The palaeoenvironmental history of ancient deciduous woodlands in Scotland and Ireland, with particular emphasis on the sub-canopy layers

This PhD studentship will apply palaeoecological techniques to investigate long-term changes in the composition and dynamics of ancient broadleaved woodlands in Scotland and Ireland, thereby producing information that will guide the conservation and restoration of these vegetation communities. Woodland re-creation is enjoying a period of heightened attention in Scotland. This is a consequence of both the Scottish Government's Draft Climate Change Plan - which aims for woodland expansion to 21% cover by 2032 - and increased interest in rewilding and reforesting. A range of benefits are anticipated, including richer and more diverse habitats, enhanced landscapes, and improvements to ecosystem services. Palaeoenvironmental reconstruction can assist in this process being realised by providing land managers with baseline information about woodland structure and floristics. This is important because much forestry activity focuses only upon the tree species.

The research will place particular emphasis upon improving our understanding of the sub-canopy woodland layer. At a national scale, the Holocene history of the canopy-forming native (British and Irish) trees is relatively well known, but there is still a lack of knowledge about the past species and communities that occurred as components of the other layers. The student will use pollen and plant macrofossil analyses, supported by chronologies (14C and Pb-210 dating, and tephrochronology) to reconstruct the long-term (Holocene) ecology of ancient deciduous (i.e. non-Caledonian pine) woodlands. In Scotland, the research will focus upon the oak-dominated woodlands of the lowlands and upland margins of northeastern Scotland (e.g. Aberdeenshire, Banff and Moray) - an area for which very little published palaeovegetational data currently exists - and the mild and wet Atlantic oakwoods of the west coast (e.g. Ardnamurchan, west Argyll), which are highly valued as 'temperate rainforest'. Research in Ireland will focus upon woodlands in the northwest (e.g. Donegal). The methodological approach will be to target sediment archives that hold the potential to provide information at a spatial scale equivalent to the woodland stand(s) under investigation.

This studentship will benefit from the involvement of a commercial partner. Botanæco is a leading ecological and botanical consultancy based in Angus, Scotland. The company offers a range of ecological services including advice on native woodland creation and restoration. The student will undertake an internship with Botanæco and will receive field training in the survey, assessment and management of vegetation and habitats, will meet stakeholders involved in woodland management and restoration, and gain experience in environmental consultancy. The supervisory team for the PhD will comprise: Dr Ed Schofield (lead supervisor, University of Aberdeen); Dr Gill Plunkett (Queen's University Belfast); Dr Tim Mighall (University of Aberdeen); Dr Andy McMullen (CASE partner, Botanæco); and Dr Scott Timpany (external, UHI).