Adaptation to extreme environmental change: Consequences of multiple stressors for species interactions and their extinction risk

The increasing rate at which climate change is occurring, and the frequency and magnitude of change, means that environments can be unpredictable, they can change abruptly, and they can be extreme. There is ample evidence that individual species have adapted to past environmental change, but understanding how they might adapt to rapid changes in the future is a key question in ecology, evolution and conservation biology because species that fail to adapt face an increasing risk of extinction. Often the focus of climate research is on temperature, but it is increasingly recognised that the interaction between different kinds of stressors may determine a species’ capacity to adapt to environmental change. Furthermore, how those adaptations play out when different species interact with each other is not well known. Of particular concern is how trophic interactions will respond to environmental change because these interactions, such as predators and their prey, are fundamental to ecological food webs, and they are critical for ecosystem functioning and ecosystem services, such as pollination and pest control.

How species respond to rapidly changing environments may depend on the molecular mechanisms underpinning these responses. Adaptation may take advantage of existing genetic diversity within the population. Higher levels of genetic diversity may provide more variation in phenotypes so that these populations are better adapted to coping with new or rapidly fluctuating environmental conditions. Alternatively, information about the environment may be passed between generations without DNA modification (epigenetics). But, whether environmental information is passed between generations and whether this facilitates adaptation to new environments is not well understood.

This project will be based in the School of Biology at the University of Leeds and combine the complementary skills of the Sait (https://biologicalsciences.leeds.ac.uk/school-of-biology/staff/132/dr-steven-sait) and Duncan (https://biologicalsciences.leeds.ac.uk/school-of-biology/staff/59/dr-elizabeth-duncan) labs to amalgamate ecological studies with population studies of genetic variation and molecular mechanisms. The project aligns with current research projects in their labs, as well as their wider networks of scientists working on climate change science.

This project will employ powerful ecological and genetic approaches to address critical gaps in knowledge. Using a well-established laboratory system (Sait et al. 2000), the effects of environmental variations that mimic future climate change scenarios can be carried out, and their impacts on an insect host-parasitoid trophic interaction examined. You can watch the fascinating interplay between the larval host, the Indian meal moth Plodia interpunctella, and the parasitoid wasp Venturia canescens here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2HVHZDv9o4

Recent work in the Sait lab has shown that different frequencies of temperature fluctuations, coupled with variation in resource availability, can cause phenotypic changes that dramatically affect host-parasitoid population dynamics (Mugabo et al. 2019), while humidity may act to moderate the impact of extreme temperatures (Li et al. 2024).

Little is known about the genetic mechanisms underpinning these responses, but this a critical missing piece of the puzzle. Using this system the project will combine measures of host and parasitoid life history traits with molecular methods to understand how the host and parasitoid adapt to changing environments within and across multiple generations.

Eligibility

The minimum entry requirements for PhD study is a 2.1 honours degree, or equivalent, in a subject relating to your proposed area of research, or a good performance in a Masters level course in a relevant subject. A first class honours degree (or equivalent) is usually required to be competitive for scholarship funding and a Masters degree is also a valuable asset.

If English is not your first language, you’ll need to provide evidence of a language qualification. The minimum English language entry requirement for postgraduate research study in the Faculty of Biological Sciences is an IELTS of 6.0 overall with at least 5.5 in each component (reading, writing, listening and speaking) or equivalent. The test must be dated within two years of the start date of the course in order to be valid.

How to Apply

1) Complete the University of Leeds online application form

Select ‘NERC YES DTN Yorkshire Environmental Sciences’ as the Planned Course of Study.

The supporting documents needed to process your application are:

• certificates and transcripts of any academic qualifications
• English language qualification certificates
• visa and immigration documents

All documents should be in English or be accompanied by a certified translation into English. 

They can be sent via the online research degree application or can be emailed to [email protected] after you have submitted your application. Your email should include your student ID number (emailed to you on submission of your application), full name and your intended course of study. Please do not send original documents at the application stage and only provide documents via email.

2) Complete the YES.DTN application form. This is available on the YES•DTN website