Ants are ecosystem engineers, represent a large proportion of animal biomass worldwide and. through their daily activities contribute to various ecosystem functions. However, it is unclear whether all ants contribute equally or whether different functional groups fulfill different functions within ecosystems.
We seek a graduate student to conduct observational and experimental studies linking ant functional diversity to soil community structure and litter decomposition in forest ecosystems. The project involves (1) an observational study along a broad-scale climatic gradient - from the temperate to the subarctic regions, and (2) an experimental study along the same gradient. The student will also have the opportunity to extend this study to the tropics, pending a successful application for a fellowship awarded through the NSERC CREATE program in *Biodiversity, Ecosystem Services and Sustainability* (http://www.mcgill.ca/bess/). The student will be supervised by Jean-Philippe Lessard, Concordia University and Tanya Handa, Université du Québec à Montreal (UQAM). We offer a 3 yr PhD scholarship with an annual stipend of at least $17,500/yr. However, in order to supplement this research stipend, the selected student is expected to apply for government-funded scholarships, NSERC CREATE fellowships and other funding opportunities. The qualifications are strong writing and inter-personal skills, ability to conduct field-research independently, and good knowledge of the R programming language and multivariate statistics. Previous experiences working with soil invertebrate’s and\or conducting litterbag experiments is an asset. Applicants should submit by email a short statement of interest, a current CV, transcripts and the names of three references. For additional information, contact [email protected] <[email protected]>
