Dear All,
Please can you alert potential applicants to a PhD studentship on the
carbon dynamics of ponds described below.
Thanks and best wishes,
Deborah
Agricultural ponds: carbon sources or sinks?
Supervisors: Dr Deborah Pearce and Dr Jeremy Biggs
Eligibility: Applicants require a good Honours degree (2.1 or equivalent)
and either have been educated to degree level through the medium of
English or have TOEFL 600 (250) / IELTS 7 or equivalent. Home and EU
students are eligible.
Start date: October 2009
Value p.a. £13,000 bursary & fees
Closing Date: 17th August 2009
Project:
Background
Ponds are important contributors to biodiversity in the landscape. They
rapidly accumulate sediment, and therefore carbon and there is some
evidence that, on a global scale, ponds may be sequestering as much carbon
as the world’s oceans. However, the role of ponds in carbon cycling is
unclear. The rate at which they return carbon as CO2 and CH4 requires
quantification if their role in carbon cycling is to be understood. Ponds
may differ in age, depth, temperature, oxygen concentration, nutrient
inputs, water quality and litter types. There are therefore a number of
factors which can influence decomposition processes and the amount of
carbon stored or returned as CO2 or CH4.
The objectives of this project are to:
1. Determine the rate of organic carbon accumulation in five UK
impoundments (agricultural ponds).
2. Determine the rate of decomposition of fresh (new) and recalcitrant
(old) carbon within the impoundments.
3. Determine the rate of CO2 and CH4 being emitted from five UK
impoundment surfaces, including their diurnal and seasonal variations.
4. Determine the gaseous profiles down the water column and sediment profile.
5. Determine the routes of emission of gases: ebullition, plant transport,
diffusion.
6. Determine the effect of temperature and nutrient input on rates of
carbon accumulation and emission
The project will combine field work, including in situ experimentation and
measurement of real time gas profiles and surface fluxes in ponds using
Quadrupole Mass Spectrometry, with laboratory work for detailed analysis
of sediment types and experimental manipulation of decay rates in
sediments. The field work will be at Loddington Farm in Leicestershire
which is owned by the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust and was formed to
undertake projects and research demonstrating wildlife management
alongside commercial farming. This has on-site research facilities and is
regularly used for studies by Pond Conservation.
It is intended that the project be closely integrated with a major new
DEFRA, Environment Agency ‘demonstration test catchment’ initiative. The
work will be supervised by Dr Deborah Pearce (School of Life Sciences) and
Dr Jeremy Biggs (Pond Conservation). For further details follow this link.
To apply for this studentship, please complete the University's
Postgraduate Application Form:
http://www.brookes.ac.uk/studying/applications/direct/research.
Applications should be posted to:
Ms Lucy Boyles,
Postgraduate Administrator
School of Life Sciences
Oxford Brookes University
Headington
Oxford OX3 0BP
UK
Please email Lucy Boyles or telephone +44 (0)1865 483295 with any
administrative queries.
N.B. Please note that applications will not be accepted by email.
|