Extinction of biodiversity is one of the greatest environmental threats of our time. Declines have been documented in vertebrates, insects, molluscs and plants – but most organisms and geographical areas are too poorly known to be able to detect ongoing extinction of species. Recently, the first global estimate of ongoing extinction in plants was published. It suggested that extinction rates are about 500 times faster than expected normal rates, and is highest for woody species (trees and shrubs) and those with small geographic ranges (islands endemics). This study prompted additions and updates to the global list of extinct plants and, in addition, the extinction risk of all 60,000 species of trees in the world has recently been assessed (Global Tree Assessment). These developments mean that the original study on Anthropocene extinction of plants can now be extended. There are also methods available for evaluating the evidence for persistence or extinction of missing species that has so far been underused for plants. Available projects would involve ecological/evolutionary data analyses and work with herbarium specimens and databases.

Some experience with and enthusiasm for working in R is good, as is an interest in and basic understanding of how to interpret phylogenetic trees.

Starting literature:
Global dataset shows geography and life form predict modern plant extinction and rediscovery

Contact

For more information about the position please contact:

Associate Professor Aelys Humphreys
aelys.humphreys@su.se