Plant evolution and the assembly of flammable biomes

Supervisors : Dr Colin Osborne and Dr Gavin Thomas

Collaborators:- Caroline Lehmann (Macquarie University, Sydney), Brad Ripley (Rhodes University, South Africa)

Plant traits are important determinants of biome structure and functioning. However, we know little about how trait evolution influences biome assembly and restructuring, because most major vegetation types contain many species and have existed for many millions of years. A recent breakthrough came with the realization that relatively few species of grass dominate vast tracts of the tropical and temperate regions, and are clustered into lineages that can be tracked through geological time via microfossils. Advances in ecology have also brought new understanding of the mechanisms by which fire maintains this grassy vegetation. Fire adapted grasses therefore present exciting possibilities for exploring the relationships between the macroevolution of biological traits and biome assembly on geological timescales.

This project aims to understand how trait evolution has allowed particular grass lineages to dominate flammable grassy biomes. It has three components: first, to build a large phylogeny for the dominant grasses and infer their evolutionary history; secondly, in collaboration with international experts in Australia and South Africa, to use experiments with live plants, observations of herbarium material, and data mining from the literature to measure key traits involved in fire adaptation; and thirdly, to use comparative analyses to address questions about environmental niche evolution in grass lineages, especially how these plants are adapted to frequently burned environments, and when and where the key adaptations emerged. The student will develop skills in DNA sequencing, building large phylogenies, experimental physiological ecology, and the comparative analysis of trait evolution. Contact Colin Osborne (c.p.osborne@sheffield.ac.uk) for further details.

To apply, please complete and online application form which can be found at www.shef.ac.uk/postgraduate/research/apply/applying
The closing date is 15th January 2013