all of the Brazilian flora by 2020.  Addressing data deficiency has been identified as a major challenge for this endeavour. Furthermore, the Brazilian Ministry for the Environment has expressed interest in applying SRLI approaches on a larger scale within Brazil.

Notes

1. Magurran AE, Baillie SR, Buckland ST, Dick JM, Elston DA, Scott M, Smith RI, Somerfield PJ, Watt AD. (2010). Long-term datasets in biodiversity research and monitoring:assessing change in ecological communities through time.  Trends in Ecology & Evolution 25:  574-582.

Availability

Full PhD (36 months in UK)

Supervisers

• University of St Andrews Supervisor(s):

  Prof Thomas Meagher, Biology; Professor Steve Buckland, Biology; CREEM; RBG Kew – Dr Eimear Nic Lughadha

• Brazilian University Supervisor(s): n/a

Additional notes

n/a

Start date

September 2012 or February 2013

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Project description

Ecologists have mapped entire populations of trees over large areas of forest, to understand their spatial distribution, dynamics and species interactions. These data exist in the form of marked point patterns in which points are identified by qualitative and quantitative marks such as species, tree size, and phenological status. We have access to data-sets of fully-mapped tree communities on tropical forest plots in Asia and Latin America. This project will develop and use flexible spatial statistical methods to assess the fine-scale association of tropical tree point distributions and phenological status with environmental correlates, accounting for spatial structure induced by dispersal limitation.

Availability

Full PhD (36 months in UK)

Supervisers

• University of St Andrews Supervisor(s):

  Dr Janine Illian and CREEM

• Brazilian University Supervisor(s): n/a

Additional notes

The Convention on Biological Diversity set targets to reduce biodiversity loss by 2010 and to meet them, sustainable management of the planet’s wildlife resources and biodiversity is required. This must be informed by appropriate quantification of the state of wildlife resources and how they are changing, which in turn requires estimation of trends in abundance and species turnover. The Centre for Research into Ecological and Environmental Modelling (CREEM) specializes in developing statistical methods for such problems. The Science without Borders programme provides an opportunity for exchange of ideas and methods that are relevant for conservation problems of relevance to Brazil.

Start date

September 2012 or February 2013

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Project description

Seals, whales and dolphins probably consume at least the same biomass of marine food as commercial fisheries on a global basis. With declines in commercial fish catches and general over-exploitation of commercial fish stocks, the effects this could be having upon marine mammals is difficult to estimate. Diet diversity could allow marine mammals to switch prey to more abundant but non-commercial species. Thus, in some cases, marine mammals could benefit from the presence of marine fisheries but in others direct competition could lead to reductions in marine mammals populations. Moreover, direct killing of marine mammals, usually through by-catch in coastal gillnet and trawl fisheries is likely to be a common problem in most parts of the world. The project(s) will assess or measure, with respect to Brazilian fisheries and marine mammals, the overlap between marine mammals and fisheries, any evidence for a functional relationship between marine mammal population trajectories and fisheries or fish stock status, and the extent of by-catch of marine mammals as a potential problem within Brazilian fisheries. The project could also assess the health status of marine mammals in relation to chemical and biological pollution, including harmful algal blooms.

Availability

Co-tutelle PhD (12 months UK, 24 in Brazil)

Supervisers

• University of St Andrews Supervisor(s):

  Professor Phil Hammond, Dr Simon Northridge, Dr Jason Matthiopoulos, Dr Ailsa Hall, Dr Bernie McConnell, Dr Paddy Pomeroy, Dr Sascha Hooker, Professor Ian Boyd.

• Brazilian University Supervisor(s): To be confirmed

Additional notes

The work will be conducted within the Sea Mammal Research Unit (SMRU) which is a part of the Scottish Oceans Institute at the University of St Andrews but operates globally. SMRU is a globally-leading centre for marine mammal research and it is responsible for developing many of the current technologies used to study marine mammals including both instruments and software tools. It has a close working relationship with industry, through its commercial arm SMRU Ltd.

Start date

September 2012 or February 2013

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Project description

Spatially explicit capture-recapture (SECR) methods are a suite of recently-developed capture-recapture methods have great potential for applications in which animals are detected without being captured (e.g. camera traps, microphone arrays, hair snares). This PhD project will develop SECR methods for South American animal species that are difficult to survey except by use of remote detectors. Large cats, some amphibians and some birds fall into this category. Depending on the strengths of applicants, the project could focus either on statistical method development or on suitable application of existing methods to a particular species and survey region.

Availability

Co-tutelle PhD (12 months UK, 24 in Brazil) or Full PhD (36 months in UK)

Supervisers

• University of St Andrews Supervisor(s):

  Dr David Borchers

• Brazilian University Supervisor(s): To be confirmed

Additional notes

The Convention on Biological Diversity set targets to reduce biodiversity loss by 2010 and to meet them, sustainable management of the planet’s wildlife resources and biodiversity is required. This must be informed by appropriate quantification of the state of wildlife resources and how they are changing, which in turn requires estimation of trends in abundance and species turnover. The Centre for Research into Ecological and Environmental Modelling (CREEM) specializes in developing statistical methods for such problems. The Science without Borders programme provides an opportunity for exchange of ideas and methods that are relevant for conservation problems of relevance to Brazil.

Start date

September 2012 or February 2013

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Project description

Research with New World monkeys has had relatively less impact on addressing questions concerning the origins of complex communication, including human language. In a current project with black-fronted Titi monkeys (Callicebus nigrifrons) in SE Brazil, we found that this more distant primate relative produces context-specific vocal behaviour in the predation context. We recorded acoustically distinct alarm calls to disturbances within the canopy and on the ground. These calls were mostly given in sequences, following a number of interesting patterns that appear to encode both the type of disturbance and location. Callicebus monkeys have long been known for their unusually large vocal repertoires, with calls regularly combined into long and complex sequences, but very little is known about the function and meaning of this behaviour. With direct observations and field experiments we will investigate the alarm sequences, before exploring the sequences given in non-predatory contexts in more detail. Results will be important in reconstructing evolutionary patterns of complex communication in the primate order.

Availability

Co-tutelle PhD (12 months UK, 24 months in Brazil)

Supervisers

• University of St Andrews Supervisor(s): Professor Klaus Zuberbuhler (Psychology), Professor Richard Byrne (Psychology)
• Brazilian University Supervisor(s):

  Dr Cris Cäsar (Research Associate, The Pontifical Catholic University of Minas Gerais) – Dr Rob Young (Professor of Animal Behaviour, PUC Minas Belo Horizonte, Brazil)

Additional notes

Dr Cäsar has graduated from the University of St Andrews with a PhD in Psychology. She operates a primate field site in Minas Gerais, where several groups of titi monkeys have been habituated to human presence so that they can be studied systematically.

Start date

September 2012 or February 2013

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Project description

Apart from Man, marine mammals have probably evolved the most advanced form of acoustic communication of any species. This ability is particular to cetaceans that use active sound production underwater. Through the development of acoustic monitoring systems that can be deployed on the animals or using sub-sea and surface-mounted systems it has been possible to open a up a whole new field in marine mammal passive acoustic measurement. This can be directed towards testing models of social structure and the functional typology of cetacean vocalizations as well as simply allowing these animals to be surveyed to assess their distribution and abundance. The project(s) will involve the application of these methods to study marine mammals either within coastal regions of Brazil or in the Amazon Basin.

Availability

Co-tutelle PhD (12 months UK, 24 in Brazil)

Supervisers

• University of St Andrews Supervisor(s):

  Dr Luke Rendell, Professor Peter Tyack; Dr Vincent Janik; Dr Mark Johnson; Dr Patrick Miller

• Brazilian University Supervisor(s):

  n/a

Additional notes

The work will be conducted within the Sea Mammal Research Unit (SMRU) which is a part of the Scottish Oceans Institute at the University of St Andrews but operates globally. SMRU is a globally-leading centre for marine mammal research and it is responsible for developing many of the current technologies used to study marine mammals including both instruments and software tools. It has a close working relationship with industry , through its commercial arm SMRU Ltd.

Start date

September 2012 or February 2013

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