Understanding the influence of land-based nutrient pollution on coastal ecosystems in a Caribbean Bay

Description

In tropical coastal ecosystems, mangrove and seagrass ecosystems sieve nutrients and sediment from land, protecting fragile coral reefs. Increasing anthropogenic land-based sources of nutrients can overwhelm this natural sieve, allowing excessive nutrients and sediments to impact coastal water quality. Maintaining the health of tropical coastal ecosystems is vital as they are important global blue carbon stores and provide numerous other ecosystem services.

This project will examine how effective mangroves and seagrasses are at altering the nutrient and sediment discharge from rivers with different characteristics such as those that are urbanised, peat-rich, or clean mountain rivers. The study site, Almirante Bay, Bocas del Toro, Panama is a biodiverse estuary impacted by anthropogenic nutrient inputs from land, which may be the driver of local annual hypoxia.

Key attributes of mangroves and seagrasses (e.g., stem and shoot density, species composition, growth rates) will be related to water-quality and sediment parameters at the sampling sites and adjacent rivers. Seagrass will be surveyed during the wet and dry seasons to assess short-term responses. Sediment traps will document sedimentation rates. GIS will be used to assess the impacts of the river discharge on the health of mangrove and seagrass meadows in Almirante Bay.

This will be the first systematic research linking land-based sources of nutrients from a broad range of river types to marine ecosystems health along continental sites on the Caribbean coast. This project is timely, as the reduction of land-based sources of marine pollution have been identified as an important factor in the Regional Nutrient Pollution Reduction Strategy and Action Plan for the Wider Caribbean Region. Under the guidance of a Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) scientist Dr Rachel Collin, fieldwork will be based out of the world-renowned Bocas del Toro Research Station in Panama, where the student will interact with diverse international researchers. 

HOW TO APPLY

Notes and details of how to apply are available here: https://accedtp.ac.uk/acce-dtp-phd-opportunities-at-university-of-liverpool/

All applicants to ACCE must complete the ACCE personal statement proforma. This is instead of a normal personal/supporting statement/cover letter. The proforma is designed to standardise this part of the application to minimise the difference between those who are given support and those who are not.

The ACCE DTP is committed to recruiting extraordinary future scientists regardless of age, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, disability, sexual orientation or career pathway to date. We understand that commitment and excellence can be shown in many ways and have built our recruitment process to reflect this. We welcome applicants from all backgrounds, particularly those underrepresented in science, who have curiosity, creativity and a drive to learn new skills.

Informal enquiries may be made to 

Availability

Open to students worldwide

Funding information

Funded studentship

NERC ACCE DTP in Ecology and Evolution, programme starts October 2023.
UKRI provide the following funding for 3.5 years:
• Stipend (2022/23 UKRI rate £17,668)
• Tuition Fees at UK fee rate (2022/23 rate £4,596)
• Research support and training grant (RTSG)
Note - UKRI funding only covers UK (Home) fees (£4,596 at 2022/23 rate). A limited number of international fee bursaries will be awarded on a competitive basis. However, if selected International and EU fee rate candidates may need to cover the remaining amount of tuition fees by securing additional funding. International fees for 2022/23 entry were £25,950 (full time) per annum.

Supervisors

References

Clark KE, Bravo VD, Giddings SN, Davis KA, Pawlak G, Torres MA, Adelson AE, César-Ávila CI, Boza X and Collin R (2022) Land Use and Land Cover Shape River Water Quality at a Continental Caribbean Land-Ocean Interface. Front. Water 4:737920. (Adelson is a postgraduate author)
Weinstock, J. B., Vargas, L., & Collin, R. (2022). Zooplankton Abundance Reflects Oxygen Concentration and Dissolved Organic Matter in a Seasonally Hypoxic Estuary. Journal of Marine Science and Engineering, 10(3), 427 (first two authors are postgraduates)
Mahaffey, C., Palmer, M., Greenwood, N. and Sharples, J. (2020). Impacts of climate change on dissolved oxygen concentration relevant to the coastal and marine environment around the UK. MCCIP Science Review, 2002, 31-53.
Maltby, L; Brown, R; Wilkinson, H (2022) Applying ecosystem service principles to the derivation of freshwater environmental quality standards. Frontiers in Environmental Science 10: 932161.