PhD position: Assembly rules in lake fish communities and ecosystems' vulnerability

PhD position: Assembly rules in lake fish communities and ecosystems' vulnerability

Starting date: September 2013- Duration: 3 years
Location: Irstea Aix en Provence and Clermont-Ferrand
Salary: 1510 € net per month

Contacts:Christine Argillier (+33 4 42 66 79 33/06 03 01 75 36, christine.argillier@irstea.fr, Aix en Provence)
Franck Jabot (+ 33 4 73 44 07 33; franck.jabot@irstea.fr, Clermont-Ferrand)

How to apply?Please send a cover letter indicating research interests and background, your CV, and the names of 2 or 3 referees to the two contacts. The position is open until filled.

The project is collaborative between two laboratories of Irstea: Hydrobiology research Unit in Aix en Provence and Laboratoire d'Ingénierie pour les Systèmes Complexes (LISC), Irstea Clermont-Ferrand.


Objective and methodology:The overall objective of the thesis is (1) to assess the relative contribution of natural and anthropogenic environmental factors to the gradients of diversity of fish fauna in European lakes and (2) to test the role of different processes involved in fish communities assemblages analyzing their functional structures. The variation in the weight of the different processes along natural and anthropogenic environmental gradients will be analyzed. Particular attention will be paid to the comparison of native and exotic species, both in their functional position within the communities and in the response of this positioning to the environmental variables. From a methodological point of view, simple models of species interactions will be developed to test and quantify the importance of different processes from data on functional structures of lake fish communities.
In an applied perspective, this work should be positioned in the context of the development of indicators of diversity and vulnerability of lentic systems

RequirementsSkills in ecological modelling or strong motivations to rapidly acquire them are required.
The candidate should have background in ecological theories. A previous experience in fish community ecology would be greatly appreciated.
The candidate should be mobile to work in the two laboratories and independent.