PhD: The biological impact of changes in the heartbeat of the climate system

Project Background
In 2014 the IPCC stated that “natural global climate change at rates slower than current anthropogenic climate change caused significant ecosystem shifts and species extinctions during the past millions of years”. There is growing concern what impact this rapid climate change has on marine ecosystems and the services these provide. The geological record of events of different rates and amplitudes of climate change may be a mechanism how to constraint tipping points of climate change. Here we set out to assess whether the amplitude and rate of climate change scale linearly with ecosystem response, or whether there is a tipping point beyond which marine plankton, specifically foraminifers, cannot deal with the impact of warming by migration and changes in their abundance and size. Planktic foraminifera have an amazing fossil record of more than 100 million years which allows us to quantify the impact of climate change on this group through major perturbations in Earth History.

Project Aims and Methods
The aim of the project is to determine the biotic response to a number of environmental perturbations in the geological record. This project will use the morphology of planktic foraminifers, with a focus on size, as a master trait to assess the impact of climate change on the group. Size in planktic foraminifers indicates optimum environmental conditions. The lab has two automated microscopes which can analyse 2000 specimens in 5 minutes, thereby allowing many events to be assessed. The student will, jointly with the supervisors, identify the most promising events and generate size records across for example the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary, the Palaeocene Eocene boundary, the Eocene hyperthermals. Changes in the ocean physical system will be analysed using trace elements in the foraminiferal shells in Cardiff. Important species/lineages will be morphometrically analysed to address the question at both the species level and the macroevolution/ecology of the group. For critical intervals and species, the underlying link between changes in size and development of the species will be analysed using our in-house CT scanning facilities.

Candidate Requirements
The candidate will have a degree in Geology, Biology or a related subject. The candidate will be curious,
organised and self-motived to take charge of the sample ordering, preparation and analysis of morphological and geochemical data. The candidate will be confident in handling large datasets which will be generated by the automated microscope and the generation of age models.

Training
The student will join the world leading Bristol Palaeobiology group and be a member of outstanding research environments in all three host institutions. The student will get first-class in-house training in automated image analysis, morphometrics, generation of age models, geochemistry, CT scanning, 3D reconstructions taxonomy and stratigraphy of foraminifers. Additional courses in R, statistic etc are offered by the group and the university. No previous knowledge in taxonomy or geochemistry is expected as all the training will be provided. The Cabot Institute for the Environment provides training in Science communication and the applicant will be encouraged to participate in outreach activities.

References / Background reading list
Jennions, S.M., Thomas, E., Schmidt, D.N., Lunt, D. and Ridgwell, A. (2015) Changes in benthic ecosystems and ocean circulation in the Southeast Atlantic across Eocene Thermal Maximum 2. Paleoceanography 30, 1059-1077.
Schmidt, D.N., et al. 2003. Response of planktic foraminiferal size to late Quaternary climate change. Paleoceanography 18, 10.1029/2002PA000831.
Schmidt, D.N., et al. 2004. Abiotic Forcing of Plankton Evolution in the Cenozoic. Science 303, 207-210.
Schmidt, D.N. (2018) Determining climate change impacts on ecosystems: the role of palaeontology. Palaeontology 61, 1-12.
Schmidt, D.N., Thomas, E., Authier, E., Saunders, D. and Ridgwell, A. (2018) Strategies in times of crisis—insights into the benthic foraminiferal record of the Palaeocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum. Phil. Trans. of the Royal Society A 376.