Job Description for Estación Biológica de Doñana (EBD) September 2016 Position
Company Details:
Estación Biológica de Doñana CSIC c/ Americo Vespucio, s/n, 41092, Isla de la Cartuja, Sevilla
Company Description:
Doñana Biological Station is a public research institute belonging to the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, CSIC, within the area of Natural Resources. Our primary mission is to carry out multidisciplinary research at the highest level, directed at understanding, from an evolutionary point of view, how biodiversity is generated, how it is maintained and damaged, in addition to the consequences of its loss and the chances of their preservation and restoration. Furthermore, it also promotes the transfer of knowledge to society. The Institute consists of a main building in Seville and two field stations, the ICTS Doñana Biological Reserve, (Doñana Natural Area, Almonte, Huelva) and Roblehondo Field Station (Parque Natural de las Sierras de Cazorla, Segura and Las Villas).
Spanish Required: None
Positions:
EBD are seeking graduates in areas such as animal behaviour, zoology, plant biology, biology, ecology or related fields to carry out a 3 month internship at their office in Seville. The projects they require interns for are listed below:
1) THE EFFECTS OF FIRE ON ANTS AND OTHER ARTHROPODS: A STUDY ON DIFFERENT DEPTHS
Project description:
This project will involve assisting in the investigations to support a Doctoral thesis on “The effects of fire on ants and other arthropods: A study on different depths” at the Department of Ethology and Biodiversity Conservation of the EBD-CSIC.
The project will involve analysing the consequences of fire on four groups of epigeal and aerial arthropods (ants, beetles, spiders and bees) often used as bioindicators for ecosystem recovery. The aim of the thesis is to understand how species, communities, and ecosystems respond to environmental changes caused by fire. This will be done by studying the its effects on: 1) Patterns of abundance, richness and biodiversity of ants, beetles, spiders and bees, 2) functional diversity of ants, beetles, spiders and bees, 3) populations genetics in the communities of ants, 4) the dominant relationships in the communities of ants, 5) the use of trophic resources by ants and 6) the temperature resistance in ants.
Tasks to be carried out by the intern:
- Literature review - Research features of the history of life in the literature - Computerize data - Separation and classification of the extracted material in the field - Determination of ants, beetles , spiders and bees
* basic knowledge in entomology are needed.
Contact and supervision: José Manuel Vidal Cordero
Thesis website: https://jmanuelvidalcordero.wordpress.com/
2) EXPERIMENTAL EVOLUTION OF SEXUAL CONFLICT
Project description:
The trainee will participate in a project that centres on a comprehensive empirical evaluation of the evolution of sexual conflict traits in a beetle model system. Sexual selection and sexual conflict (when the evolutionary interests of males and females differ) are potent evolutionary forces that underlie the expression of numerous traits in males and females and that fuel complex coevolutionary interactions between the sexes. The project rests on a large experimental evolution approach consisting of several lines of beetles that have been maintained for over 30 generations under different selection treatments (presence/absence of sexual selection and presence/absence of population subdivision). The project brings together several areas in the study of evolutionary ecology and utilizes powerful methods to address questions at the cutting edge of sexual selection theory. The trainee will assist members of the research group in a series of experiments and assays on the individuals from the selection lines. These experiments will address several topical questions in relation to the dynamics of sexual conflict in response to the experimental manipulation of selective forces (in particular mating system selection history, population spatial structure selection history, and their interaction).
Tasks to be carried out by the intern:
Specifically, the trainee will carry out (or assist in carrying out) some of the following tasks:
- Setting out mating assays among the individuals from the selection lines.
- Helping out with running of assays to examine variation in traits responding to the different treatments of selection.
- Helping out with the collection of the material and samples for assaying the reproductive success of individuals.
- Preparation of samples for the measurement of male and female behavioural and reproductive traits that play a role in (or are the consequence of) sexual conflict.
- Measurement of productivity rates in the different selection lines.
Contact and supervision: Paco Garcia-Gonzalez
3) ECOTYPIC DIVERGENCE IN LONG-LIVED TREES ORIGINATING FROM MEDITERRANEAN AND TROPICAL AREAS
Project description:
Species distributed across a wide range of environmental conditions are subjected to differential selective pressures. Long-term selection can lead to the development of morphological and physiological adaptations to the local environment, generating ecotypic differentiation in important functional traits. In this project, we aim to study the role of natural selection on ecotypic divergence in two widely distributed oak tree species: Quercus faginea (Western Mediterranean) and Quercus oleoides (Neotropics) plus a narrowly distributed tree: Prunus lusitanica. We are particularly interested in testing how adaptation to different soils and climatic regimes has driven intraspecific genetic differentiation in ecologically-important traits of these species.
Tasks to be carried out by the intern:
- To analyse leaf morphological traits in herbarium specimens collected in natural conditions as well as seedlings growing in common garden experiments. - To investigate leaf (e.g. stomatal traits) and stem anatomy (e.g. xylem traits) using microscope images. - To participate in the development of a new experiment that will be established under controlled conditions. The student will be encouraged to contribute in the experimental design, formulation of hypotheses and implementation of the study. - To measure population genetic differences and intrapopulation genetic diversity using/learning quantitative genetic approaches that will allow students to gain experience in data analyses.
Contact and supervision: José Alberto Ramirez Valiente
4) INTRODUCTION TO PLANT EVOLUTIONARY ECOLOGY AND EPIGENETICS
Project Description:
There has been a recent upsurge of interest on the ecological and evolutionary significance of epigenetic processes, which involve heritable phenotypic changes unrelated to alterations in DNA sequence. In the case of plants, mounting interest on epigenetic processes has been largely promoted by results showing that in some model species epigenetic changes in the phenotype can be induced by the environment and are often passed without alterations across generations. DNA cytosine methylation is a well-established epigenetic mechanism and the most studied one in plants. We will focus on DNA methylation and explore the general hypothesis that intense and recurrent water stress will induce heritable changes in DNA methylation that will differ between two non- model species, one characteristic of Mediterranean poor soils and, thus, usually facing this stress (Erodium cazorlanum) and the other characteristic of deeper soils and with a broader distribution range (Erodium cicutarium).
Tasks to be carried out by the intern:
The student will assist on greenhouse experiments aiming to test this hypothesis. The student will learn concepts of experimental design, methods of plant evolutionary ecology (phenotyping and fitness estimates) and will be introduced to molecular (epi)genetics. Among student’s tasks we include: preparation of seeds (counting, weighing, sowing, watering …), germination and survival monitoring, seedling phenotyping (number of leaves, leaf length, leaf specific mass, …), adult phenotyping (date of flowering, number of inflorescences, number of flowers/inflorescence, flower size, …). Student’s training will also benefit from attendance to the weekly seminars held at EBD.
Contact and supervision: Conchita Alonso
Plant-animal interactions group
5) FROM CLIMATE TO PLANTS, INSECTS, AND BATS: THE STAPLE ISOTOPE CONNECTION IN ECOSYSTEMS
Project Description:
Ecological research is often concerned with trophic interactions (“who eats whom”) and how these interactions change through time. Stable isotope analysis is a fundamental method in ecology because it allows tracking the food sources and the movements of an animal. However, recent research by the host scientist (Popa-Lisseanu et al. 2015, PLoS ONE 10(2): e0117052) has shown
that isotopic variation in animals can also reflect climatic changes, thus complicating the evaluation of trophic relationships and movement patterns.
There are several mechanisms through which climatic variation could drive isotopic variation in animals. First, physiological condition could affect the way that isotopes from food are incorporated into the animal’s tissues, and physiological condition often tends to follow climatic cycles. A more straightforward explanation, however, is that climatic variation, particularly water stress, affects the way that plants regulate nutrient uptake and subsequently influences plants’ isotopic values. As a consequence, plants’ isotopic values change seasonally, and these temporal changes are passed on from plants to herbivores, from herbivores to carnivores, and so on, therefore being mirrored by all members of the ecosystems, with a certain time lag between them.
By investigating simultaneously climatic variables and isotopic values at different trophic levels, the project within which this internship is offered tests the hypothesis that climatic variation creates ecosystem isotopic baselines that propagate up the food chain. The results of the project are expected to improve the field of stable isotope ecology by showing how to correct isotopic data for environmental variation, and will therefore allow much more accurate estimates on dietary inputs and movement patterns of organisms. The study is being conducted in the Doñana National Park. This protected area located in southwest Spain is one of Europe’s largest and most important wetland reserves and comprises many different biotopes at the interface between aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. The model food chain selected for this research is the one composed by plants, insects and the soprano pipistrelle bat, Pipistrellus pygmaeus. Plant material, insects and skin tissue samples of bats are collected at weekly or biweekly intervals to investigate temporal variation within and across trophic levels.
The intern will have the opportunity to participate in research at Spain’s leading institution in terrestrial ecological research, to learn basic procedures and instrumentation common to many different laboratories and to gain insight into stable isotope analysis, a method widely applied in many fields of basic and applied research, not only in ecology, but also food health, anthropology, migration research, climate research, forensics and criminalistics, among others. He/she will also have the opportunity to participate in field work in the charismatic Doñana National Park.
Tasks to be carried out by the intern:
- Perform sample preparation for stable isotope analysis of plant, insect, and bat skin samples at the stable isotope laboratory (LIE) of the Doñana Biological Station in Seville: washing, drying, grinding and fine weighing of samples to target weight, mounting samples in tin/silver capsules and organizing them into trays - Occasionally assist in fiel work in the Doñana National Park - Enter data into the computer
Requirements The candidate must feel comfortable working in the laboratory. Good hand and eye coordination, attention to detail, and patience are essential since the samples handled are minute and the lab procedures are laborious. Flexibility in working schedule is necessary to accommodate to lab equipment availability times.
Contact and supervision: Ana García Popa-Lisseanu, PhD Postdoctoral Fellow, Andalucía Talent Hub fellowship (Funded by the EU 7th Framework Program, Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions, and Junta de Andalucía)
Department of Evolutionary Ecology Estación Biológica de Doñana (CSIC) [email protected] +34 608 884 284
Other project members Detlev Kelm, PhD Affiliated Researcher Estación Biológica de Doñana (CSIC)
6) USE OF STABLE ISOTOPE ANALYSIS TO REVEAL WINTERING STRATEGIES OF MIGRATING EURASIAN HOOPOES
One-fifth of the world’s bird species are migratory. Delineating migratory connectivity and understanding the consequences of wintering site choice for individual fitness is particularly important in the face of the steady decline observed in populations of long-distance Palaearctic– Afrotropical migrants. However, wintering ecology of migratory birds is much less understood than breeding ecology. The ‘serial residency hypothesis’ tries to explain how long-distance migratory birds select wintering sites. The term ‘serial residency’ refers to the prediction that a migrant bird is likely to rely on a series of individually unique, temporally and spatially connected sites. We will use stable isotope analysis to test this hypothesis in the European hoopoe (Upupa epops epops), a trans-Saharan migrant that winters primarily in the Sahelian and savanna belt south of the Sahara.
Hoopoes typically prefer open foraging habitats with bare ground, short grassland and sparse vegetation. Following the predictions of the serial residency hypothesis, we expect that juveniles, lacking previous migratory experience, will end up in a more diverse range of habitats, including less suitable habitats, than adults. We also expect that adults, and young that have found suitable habitats, will show fidelity to their wintering sites. To test this, we will compare stable isotope values of feathers of adult and young hoopoes that have been captured during the breeding season in Switzerland but have grown their feathers in their wintering grounds in Africa. Stable isotopes are geographical and food markers that can give us information on location of feather growth, as well as type of habitat and food sources consumed. The intern will have the opportunity to participate in research at Spain’s leading institution in terrestrial ecological research, to learn basic procedures and instrumentation common to many different laboratories and to gain insight into stable isotope analysis, a method widely applied in many fields of basic and applied research, not only in ecology, but also food health, anthropology, migration research, climate research, forensics and criminalistics, among others. Our team also works on other research projects that involve field work in the Doñana National Park, so, if the intern desires it, he/she will also have the chance to visit the Doñana Biological Reserve and occasionally assist in field work.
Tasks to be carried out by the intern:
- Perform sample preparation for stable isotope analysis of hoopoe feather samples at the stable isotope laboratory (LIE) of the Doñana Biological Station in Seville: washing, drying, grinding and fine weighing of samples to target weight, mounting samples and standards in tin/silver capsules and organizing them into trays - Enter data into the computer
Requirements:
The candidate must feel comfortable working in the laboratory. Good hand and eye coordination, attention to detail, and patience are essential since the samples handled are minute and the lab procedures are laborious. Flexibility in working schedule is necessary to accommodate to lab equipment availability times.
Contact and supervision: Ana García Popa-Lisseanu, PhD Postdoctoral Fellow, Andalucía Talent Hub fellowship (Funded by the EU 7th Framework Program, Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions, and Junta de Andalucía) Department of Evolutionary Ecology Estación Biológica de Doñana (CSIC) [email protected] +34 608 884 284
Other project members Rien van Wijk, PhD Swiss Ornithological Institute, Sempach, Switzerland David Serrano, PhD Estación Biológica de Doñana (CSIC)
7) PROJECT: FORAGING ECOLOGY OF LEAR’S MACAWS AND ITS CONSERVATION IMPLICATIONS: A STABLE ISOTOPES APPROACH
Project Description:
The Lear's Macaw, Anodorhynchus leari, is one of most range-restricted and threatened parrot species of the world, being endemic to Brazil. Despite a recent population increase in the last 10 years, the entire population is around 1300 individuals of which 80% were non-breeders. Attending to the conservation problems compiled by IUCN, the protection of nesting sites reduced nest poaching to the point that it is not currently considered as a major threat. Current threats seem to be rather related to food availability and the foraging behavior of the species. Lear’s macaws are thought to forage mostly on licuri palm nuts (Syagrus coronata) and licuri palm-stands have been vastly reduced by livestock-grazing and agriculture expansion. On the other hand, Lear’s macaws forage on maize crops when palm nuts are supposedly scarce. This causes persecution and hunting by farmers, to the point that a main conservation action consists on compensating farmers for crop losses. Despite these conservation problems, there is no accurate information on the diet and food requirements of the species. Our research team has compiled a variety of plant species consumed by Lear’s macaws in the Caatinga dry forest, and given the difficulties to gather unbiased foraging observations of Lear’s macaws, our project aims to assess the diet of the species using the most advanced techniques to determine animal diets through stable isotope analyses. The project benefits from the previous monitoring of the population and an unprecedented large number of Lear’s Macaw biological samples collected during seven years (2008-2015). The isotope signatures of C and N in blood and feathers tissues of the macaws and their putative food resources, combined with the individual identification through genetic analyses, will allow us to assess the diet of the species, its sources of variation (between individuals, ages, local populations, and years), and its relationships with inter-annual variations in rainfall and breeding success. The results of this project
will undoubtedly contribute to clarify the actual role of licuri palm nuts, other wild plants, and maize crops on the diet and population dynamics of the species.
Tasks to be carried out by the intern
Activities will be taken on Stable Isotopes and Molecular Ecology laboratories:
• Stable Isotopes Laboratory o Process samples of food items from the Caatinga Brazilian dry forest; o Process selected feather samples; o Analyses of the samples of food items and feathers; • Molecular Ecology Laboratory o DNA extraction of molted feathers of Lear’s Macaw o Genotyping of extracted DNA
Contact and supervision: José Luis Tella
8) TRANSMISSION DYNAMICS OF VECTOR-BORNE PATHOGENS
Project Description:
We analyze the factors associated to the transmission dynamics of vector-borne pathogens among wildlife and the factors associate to the attractiveness by mosquitoes towards different hosts.
Tasks to be carried out by the intern:
The candidate will be trained in molecular techniques for detection of pathogens and identification of the origin of mosquito bloodmeals using DNA-barcoding. He/she will also participate in experiments to compare the attraction of mosquitoes towards different odors
Contact and supervision: Jordi Figuerola [email protected] http://www.ebd.csic.es/jordi/Index.html
9) SCIENTIFIC COLLECTION OF VERTEBRATE AT EBD.
Project description: Learn management techniques and practices at the scientific collection of vertebrates at EBD (mammals, birds and reptiles and amphibians).
Tasks to be carried out by intern:
Maintenance and conservation specimens of the collection. Preparation and conservation of skins of birds and mammals, cleaning bones and skeleton. Preparation of tissue samples for molecular analysis. Handling data bases.
Contact and supervision: José Cabot [email protected]
10) REWILDING SCENARIOS IN THE IBERIAN PENINSULA
Project Description:
Long-distance movements of large body-sized vultures in changing environments: rewilding scenarios in the Iberian Peninsula
Tasks to be carried out by intern:
Analysis of GPS and acellerometer data of griffon vultures (n=60) in two regions of Spain in relation to food resource distribution: livestock and wild ungulates.
Contact and supervision: José Antonio Donázar ([email protected])
11) EGYPTIAN VULTURES
Project Description:
Individual components of foraging strategies and space use in an insular population of Egyptian vultures.
Tasks to be carried out by intern:
Analysis of behavioural patterns and determination of personality traits of GPS-marked individuals (n=47) in relation to resource distribution (food and roosting sites).
Supervisor: José Antonio Donázar ([email protected])
12) FORMAL DESCRIPTION OF A NEW SPECIES OF BAT FROM WEST AFRICA
Project Description:
Formal description of a new species of bat from West Africa based on morphological and molecular characters.
Tasks to be carried out by intern:
From existing data on morphology (photographs) and DNA analysis (phylogenetics) the student will learn how a new species is described according to pre-established taxonomic rules for fauna description. Authorship of the publication will be offered if the results are satisfactory
Knowlegde: taxonomy, bats, genetics, speciation, species description
Supervisor: Javier Juste ([email protected])
13) LIGHT POLLUTION AT PROTECTED AREAS: IS NATURA 2000 PROTECTING NATURAL NIGHT SKIES?
Light pollution (altered levels natural light in the night landscape) is annually increasing globally at 6%. Many of protected areas are currently affected (or they will be affected in the future) by this type of pollution which has negative effects on organisms and ecosystems. This project aims to assess the light pollution trends in the Protected Areas of the largest network of protected areas in Europe, Nature 2000, by using satellite imagery of the last 20 years.
Requirements: Although Doñana Biological Station has a laboratory on GIS and remote sensing (LAST-EBD), the student should be familiar with GISs (ArcGIS, Qgis or R) and scientific papers.
Offer: It is expected that the project can be published in a conservation or environmentalist journal as Environmental Conservation, Environmental Pollution, Conservation Biology, or Journal of Environmental Management). We offer co-authorship to the student or leadership (first author) depending on his/her analytic and writing skills.
Supervisor: Airam Rodriguez ([email protected]), http://www.ebd.csic.es/Airam/index.html
14) HORUS FALCO PROJECT
Project description:
Behavioural analysis of the incubation of the lesser kestrel (Falco naumanni) via video sequences (The lesser kestrel and global change : applying new technologies to the remote monitoring of an endangered species)
Tasks to be carried out by the intern:
• Analysis of the temporal pattern of incubation, the role of sexes, the laying and hatching pattern, the relationship between the incubation behaviour and successful reproduction.
• The intern will go out on field trips in order to be able to see the lesser kestrel and hermit bis in their natural habitat. This will involve using CyberTracker software.
Contact and supervision: Javier Bustamante
Website http://horus.ebd.csic.es/wphorus/?page_id=3348
15) ESCAPE FROM NATURAL ENEMIES IN INVASIVE POPULATIONS OF IBERIAN WALL LIZARD
Project description:
The work will be developed in the framework of Research Project NATALIEN, which evaluates three different processes mediating the resistance of natural communities against biological invasions, using two focal species: a global invader, the Argentine Ant, and a local invader, the Ibiza Wall Lizard. The work will focus on testing one of these processes, the escape from natural enemies, using samples from the native and invasive populations of the Ibiza Wall Lizard. This hypothesis predicts that invasive lizard populations should have a decreased load of parasites and pathogens, following their stochastic loss during the early colonization stages in which few colonists are present.
Tasks to be carried out by intern:
The student will undertake DNA-based determinations of enterobacteria (Salmonella spp.) in faecal samples from Ibiza wall lizard. The method involves the extraction and sequencing of bacterial DNA, as well as data analysis and reporting, and will be developed in the Laboratory of Animal Ecophysiology under the supervision of Dr. Elena Gomez Díaz and Dr. Luis Santamaría
Contact and supervision: Luis Santamaria
16) ADAPTIVE MANAGEMENT OF KEY ECOSYSTEM SERVICES IN MEDITERRANEAN FORESTS THREATENED BY CLIMATE CHANGE
Project description:
The work will be developed in the framework of Life+ Project ADAPTAMED, which aims at increasing the resilience of Mediterranean forest ecosystems against climate change, thus preserving the key ecosystem services they provide. The project develops an adaptive management programs that includes the design, implement and monitoring a number of management interventions in three iconic Natural Protected Areas of Spain’s Mediterranean region, chosen to represent three major ecosystem types: the coastal pine forests and wetlands of Doñana National Park, (2) the mountain oak, pine and juniper forests of Sierra Nevada National Park, and (3) the semiarid shrubland of Cabo de Gata Natural Par. Key ecosystem services targeted by the interventions and subsequently include, among others, carbon storage, soil fertility, pollination, pasture production, pest control, water provision, prevention of forest fires – and, more generally, the conservation of biodiversity.
Tasks to be carried out by intern:
The student will participate in the different activities of the monitoring program at the Doñana National Park, including the design and implementation of field work (data collection); the preparation, revision and analysis of the resulting datasets (data analysis). Monitored variables include tree growth, shrubland cover, grassland productivity, and the abundance and composition of songbirds, pollinators, ungulates, rodents and reptiles. Emphasis on a subset of these variables will be arranged depending on interest and planning/logistic limitations. Interested candidates could also participate in ongoing work using remote sensing, phenocams and/or camera traps.
Contact and supervision: Luis Santamaria