Nature-based solutions for warming impacts on river ecosystems

O'GORMAN_E25ARIES CASE project with IHCantabria, Spain

Nature-based solutions for warming impacts on river ecosystems

O'GORMAN_E25ARIES CASE project with IHCantabria, Spain

Project Description

Supervisors

Dr Eoin O’Gorman, School of Life Sciences, University of Essex – contact me

Dr Martin Wilkes, University of Essex

Dr Jose Barquin, IHCantabria

Dr Alexia Gonzalez-Ferreras, IHCantabria

 

Scientific background

Climate warming exerts immense pressure on ecosystems across multiple levels of biological organisation. Iconic species like Atlantic salmon are disappearing from the southern limit of their distribution; simplified communities with fewer species and trophic connections are less resilient to extreme events; and amplified energy fluxes through food webs may increase carbon emissions to the atmosphere, intensifying the rate of climate change. Freshwaters are particularly vulnerable due to greater oxygen limitation and reduced rates of dispersal compared to terrestrial and marine environments. Human activities have also compounded these effects through land-use change, particularly deforestation for agriculture or urbanisation. The physical shading, hydrological stability, and allochthonous energy sources provided by riparian vegetation could offer a vital nature-based solution to warming impacts on freshwaters, but studies are needed to quantify the benefits of forest cover for individual physiology, food web structure, and ecosystem processes.

Research methodology

This project will examine changes at the individual (physiological), community (food web structure), and ecosystem levels (carbon cycling) in rivers across a forest-cover gradient in the Cantabrian Mountains, Spain. Extensive datasets are available from sampling of >50 rivers across the region over the past decade, including biomasses of fish, invertebrates, and diatoms and estimates of ecosystem metabolism from dissolved oxygen probes. Analyses of these long-term datasets will be supplemented with processing of archival samples for food web quantification through gut content analysis. Original fieldwork will be conducted to fill gaps in the forest cover gradient and to quantify metabolic rates of fish and invertebrates using in situ respirometry.

Training

The candidate will join the Ecology and Environmental Microbiology Group at the University of Essex and will also work with researchers at IHCantabria in Spain. The supervisory team will offer training in a broad skillset related to ecophysiology, fish biology, food web ecology, freshwater taxonomy, ecological modelling, and science communication. The candidate will also develop extensive field skills in electrofishing, respirometry, and freshwater ecology.

Person specification

We are looking for a candidate who is enthusiastic about global change biology, freshwater ecology, fish biology, and ecosystem ecology, with a degree in ecology, biology, geography, or environmental science.

Acceptable first degree subjects: Ecology, Biology, Geography, Environmental Science

References

  • O’Gorman EJ, Petchey OL, Faulkner KJ, Gallo B, Gordon TA, Neto-Cerejeira J, Ólafsson JS, Pichler DE, Thompson MS, Woodward G (2019) A simple model predicts how warming simplifies wild food webs. Nature Climate Change. 9, 611-616.
  • González-Ferreras AM, Barquín J, Blyth PS, Hawksley J, Kinsella H, Lauridsen R, Morris OF, Peñas FJ, Thomas GE, Woodward G, Zhao L (2023). Chronic exposure to environmental temperature attenuates the thermal sensitivity of salmonids. Nature Communications, 14, 8309.
  • Estévez E, Álvarez‐Martínez JM, Álvarez‐Cabria M, Robinson CT, Battin TJ, Barquín J (2019) Catchment land cover influences macroinvertebrate food‐web structure and energy flow pathways in mountain streams. Freshwater Biology, 64, 1557-1571.
  • Rodríguez-Castillo T, Estévez E, González-Ferreras AM, Barquín J (2019) Estimating ecosystem metabolism to entire river networks. Ecosystems, 22, 892-911.
  • O'Gorman EJ, Ólafsson ÓP, Demars BOL, Friberg N, Guðbergsson G, Hannesdóttir ER, Jackson MC, Johansson LS, McLaughlin ÓB, Ólafsson JS, Woodward G, Gíslason GM (2016) Temperature effects on fish production across a natural thermal gradient. Global Change Biology 22:3206-3220.

Key Information

  • This studentship has been shortlisted for funding under the UKRI NERC DLA funding scheme and will commence on 1 October 2025. The closing date for applications is 23:59 on 8th January 2025.
  • Successful candidates who meet UKRI’s eligibility criteria will be awarded a fully-funded studentship, which covers fees, maintenance stipend (£19,237 p.a. for 2024/25) and research funding. A limited number of studentships are available for international applicants, with the difference between 'home' and 'international' fees being waived by the registering university. Please note however that ARIES funding does not cover additional costs associated with relocation to, and living in, the UK, such as visa costs or the health surcharge.
  • ARIES postgradute researcher (PGRs) benefit from bespoke graduate training and ARIES provides £2,500 to every student for access to external training, travel and conferences, on top of all Research Costs associated with the project. Excellent applicants from quantitative disciplines with limited experience in environmental sciences may be considered for an additional 3-month stipend to take advanced-level courses.
  • ARIES is committed to equality, diversity, widening participation and inclusion in all areas of its operation. We encourage enquiries and applications from all sections of the community regardless of gender, ethnicity, disability, age, sexual orientation and transgender status. Academic qualifications are considered alongside non-academic experience, and our recruitment process considers potential with the same weighting as past experience.
  • All ARIES studentships may be undertaken on a part-time or full-time basis. International applicants should check whether there are any conditions of visa or imigration permission that preclude part-time study. All advertised project proposals have been developed with consideration of a safe, inclusive, and appropriate research and fieldwork environment with respect to protected characteristics. If you have any concerns please contact us.
  • For further information, please contact the supervisor. To apply for this Studentship follow the instructions at the bottom of the page or click the 'apply now' link.
  • ARIES is required by our funders to collect Equality and Diversity Information from all of our applicants. The information you provide will be used solely for monitoring and statistical purposes; it will remain confidential, and will be stored on the UEA sharepoint server. Data will not be shared with those involved in making decisions on the award of Studentships, and will have no influence on the success of your application. It will only be shared outside of this group in an anonymised and aggregated form. You will be ask to complete the form by the University to which you apply.
  • If funded under the BBSRC-NERC DLA scheme, ARIES studentships will be subject to UKRI terms and conditions. Postgraduate Researchers are expected to live within reasonable distance of their host organisation for the duration of their studentship. See https://www.ukri.org/publications/terms-and-conditions-for-training-funding/ for more information

Apply now

Please send your cover letter and CV to:  ariesapp@essex.ac.uk, identifying the project that you’re interested in. Please include the relevant project code.