Deadline: 15 August 2022
Are you interested in plant-animal interactions and how to figure out the carrying capacity of a landscape for wild populations of large herbivores? Forestry and ungulate (moose and deer) browsing are both important drivers of forest biodiversity and ecosystem services. To better understand how these factors interact, and to predict the level of browsing damage in production forests, we need to fill some knowledge gaps: how much forage is there in the landscape and how can we measure it in a cost-efficient way? How can we use silviculture to promote forage availability and therefore reduce damage? Which landscape scale factors explain the development of browsing damage over time? Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) is looking for a person who, as part of a PhD, will address these questions.
I. Activities
- The doctoral student will be trained in three research fields which are connected in this project: ecology, remote sensing and forest production.
- The work includes for example field data collection, conducting forest experiments, working with data from remote sensing and the National Forest Inventory.
- The doctoral student will work with many plant species, relevant for all wild ungulate species living in Sweden.
- The doctoral student will be part of an active research group, and together we strive to maximize the impact of our research on practical game- and forest management, including outreach activities to forest owners and hunters.
II. Qualifications:
- You should have a Master degree in biology, forest science or equivalent.
- You should have a strong interest in forest ecosystems, and an interest in (and preferably experience with) working with modelling and managing large data sets.
- Experience in remote sensing, wildlife ecology, plant ecology or forestry is a merit.
- Focus is given to your analytical and problem solving abilities, your ability to work independently and your personal characteristics.
- You should have good skills in expressing yourself in English both orally and in writing.
- You should have a driver’s licence.
III. How to Apply?
For more information and how to Apply, please click HERE
