PhD
Studentship - Closing Date March 31 2004
Southern
Ocean predator-prey interactions: how do marine mammals and birds find prey
at sea?
To
start October 2004
A NERC
CASE studentship in partnership with the British Antarctic Survey
Background
The food web of the
open ocean around Antarctica is centered on Antarctic krill Euphausia
superba. Krill form the vital link in the classic short phytoplankton-krill-whale
food chain and are also an essential prey for numerous other predators such
as fur seals, penguins and fish. The distribution of krill in the open ocean
is not uniform but is patchy over numerous spatial scales. Because of this,
a simple question arises: how do predators locate krill at sea? The task for
surface-roaming predators that depend apparently on the sense of sight for
prey location is made all the more difficult because krill undertake diel
vertical migration (DVM), leaving the surface at dawn to spend the daylight
hours in swarms usually below 100 m depth. This PhD project - a collaboration
between the University of St Andrews and the British Antarctic Survey - will
use existing at-sea observations of predator distribution and concurrent acoustic
observations of krill to investigate interactions between predators and prey
over a range of spatial scales. Understanding interactions between krill and
its predators may enable improved ecosystem management plans to be developed,
and this research therefore has a potential applied relevance as well as addressing
a fundamental ecological question.
The project would suit
either a computer-literate biologist or a mathematical/physical scientist
wishing to embark upon biological research.
Some
general references
Trathan, P.N., Brierley,
A.S., Brandon, M.A., Bone, D.G., Goss, C., Grant, S.A., Murphy, E.J. and Watkins,
J.L. (2003). Oceanographic variability and changes in Antarctic krill abundance
at South Georgia. Fisheries Oceanography, 12 (6): 569-583.
Reid, K., Brierley,
A.S., and Nevitt, G.A. (2000). An initial assessment of relationships between
the distribution of whales and Antarctic krill Euphausia superba
at South Georgia. Journal of Cetacean Research and Management, 2(2): 143-149.
Closing
Date March 31 2004
To apply for this post,
please contact:
Jane Williamson (e-mail
jmcw@gatty.st-and.ac.uk)
Post
Graduate Secretary
Gatty
Marine Laboratory
University
of St Andrews
Fife
Scotland
