Metacommunity dynamics should play a critical role in the assembly of plant communities, based on the potential influences of dispersal, source- sink dynamics, stochastic factors, and trait-based species sorting. Using combined experimental, demographic, and/or statistical approaches, this project will test the relative influence of these factors with a unique large-scale (45 acre), long-term assembly experiment in tallgrass prairie in southern Ontario. I seek a highly-motivated PhD candidate with a theoretical or field-based empirical background to use this project as the basis for their dissertation research, starting 2011 or 2012. The direction and scope of the research will be self-determined based on interest and background. Possible topics include (but are not limited to): whether population, community, and ecosystem-level responses to metacommunity processes are synergistically linked or unfold independently during assembly; whether producer, herbivore, and predator responses are synergistically linked or unfold independently during assembly; the degree to which the relative strengths of metacommunity processes vary at different stages of assembly; whether the size, shape, and connectivity of metacommunity patches influence their stability and functioning; and how extrinsic influences associated with climate change, fire, and herbivory deflect or intensify assembly trajectories. The successful student will be remunerated with a combination of fellowships, research or teaching assistantships, with funding guaranteed for three years. Please submit a letter of interest and CV including grades to Dr. Andrew MacDougall, Department of Integrative Biology ([email protected]).
