PhD in biology - Hiring in process/Finished, not possible to apply

Description

According to the Swedish forestry legislation from 1993, conservation concerns are equally important as productivity interests. What effects has this had on biodiversity in managed forests in Sweden? This project will focus on two species that are, or have been, on the Swedish redlist: lesser spotted woodpecker (Dendrocopos minor) and marsh tit (Poecile palustris). The Swedish population of lesser spotted woodpeckers appeared to decline to half between 1975 and 1990, but has since the middle of the 1990ies remained stable or even increased. The marsh tit appears to have had a more or less continuous decline since the start of systematic bird monitoring in 1975. Possibly the species has stabilized at a low level during this century, but there does not seem to have been any increase.

Project Description

The aims of the project is to gain concrete knowledge about what changes of the forest have measurable and positive effects on these two species, which are widely distributed but not very numerous. In particular, it aims to assess effects of changes in forestry practices after 1993. The new knowledge should be possible to translate to practical recommendations to forestry. The two species can be seen as indicators of valuable environments in deciduous forests, and likely they are also umbrella species for other species in the deciduous forest. To focus on these species should therefore be an efficient way to find broad scale and effective conservation actions in forestry of deciduous forests.

For the lesser spotted woodpecker there is an available reference dataset from 1985-1988, when ca 150 areas were surveyed with respect to the species and the state of the forest. That survey will be repeated in the current project, and complemented with new areas. For the marsh tit it is possible to use data from the Swedish Breeding Bird Surveys, as that species is well covered by these systematic surveys since 1975. For both species there is good ecological background knowledge, but still there are interesting remaining research questions. The PhD-candidate will take part in administrating the repeated survey of lesser spotted woodpeckers, which will to a large extent be carried out by volunteers, but will also take active part in fieldwork. The PhD-candidate will also work with statistical analyses of the habitat and area requirements of both species, remote sensing of forest data, and translate this to GIS based habitat models.

Required Qualifications

Applicants must hold a Master of Science degree (or equivalent) in Ecology, Conservation Biology, or related fields. Documented experience with one or more of the fields related to the project - i.e. forest ecology, bird ecology, habitat modelling - is desirable. Good knowledge of Swedish as well as English, written and spoken, is required and documented experience in scientific publication in English is desirable. Experience in using GIS is a merit. Ability and interest to carry out field work, work well independently and with others is a necessity, as are strong communication skills. Field work is an essential part of the project and driving license is therefore a requirement.

Eligibility
Students with basic eligibility for third-cycle studies are those who- have completed a second-cycle degree- have completed courses of at least 240 credits, of which at least 60 credits are from second-cycle courses, or- have acquired largely equivalent knowledge in some other way, in Sweden or abroad.

The employment of doctoral students is regulated in the Swedish Code of Statues 1998: 80. Only those who are or have been admitted to PhD-studies may be appointed to doctoral studentships. When an appointment to a doctoral studentship is made, the ability of the student to benefit from PhD-studies shall primarily be taken into account. In addition to devoting themselves to their studies, those appointed to doctoral studentships may be required to work with educational tasks, research and administration, in accordance with specific regulations in the ordinance.

Type of employment
Limit of tenure, four years according to HF 5 kap 7§.