PhD Studentship: The late Silurian-early Devonian adaptive radiation (‘explosion') of vascula

The origin of land plants and their invasion of the land is one of the most important events in the history of life on Earth. It had far-reaching consequences in terms of: (i) evolution (origin and diversification of one of the three kingdoms of multicellular life); (ii) environment (directly affecting all of the major geochemical cycles and hence atmospheric composition and climate). However, much remains to be discovered regarding this transformative evolutionary episode.

Following the invasion of the land by plants in the Mid Ordovician vegetation remained diminutive, simple and of limited aerial coverage for at least 40 million years. It was not until the late Silurian that land plants began an adaptive radiation characterised by dramatic increases in size and disparity resulting in increased biodiversity and aerial/ecological coverage. This adaptive radiation is hypothesized to have been triggered by the evolution of vascular plants. This project will analyse the early land plant fossil record from the classic latest Silurian-earliest Devonian sequences of the Anglo-Welsh Basin. Evidence from dispersed spores will be used to quantitatively analyse changes in diversity and disparity and rates of evolutionary turnover. Evidence from in situ spores preserved in plant megafossils will be used to interpret the dispersed spore record in terms of the biological affinities of the plants. This will shed light on the tempo of the shift in dominance from stem group embryophytes (so-called cryptophytes) to vascular plants and their immediate precursors.

The research student will undertake fieldwork in the Anglo-Welsh Basin and be trained in both palynological and palaeobotanical processing and analytical techniques. Time will be spent working at the Natural History Museum, London (CASE partner) working on the extensive collections housed therein supervised by experts from this institution.

Funding Notes

Fully funded for a minimum of 3.5 years, studentships cover: (i) a tax-free stipend at the standard Research Council rate (at least £14,553 per annum for 2018-2019), (ii) research costs, and (iii) tuition fees at the UK/EU rate. Studentship(s) are available to UK and EU students who meet the UK residency requirements. Students from EU countries who do not meet residency requirements may still be eligible for a fees-only award.

References

This PhD project is part of the NERC funded Doctoral Training Partnership “ACCE” (Adapting to the Challenges of a Changing Environment https://acce.shef.ac.uk/. ACCE is a partnership between the Universities of Sheffield, Liverpool, York and the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology.

Selection process: Shortlisting will take place as soon as possible after the closing date, and successful applicants will be notified promptly. Shortlisted applicants will be invited for an interview to take place at the University of Sheffield the w/c 12th February 2018.