Master’s degree project in Theoretical Ecology
The degree project may comprise 30-60 credits and can be carried out in a research group at the department of Biology, or at an external institution e.g. at another faculty or elsewhere
Prerequisites for the Master’s degree project in Theoretical Ecology
- 45 cr Advanced courses in Ecology including Population and Community Ecology (BIOR69) and Theoretical Ecology (BIOR30)
- A Bachelor’s degree including 90 cr in Cell Biology, Genetics, Microbiology, Ecology, Botany and Zoology and 7.5 cr in Statistics
Proposals for master degree projects in
Theoretical Ecology
Mechanisms of coexistence in microbial communities
Heterotrophic bacteria are an extremely diverse and important group of organisms in most ecosystems. The evolutionary and ecological mechanisms for generating and maintaining of this extreme diversity are largely unknown. The critical relationship between diversity and ecosystem functioning is also an open question in crucial systems such as forste and farmaland soils, and the oceans.
In an ongoing, cross-disciplinary research project, we are developing the theoretical framework for understanding microbial community ecology and evolution. We are particularly interested in the heterotrophic bacterioplankton in the oceans.
We propose a set of rather simple experiments for this project. Simple, yes, yet surprisingly absent from the scientific literature.
The aim is to grow pre-cultured marine bacteria in the lab in single-species and multi-species cultures in order to determine species-specific population growth parameters and species interaction coefficients. We will test two opposing hypotheses – that bacterial communities are largely neutral, i.e., that species interactions and niches play minor roles for diversity, or that strong interaction dictate growth rates and coexistence.
An expansion of the initial tests involves determining the intra-specific genetic variation in relation to species diversity. Several theoretical and empirical stsudies have shown that there should a generally positive relationship between the genetic diversity of a focal species and the species diversity of the community it is embedded in. This is critical yet lergely unstudied problem in bacteria and is a critical component in the coexistence and functionality mechanisms i micobial communities
Suitable background: Advanced courses in theoretical ecology, microbiology, or molecular ecology. Students keen on combining theoretical biology with state of the art molecular biology and ecosystem services thinking should find this projet exciting and rewarding.
Please contact Per Lundberg or Mikael Pontarp if you are interested in this proposal.
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Last modified 29 Feb 2012