FW: PhD topics on South America

[Katherine HARLE]

-----Original Message-----
From: Mayle, Dr F.E. [mailto:fem1 at LEICESTER.AC.UK] 
Sent: Thursday, March 08, 2001 11:19 PM
To: QUATERNARY at morgan.ucs.mun.ca
Subject: PhD topics on South America


The geography department of the University of Leicester, UK, is offering 2
fully funded PhD studentships (3 years duration) to commence in September
2001.  Numerous topics are available, spanning the disciplines of physical
and human geography (including 2 topics described below on Late Quaternary
South American palaeoecology).  If you know of any bright students in your
department who might be interested in applying, I'd be grateful if you could
draw their attention to these adverts.  Many thanks.

Funding details and contact information are given at the end of this
message.

PhD PROJECT 1
Title: LATE QUATERNARY HISTORY OF THE CHIQUITANO DRY FOREST, EASTERN
BOLIVIA.
Supervisor:
Dr. Francis Mayle (University of Leicester)

BACKGROUND
The Chiquitano dry forest in eastern Bolivia is a critical global
conservation priority because it constitutes the largest intact block of
tropical seasonal dry forest in the world (120,000 km2), most of which is
completely undisturbed.  This semi-deciduous forest dominates Chiquitania, a
geographic region in the eastern lowlands of the Department of Santa Cruz,
Bolivia.  It is situated in a transition zone between the humid Amazonian
forests to the north and the arid thorn scrub of the Gran Chaco to the
south.
RATIONALE
It has been hypothesised that the Chiquitano dry forest represents a
refugium that was formerly connected to other disjunct dry forest fragments
in tropical South America, constituting a 'Pleistocene Dry Forest Arc',
extending from Argentina and Bolivia to eastern Brazil.  Proponents of this
hypothesis claim that a cooler and more arid climate during the Last Glacial
Maximum would have brought about this dry forest expansion.  In contrast to
the Amazon rainforest 'Refuge Hypothesis', this 'Pleistocene Dry Forest Arc'
hypothesis has received scant attention.  The long-term, Late Quaternary
history of this rapidly vanishing dry forest ecosystem needs to be
elucidated in order to understand properly the origin of its floristic
composition and high biodiversity.
AIM AND METHODOLOGY
Pollen analysis of lake sediment cores will be undertaken, in combination
with AMS 14C dating, to test the following hypotheses:
1)  The Chiquitano dry forest constitutes an ancient biological refugium
that was once the central core of a much more extensive formation during the
last ice age (Late Pleistocene period), i.e. > 10,000 14C years ago; and 2)
The high alpha diversity (species richness) of the Chiquitano forest is due
to its long history as a stable, essentially undisturbed ecosystem, since at
least the end of the last ice age.
RESOURCES/TRAINING
F. Mayle will provide training in Bolivian pollen analysis.  T. Killeen
(Conservation International) will provide access to detailed botanical
information and satellite imagery of the region.  In addition, the student
will have access to a reference pollen collection comprising ca. 1000 pollen
taxa collected from lowland Bolivia.  Although the sediment cores will
already have been collected in August 2001, there will be an opportunity for
the student to undertake field work in the study area.  The successful
applicant will be expected to hold at least an upper second class degree in
an appropriate geographical or ecological subject.
ANTICIPATED OUTCOMES OF THE PROJECT
If the regional vegetation history of the Chiquitania region provided by the
pollen records demonstrates that the Chiquitano Dry Forest dates back to the
last glacial period (i.e. > 10,000 14C yrs ago), this would provide good
supporting evidence for the hypothesis that this forest constitutes an
ancient refugium of a formerly more extensive dry forest formation that
existed during the Pleistocene period.
If, on the other hand, the pollen records demonstrate that the Chiquitano
Dry Forest has a short history, not extending beyond the Holocene (i.e. the
last 10,000 years), these findings would disprove the hypothesis that the
Chiquitano forests constitute the remnant central core of a 'Pleistocene Dry
Forest Arc', in which case alternative hypotheses would need to be sought to
explain Dry Forest biogeography and endemism in South America.


PhD PROJECT 2
Title: LATE QUATERNARY HISTORY OF THE GRAN PANTANAL WETLANDS, SOUTH AMERICA.
Supervisor: Dr. Francis Mayle (University of Leicester)

BACKGROUND
The Gran Pantanal is located in the upstream section of the Upper Paraguay
River basin and constitutes the world's largest tropical wetland ecosystem,
encompassing more than 150,000 km2 in Brazil, Bolivia, and Paraguay.  The
Pantanal is highly diverse (defined as 'globally outstanding' in terms of
its biological distinctiveness), composed of a mosaic of different habitats
with varying hydrological regimes.  These range from lakes and permanent
marshes to seasonally flooded grasslands and savannas, gallery forests and
dry forests.  During the rainy season over 80% of the region floods, which
acts as an important controlling factor on the severity and frequency of
floods downstream along the Paraguay River.
RATIONALE
The long-term future of this unique region is increasingly uncertain.  A
consortium of 5 South American countries are developing the 'Hydrovia'
engineering project which aims to improve the efficiency of this waterway as
a highway for cargo transport.  However, the long-term implications of
tampering with the hydrology of these wetlands, with respect to biodiversity
and ecosystem functioning of the Pantanal, are hotly debated and poorly
understood.  The vulnerability of this ecosystem is further heightened by
increased cattle ranching in the grasslands and increased deforestation and
mining in the headwaters region.
The Late Quaternary history of the Gran Pantanal is unknown.  An
understanding of the long-term vegetation and hydrological dynamics of these
wetlands over millennial timescales can potentially provide important
insights into explaining the current habitat diversity and complexity of the
Pantanal we see today.  This may in turn increase understanding of the
likely consequences of ongoing/future environmental disturbance in the
region.
AIM AND METHODOLOGY
Sediment cores will be collected from the head-water lakes of the Gran
Pantanal, which straddle the Bolivian/Brazilian border.  Fossil pollen,
geochemical and sedimentological analyses will be undertaken to reconstruct
the Late Quaternary history of the regional vegetation and local
catchment/hydrological changes of this important head-water region.
RESOURCES/TRAINING
F. Mayle will provide training in pollen, geochemical, and sedimentological
analyses.  T. Killeen (Conservation International) will provide access to
detailed botanical information and satellite imagery of the region.  In
addition, the student will have access to a reference pollen collection
comprising ca. 1000 pollen taxa collected from lowland Bolivia.  Although
the sediment cores will already have been collected in August 2001, there
will be an opportunity for the student to undertake field work in the study
area.  The successful applicant will be expected to hold at least an upper
second class degree in an appropriate geographical or ecological subject.
ANTICIPATED OUTCOMES OF THE PROJECT
Since the catchment and hydrological conditions of the Pantanal head-water
lakes control ecosystem processes further down-river, this project should
shed light, not only on the Late Quaternary vegetation and hydrological
history of the western head-water region of the Pantanal, but on the Gran
Pantanal as a whole.

FUNDING AND CONTACT INFORMATION
The particular projects that get funded will be the two that attract the
best qualified applicants.  Therefore, applicants for these 2 projects will
be in competition for funding with applicants for other advertised projects.
Normally, only UK and EU (European Union) citizens are elligible to receive
full funding.  (However, potential applicants from elsewhere with access to
alternative sources of funding are strongly encouraged to apply).
Studentships will be paid at the rate of £5,800 pa. (plus remuneration of
£1000 pa for additional departmental duties), with total sum equivalent to
Research Council Studentships.

Application forms can be obtained from:
Gary Hancox, Department of Geography, University of Leicester, Leicester LE1
7RH, UK.  e-mail: glh6 at le.ac.uk, fax: +44 (0)116 252 3854, phone: +44 (0)116
252 3831
Closing date for submission of application form (to G. Hancox):
3rd April, 2001.

Together with the application form, applicants are asked to write a brief
500 word summary of why they wish to pursue this topic & their relevant
experience.
Please do not hesitate to send any informal enquiries about the specifics of
these 2 PhD adverts to the supervisor (Dr. Francis Mayle).
Further information about the department and other PhD projects and staff
research interests is available at:
http://www.geog.le.ac.uk

Many thanks,

Dr. Francis E. Mayle
Department of Geography,
University of Leicester,
Leicester LE1 7RH,
England, UK

phone: +44 (0)116 252 3831
fax: +44 (0)116 252 3854
e-mail: fem1 at leicester.ac.uk