Lead supervisor: David Edwards, Plant Sciences
Co-supervisor: Andrew Balmford, Zoology
Brief summary:
This PhD tackles the key question of how different forms of restoration – natural regeneration, plantations, and on-farm approaches – impact carbon and biodiversity in African savanna woodlands.
Importance of the area of research concerned:
To keep global temperature rise to beneath 2C as agreed under The Paris Agreement will require large-scale restoration. The AFR100 initiative has commitments to restore 128-million hectares– an area the size of Germany, France, and the UK combined – by 2030 in sub-Saharan Africa. A key question is what is the most appropriate restoration to deliver multiple restoration goals? Our work synthesizing hundreds of studies reveals that natural regeneration offers improved carbon and biodiversity values versus plantations. Yet most restoration in sub-Saharan Africa will take place in savanna woodland systems and will include on-farm agroforestry and silvopasture. The problem is that there is extremely limited research on the potential benefits of these on-farm techniques relative to natural regeneration and plantations within African savanna woodlands. Restoration decision-making is therefore ahead of the science, and this PhD will feed into restoration planning and application via Edwards’ extensive network of government, business, and NGO collaborators.
Project summary :
Limiting global temperature rise to 2C requires large-scale restoration, and the AFR100 initiative now seeks to restore 128-million hectares in sub-Saharan Africa. An urgent research gap is understanding the carbon and biodiversity outcomes of different restoration types in African savanna woodlands. This PhD project will quantify how natural regeneration, plantations, and on-farm (agroforestry, silvopasture) approaches impact biodiversity and carbon sequestration and storage. It will use a combination of field data collection, preexisting databases, and carbon plots combined with remote-sensing products to quantify and project species outcomes for birds, trees, and carbon stocking over time. This PhD will provide a critical evidence base that is vital for the massive-scale roll-out of restoration in sub-Saharan Africa through this and coming decades.
What will the student do?:
Working with Edwards (primary supervisor) and Balmford (co-supervisor), this PhD will use a combination of field data collection, preexisting databases, and carbon plots combined with remote-sensing products to quantify and project species outcomes for birds, trees, and carbon stocking over time. Specifically, the student will:
(1) bring together evidence of species habitat use from field data work and published studies/databases
(2) Build models that link species occupancy to restoration type and age
(3) Use species range maps to upscale findings to project restoration outcomes across relevant African savanna woodlands
(4) Link carbon plot data to remotely sensed carbon products to quantify and upscale the impacts of different restoration forms.
References - references should provide further reading about the project:
Hua, F., et al., Edwards, D.P. & Balmford, A. 2022. The ecosystem service and biodiversity benefits of restoration. Science vol. 376, pp.839-844
Edwards, D.P., et al. 2021. Mainstreaming tropical restoration to deliver environmental benefits and socially equitable outcomes. Current Biology vol. 31: pp.R1326-R1341
Applying
You can find out about applying for this project on the Department of Plant Sciences page.