How does climate history and land management affect soil nematode communities during and after drought?

Supervisors

Justine Lejoly (daily supervisor) Natalie Oram (daily supervisor), Albert Brangarí, and Franciska de Vries

Contact

J.Lejoly@nioo.knaw.nl, n.j.oram@uva.nl

Start dates

September-October 2024

Location

Terrestrial Ecology Department, NIOO (90% of time) and Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics (IBED), University of Amsterdam (10% of time). 

Note that during the practical/experimental periods this project is full-time (38 hours/week) in person at NIOO. 

Description

Drought is one of the largest threats to grasslands, and extreme droughts are becoming more frequent. Grassland management is an important driver of soil biota communities, including nematodes, which drive  key ecosystem functions including carbon and nitrogen cycling. Management practices (tillage, fertilization, and mowing) affect the diversity, abundance, and composition of nematode communities, and could thus inform the response of nematode communities to stresses such as drought. However, what is not well known is if grassland management elicits consistent responses to drought across a continental-scale climatic gradient. 

In this project, we will address the question: How does grassland management affect soil nematode response to drought across a European climatic gradient? We hypothesize that (1) because the historic climate selects for specific nematode communities, the relative drought response will increase as the climate becomes cooler and wetter, and (2) drought effects will be consistently smaller in extensive than intensively managed grasslands due to higher biodiversity. To address our hypotheses, we will expose monoliths (intact soil and plant communities) from paired extensive and intensive grasslands across a European climatic gradient to drought (or control conditions) in a greenhouse experiment at the University of Amsterdam. We will determine key ecosystem functions at peak drought and after a recovery period. We will also characterize plant, soil microbial, soil faunal, and soil nematode community responses to drought. Your MSc thesis would be part of this large, dynamic project (the EU-Biodiversa+ project GRASS4FUN). We are specifically looking for someone with an interest in soil nematodes, ecosystem functioning, and global change. The main focus of this MSc. project will be soil nematode communities, and you would have the opportunity to investigate how changes in these communities links with ecosystem functioning (measured as part of the larger project).

Main tasks that this project would include:

• Extracting nematodes from soil and identifying feeding groups
• Carefully and accurately managing a dataset, statistical analysis, and presentation of results
• Reviewing relevant literature and writing 
• Be an active member of the Lejoly group (https://nioo.knaw.nl/en/research-groups/lejoly-group) and the department of Terrestrial Ecology at NIOO (notably joining weekly department meetings, contributing to other projects in terms of feedback and collaboration, and committing to an inclusive work culture). 

In addition, you would have the opportunity to take part in the greenhouse experiment at IBED, and be part of the Plant-Soil Ecology group (https://plantsoilecology.wordpress.com/).

Interested to know more? Send us an email and we can discuss your ideas and thesis possibilities!