PhD in Ecology

The Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences Department of Ecology in Ultuna 1 PhD student in the research education subject: Ecology Ecology and management of multiple ecosystem services - crop pollination and biological pest control Intensified agriculture in Europe has lead to changes in the landscape with serious implications for biodiversity.Several groups of beneficial insects such as pollinators and parasitoids are negatively impacted by these changes.These drastic changes in insect communities have potential importance for the provisioning of ecosystem services such as pollination of crops and biological control of pest insects.Management strategies need to be developed to safeguard biodiversity and the services they provide for agriculture.Crop pollination is poorly studied, despite its great importance for 70% of all crops.Even less is know about how crop pollination interacts and can be combined with other key ecosystem services such as biological control of crop pests. WORK DESCRIPTION: One PhD student will enter a research team with extensive national and international collaborations in the field.The student will explore how the landscape around clover fields should be structured in order to conserve and enhance pollinators and natural enemies of crop pests.The student will explore the ecology of the food web consisting of the crop plant, pollinators, seed eating insects, and the parasitoids on the seed eaters.The student will develop and test cultivation schemes in clover that enhance crop yield via pollination and pest control.The position is part of the projects CLOVER "Pollination and pest control in organic CLOVER" (www2.ekol.slu.se/clover), and SCALES ("Securing the Conservation of biodiversity across Administrative Levels and spatial, temporal, and Ecological Scales"), financed by FORMAS/EKOFORSK and the EU 7th framework programme respectively.Most field work in the summers will take place in southern Sweden (in the regions Skåne and Östergötland). Qualifications: The suitable candidate has a MSc exam in biology, agronomy, environmental science or similar subjects, with specialisation in ecology or entomology.Advanced level courses in population and community ecology, theoretical ecology, and entomology are meriting, as are documented abilities to do field work, to communicate well in written and spoken English, and to have an undergraduate thesis project in ecology connected to the position's subject.The candidate should have the ability to work independently, take own initiatives, and have an interest in combining basic and applied ecological questions.Driving license is necessary.Forms for funding or employment: Employment as a PhD student SLU is an Equal Opportunity Employer.A person has basic eligibility for third level education if he or she has taken a second level qualification or has completed course requirements of at least 240 higher education credits, including at least 60 higher education credits at second level.Those who met the requirements for general eligibility before July 1st, 2007, i.e.had completed a programme of higher education for at least 120 credits or the equivalent, will continue to do so until the end of 2015." Use this APPLICATION FORM http://www.slu.se/UserFiles/File/ansokningsblankett2_eng.doc For a complete advt: http://www.slu.se/phdadvert