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Paul Brooks School of Biology & Environmental Science |
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Combined effects of multiple disturbances and environmental change on intertidal ecosystems
Supervisor: Tasman Crowe
Funding: Scholarship from UCD Graduate Research Education Programme in Sustainable Development (funded by IRCSET and IRCHSS)
Human activities are causing major changes in the structure and functioning of ecosystems. There is international pressure to take steps to reduce and manage those impacts. In Europe, a number of Directives require member states to conserve species and habitats or maintain ecological quality. The new EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive requires member states to characterise the current state of its marine ecosystems, identify drivers of change and develop management plans to maintain or restore good ecological status. This task is extremely difficult because a wide range of different disturbances act individually and collectively and we currently lack the capacity to predict their impacts under particular circumstances. Impacts of disturbances such as pollution and physical damage may vary for different species and communities under different seasonal and climatic conditions. Climate change makes it necessary for us to understand such interactive effects so that we can predict impacts under future scenarios of temperature, rainfall and storminess. This alteration of natural processes underpins the necessity to understand ecosystems of the present before they transform for good.
To avoid having to characterise all combinations of impacts on all systems under all circumstances, we must attempt to find general patterns of impact based on selected parameters of disturbances and the systems they affect. Benedetti Cecchi (2003 Ecology 84: 2335-2346) argued that the focus of previous research on the intensity of disturbances was not an effective approach and proposed a framework to take into account temporal variances of disturbance regimes. The timing of disturbance may also be an important factor in determining its impact.
Objectives
1. Clarify the relative importance of magnitude, variance and timing of disturbance in different contexts
2. Test the combined effects of multiple disturbances on selected ecosystems
3. Quantify the effects of disturbance on ecosystem functioning (e.g. productivity and export of material)
Suitable model systems will be selected on the coast of Ireland. Disturbance regimes combining different stressors will be imposed in long-term field experiments and impacts on ecosystem structure and functioning will be sampled. Findings will contribute to a better general understanding of the individual and combined effects of different disturbances. Relevant findings will also be communicated to the National Parks and Wildlife Service, the Environmental Protection Agency and other relevant bodies to help underpin effective environmental management.
Educational History
BSc (Hons) Environmental Biology, University College Dublin 2004 - 2009
Honors Thesis: Effects of disturbance by trampling on rocky shores: relative importance of intensity, variance and timing (
Supervisor: Dr Tasman Crowe)
Grants and Awards
IRCSET: “PhD in Sustainable Development Programme” in the Urban Institute Ireland, Richview, UCD, (Present Funding)
Crawford-Hayes Bursary, University College Dublin, 2009. Used to gain experience in field experiments, alongside other members of the MARBEE research group.
Oral presentation
6th Annual Irish Research Council for Science & Engineering Technology Symposium, RDS, Dublin, Ireland. “Science Jam” – presentation on current PhD topic, Sept 2009.
Links
Urban Institute Ireland
PhD in Sustainable Development Programme
http://www.marbef.org/wiki/Threats_to_Marine_Biodiversity
IRCSET
IRCHSS
Lisandro Benedetti-Cecchi