FPU2023-Landscape-level effects of multi-species, plant-herbivore interactions in European Atlantic ecosystems

The research will be developed in the framework of the project Increasing the resilience of High Nature Value pastoral systems hosting wild and domestic ungulates RESILGRAZE, aimed at developing evidence-based, adaptive management strategies to optimize the balance between pastoral livestock farming, wildlife conservation, ecosystem services, and ecosystem resilience in Europe’s (Mediterranean- and temperate-climate) Atlantic ecosystems facing climate change. The project will obtain and analyze field, remote-sensing and animal movement data, with the aim of fostering the development of adaptive co-management programs in four iconic Natural Protected Areas within that region: Doñana National Park (SW Spain), Serra de Xistral (NW Spain), Lauwersmeer (Netherlands) and Cairngorms (UK). The research of the PhD student will be related to a broader assessment of the long-term effects of climate change on plant-herbivore dynamics and ecosystem function (e.g., carbon and nutrient dynamics, water purification) at multiple-spatial scales, ranging from the individual to the landscape level and including the interplay between aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. The project activities and results will represent a suitable departure point from which the PhD student will be able to add in-depth studies of the effects of ungulates on other elements of the (aquatic and terrestrial) ecosystems placed along the project’s broad latitudinal gradient, and the impact of climate change.