Project: Metacorrhiza Main supervisor: Stavros Veresoglou Start Date: as soon as possible Reference code: Metacor001 Application deadline: 20th March 2017 More information: http://www.fu- berlin.de/en/service/stellen/acad/index.html
Applications are invited for a fully funded PhD studentship at Freie Universität Berlin. Project: We are looking for a highly-motivated student to fill a three- year PhD position. The PhD student will run a series of controlled experiments and field surveys to investigate the degree to which arbuscular-mycorrhizal community dynamics can be described with paradigms from meta-community theory. Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi are ubiquitous in nature and strongly impact the fitness of their plant hosts. The general understanding is that in terrestrial ecosystems plant hosts rarely experience a limitation of mycorrhizal propagules. There is growing evidence, however, that in agricultural and in woody habitats plants often grow without a functional mycorrhizal symbiosis. So far potential functional implications of shortages in AM-propagules have been largely overlooked. The PhD candidate is expected to collaborate with an existing team at Freie Universität Berlin and address the following objectives: 1) Quantify how shortages of AM-propagules impact ecosystem functioning in temperate forests. 2) Identify how AM propagule availability in space influences community structure and functioning of resulting AM communities. 3) Fit existing metacommunity-paradigms to describe community dynamics of AM fungi Qualifications: The PhD candidate will devote approximately 10% of their time in field surveys, 20% of the time running controlled experiments and 70% of the time carrying out molecular and other lab work as well as writing. Candidates are required to have obtained an MSc in Ecology or a related field. Because of field work you are expected to have good plant identification skills and if possible a good understanding of phytosociological techniques. We really value previous experience with molecular techniques and a willingness to work with high-throughput molecular methods is a prerequisite. You have to be fluent in English (certified C1-level or equivalent) and it is desirable to possess a driving license. Contact: For more information or inquiries please contact Dr Stavros Veresoglou at [email protected] References: Veresoglou SD, Caruso T, Rillig MC. 2012 Metacommunities and symbiosis: hosts of challenges. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 27: 588-589. Mihaljevic JR. 2012. Linking metacommunity theory and symbiont evolutionary ecology. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 27: 323-329. Veresoglou SD, Wulf M. Rillig MC. 2017 Facilitation between woody and herbaceous plants that associate with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in temperate European forests. Ecology and Evolution In Press.
