DiatomJobs: PhD in benthic diatom taxonomy and ecology in Italy (DL September 26th)
From Diatom-L
The call for applications for the Extraordinary Session of PhD course in LIFE AND ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES (Curriculum Marine Biology and Ecology) at the Università Politecnica delle Marche (UNIVPM) has been published on our web site on September 6th:
https://www.univpm.it/Entra/
The deadline is September 26th.
Title of the research project:
Marine benthic microalgae as indicators for environmental quality
Supervisors: Cecilia Totti (UNIVPM) and Diana Sarno (SZN).
General description (note that the research plan is indicative and can be modified during the project)
Microphytobenthos is a poorly explored component of marine life although there is evidence that its contribution to primary productivity is much more important than previously thought. For example, benthic diatoms form a major component of the protistan flora on surface sediments in marine coastal areas, but their diversity and distribution are less well known than for instance the diatoms in the plankton. Because of this gap in knowledge, the role of benthic diatoms as biological indicators of marine environmental quality is underexploited, whereas they constitute key indicators for water quality assessments in freshwater bodies. The project presented here aims to improve the knowledge of the diatom flora of marine surface sediments at different sampling sites in the Tyrrhenian (Gulf of Naples) and Adriatic Sea, selected based on different environmental conditions (terrigenous impact, trophic state and pollution) and investigated in different seasons, using a comparative approach. In the study areas, a naturally acidified site and a site in a highly polluted area will represent the extreme cases of human and climate impact on microphytobenthos communities, while environmentally comparable sites in Marine Protected areas will allow comparisons with almost pristine conditions. Abundance and diversity of benthic diatoms will be investigated using classical methods based on the identification in light microscopy as well as molecular methods, through isolation of individual species coupled with High Throughput Sequencing metabarcoding. The goal is to advance the knowledge on diversity and abundance of this important component of the marine microflora, so far mostly derived from the occasional planktonic occurrence of many benthic diatoms. An additional goal of this study is to investigate the relationships between the abundance and composition of the microphytobenthos and environmental characteristics, exploring the possible use of sediment diatoms for environmental biomonitoring and quality assessment in coastal waters while developing and testing conventional biotic indices as well as molecular biotic indices based on HTS metabarcoding.
The call for applications for the Extraordinary Session of PhD course in LIFE AND ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES (Curriculum Marine Biology and Ecology) at the Università Politecnica delle Marche (UNIVPM) has been published on our web site on September 6th:
https://www.univpm.it/Entra/
The deadline is September 26th.
A
3-years PhD scholarship is co-funded by Università Politecnica delle Marche (UNIVPM) and Stazione Zoologica di Napoli (SZN).
Students with a basic/good expertise in benthic diatom taxonomy/ecology are invited to apply and to contact
Cecilia Totti (https://www.univpm.it/Entra/Marchetti_Elisa_Componente_del_Consiglio_di_AmministrazioneCOPIA)
and Diana Sarno (http://www.szn.it/index.php/it/personale/staff/172-sarno-diana/835-sarno-diana)
for any further information on the project and for assistance in the online submission.
Supervisors: Cecilia Totti (UNIVPM) and Diana Sarno (SZN).
General description (note that the research plan is indicative and can be modified during the project)
Microphytobenthos is a poorly explored component of marine life although there is evidence that its contribution to primary productivity is much more important than previously thought. For example, benthic diatoms form a major component of the protistan flora on surface sediments in marine coastal areas, but their diversity and distribution are less well known than for instance the diatoms in the plankton. Because of this gap in knowledge, the role of benthic diatoms as biological indicators of marine environmental quality is underexploited, whereas they constitute key indicators for water quality assessments in freshwater bodies. The project presented here aims to improve the knowledge of the diatom flora of marine surface sediments at different sampling sites in the Tyrrhenian (Gulf of Naples) and Adriatic Sea, selected based on different environmental conditions (terrigenous impact, trophic state and pollution) and investigated in different seasons, using a comparative approach. In the study areas, a naturally acidified site and a site in a highly polluted area will represent the extreme cases of human and climate impact on microphytobenthos communities, while environmentally comparable sites in Marine Protected areas will allow comparisons with almost pristine conditions. Abundance and diversity of benthic diatoms will be investigated using classical methods based on the identification in light microscopy as well as molecular methods, through isolation of individual species coupled with High Throughput Sequencing metabarcoding. The goal is to advance the knowledge on diversity and abundance of this important component of the marine microflora, so far mostly derived from the occasional planktonic occurrence of many benthic diatoms. An additional goal of this study is to investigate the relationships between the abundance and composition of the microphytobenthos and environmental characteristics, exploring the possible use of sediment diatoms for environmental biomonitoring and quality assessment in coastal waters while developing and testing conventional biotic indices as well as molecular biotic indices based on HTS metabarcoding.
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