Quantifying and conserving West Papuan wetland forests

Description

New Guinea is the most biodiverse island on Earth. This vast diversity is distributed across a range of ecosystem types, including a mosaic of forested wetlands at low elevations. These forested wetlands potentially harbour substantial carbon stocks in the form of peat. The drivers of carbon and biodiversity patterns and conservation risks in these wetlands/peatlands remain unquantified. Furthermore, in contrast to most neighbouring regions of Southeast Asia, these ecosystems remain largely intact, although development has been increasing rapidly over recent years.

Objectives

This PhD project will leverage an exciting combination of new field data collections and novel remote sensing approaches to:

1.                  Quantify the carbon stocks of wetland/peatland ecosystems across Western Papua.

2.                  Identify the biophysical drivers of tree beta-diversity in Papuan wetland/peatland ecosystems.

3.                  Predict where land-use change will occur over coming decades within the lowland wetland/peatland mosaic and where conservation interventions could be directed.

Novelty and timeliness

In 2019, the 100,000 km2 Indonesian province of West Papua was declared as Indonesia’s first conservation province, meaning all future development must be sustainable. This declaration presents an important opportunity to protect some of Earth’s most biologically valuable and carbon rich forests. One exciting pathway for this conservation comes from payments for ecological services schemes, whereby large multinational companies provide payment to tropical nations/landowners/local communities in exchange for safeguarding forests. This project will be co-supervised by partners at Wildlifeworks, a community-focused market-based conservation company that uses carbon credits market to conserve tropical forests globally.

Person specification

The project has a significant field component in tropical forests, so we are looking for someone who enjoys spending time in the field. We are looking for a background in ecology, conservation, or remote sensing, and ideally with some training in statistics. Training will be provided in field techniques, remote sensing, and analysis relevant to the project. Potential applicants are strongly encouraged to contact the lead supervisor before applying.

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 f.draper@liverpool.ac.uk