Offerte TESI PER I CORSI DI LAUREA MAGISTRALE

Background

An iconic sign of global warming is the retreat and extinction of glaciers worldwide. As glaciers are retreating, new terrain is continuou ...

Background

An iconic sign of global warming is the retreat and extinction of glaciers worldwide. As glaciers are retreating, new terrain is continuously exposed to colonization by diverse organisms, prompting distribution shifts and new interactions among species. But glacier extinction will also be followed by the loss of species from ecological networks and local communities, with the inherent impoverishment of ecosystem functions. However, lack of comprehensive network-level studies impairs our ability to predict the fate of biodiversity and the functioning of ecosystems on forelands of retreating glaciers. An integrative understanding of network dynamics and ecosystem functions following glacier retreat is therefore of paramount importance to biodiversity maintenance and environmental health.

Objective

We will investigate ecological networks in environments ranging from recently ice-free terrains to late stages of development on three glacier forelands in the Swiss Alps. We  will reconstruct interactions among multiple ecological communities (fungi, plants, pollinators, herbivores, and predators) by means of surveys and DNA metabarcoding. This novel aspect will allow us to unveil cryptic species and hidden interactions, and analyze the assembly, structure, and dynamics of ecological networks at unprecedented resolution. The contribution this project will provide is crucial to understanding and predicting the fate of biodiversity and anticipating the consequences of global warming on mountain ecosystems.

Qualifications

We are looking for motivated and enthusiastic master students with a passion for science and nature. Students are expected to have basic fieldwork and quantitative skills and be keen to learn different experimental techniques.

Keywords

Alps, biodiversity, community ecology, ecological networks, glacier extinction

Background

Ongoing environmental change poses serious threats to the conservation of biodiveristy and to the functioning and sustainability of ecosys ...

Background

Ongoing environmental change poses serious threats to the conservation of biodiveristy and to the functioning and sustainability of ecosystems. This research project involves revisiting the pioneering studies of local adaptation initiated by California botanists Dr. H. M. Hall and colleagues in the 1920’s. They showed how species evolved and locally adapted to different environments. They recorded the distribution and phenotype of the same plant species (common yarrow, Achillea millefolium) across a broad environmental gradient ranging from the coast (Bodega Bay, 1 m asl) to Yosemite mountains (Big Horn Lake, 3350 m asl).

Objective

The purpose of this study is to revisit the study of Hall and colleagues 90 years after, which means in environmental conditions remarkably different than 90 years ago. Our objectives are to understand (1) how different populations of Achillea millefolium locally adapted and evolved during this last century of changing environmental conditions, and (2) the ecological consequences of plant local adaptation for biotic interactions involving other plants as well as mutualistic and antagonistic species. We will compare current results of an ongoing experiment with original data as well as implement a new common garden experiment with different A. millefolium California populations. The outcome of this research will help us understand plants’ evolutionary response to environmental change and its ecological consequences.

Qualifications

We are looking for a highly motivated and enthusiastic student with a passion for science and nature. Students are expected to have basic labwork and quantitative skills and be keen to learn different techniques.

Keywords

Achillea millefolium, climate change, genetic diversity, local adaptation.

Workplace

Dept. Biosciences&