Project description:
The interactions between soil bacteria and fungi have strong impact on plant growth and play a decisive role in regulating above-ground community structure and diversity. Despite the importance of these relationships for food security and many other ecosystem functions, we still have only a rudimentary understanding of the coupling of below and aboveground communities. We have assembled a data-set from a agricultural grassland experiment in the UK that at a high spatial resolution aims to tackle the spatial component of bacteria-fungi-plant interactions and looking for a MSc student to address this question. The ideal candidate will have a strong interest in fundamental ecological research and should be motivated to advance her/ his skills in data-analytical approaches. Important learning goals associated to the project will be (i) insights into bioinformatic processes and the handling of big-scale genetic data-sets, (ii) advancement of data-analytical skills and skills in data-visualisation and (iii) develop a good understanding for below-ground relationship govern biodiversity and productivity in agricultural landscapes.