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How do current insect dispersal dynamics compare to natural rates-of-change?

Picture shows the larval head capsule of a chironomid (non-biting midge). Chironomid fossils can be used to reconstruct past insect diversity dynamics
Project Description

Insect numbers in NW Europe have decreased by 75% over the past decades as a result of human impact on the environment – a so-called ‘Insect Armageddon’. However, there are not just “losers”: due to global warming multiple insect species are expanding their distribution ranges northward. It is currently unclear if the rate at which species can change their distribution rate in the current-day environment, where many anthropogenic actions impact on insect populations simultaneously, are as fast as they were naturally, and whether they can keep pace with spatiotemporal trends in climate warming. 


This project will determine natural rates of insect dispersal using subfossil chironomid records spanning from the end of the last ice age to the present. Chironomids (non-biting midges) are often the most abundant invertebrates in a lake and they are highly sensitive to changes in their environment. The preservation of parts of their exoskeleton in lake sediment records allows us to determine changes in the chironomid fauna through time. In this project datasets from existing Holocene records will be analysed and, where necessary, complemented by new records from key areas that are currently under-investigated. The records will be used to reconstruct past spatiotemporal trends in the chironomid fauna. By understanding the speed and variability of past insect migration we will be better able to predict how the decline in insects will develop in the near future.

Research themes
Project Specific Training

You will receive advanced training in: (a) the generation of highly resolved palaeoecological records, including sedimentological, chronological and palaeoecological techniques; (b) the use of a range of numerical approaches; (c) interpretation and presentation of scientific data in the context of (palaeo-) ecological research questions and (d) coding in R and working with databases. Training will be provided through one-to-one instruction by the PhD supervisory team.

Potential Career Trajectory

Potential careers could include working in the commercial section (e.g. environmental archaeology), public bodies (e.g. Natural England, the Environment Agency), or NGOs, as well as academic positions within universities.

Project supervisor/s
Stefan Engels
School of Social Sciences
Birkbeck
s.engels@bbk.ac.uk
Ian Matthews
Department of Geography
RHUL
I.P.Matthews@rhul.ac.uk
Supervision balance
80:20