Postdoc opportunity – Rewilding with large herbivores

Postdoc project on Rewilding with large wild herbivores at Aarhus University
in Denmark

Supervisors: Professor Jens-Christian Svenning (main), Senior researcher
Rasmus Ejrnæs (co), and Associate professor Finn Borchsenius (co)

Topic: Rewilding with large wild herbivores in Northwestern Europe ˆ
building a theoretical and macroecological foundation and assessing the
biodiversity and ecosystem effects of ongoing rewilding.

During the Late Pleistocene and Holocene megafaunas have been ˆ and are
still being ˆ decimated throughout the World. While hotly debated, this may
have had strong effects on ecosystem structure and functioning. The
controversial new „rewilding‰ idea proposes to re-establish functional
megafaunas to reboot ecosystem functionality and biotic evolutionary
potential as well as an additional extra-limital conservation measure for
extant, but declining or threatened megafaunal species. The purpose of this
postdoc is (1) to build a theoretical and macroecological foundation for
rewilding, and (2) to evaluate the biodiversity and ecosystem effects of
ongoing rewilding projects. The focal region is Europe, with a specific
focus on Denmark as a study case. Here, rewilding projects are under way in
a densely populated area with highly fragmented natural habitats, whereby
Denmark nicely represents the challenge that rewilding will have to take
place in an ever more densely populated world.

The main project supervisor is Professor Jens-Christian Svenning, whose
research has strong focus on macroecology, analytical biogeography,
community ecology, and ecoinformatic research more generally. Professor
Svenning heads the the Ecoinformatics & Biodiversity Group (ECOINF), which
offers a cutting-edge and ambitious, but also positive, collaborative, and
highly international research environment. For further info, see
http://biology.au.dk/en/researchgroups/ecoinformatics/. Co-supervisor
Associate Professor Finn Borchsenius is a botanist and also a member of
ECOINF. Co-supervisor Rasmus Ejrnæs is a senior researcher at Wildlife
Biology & Biodiversity (VIBI) at the National Environmental Research
Institute (NERI). Dr. Ejrnæs is a leading expert on grasslands and nature
management in Northwestern Europe. NERI is a leading institution for
environmental monitoring and nature conservation research in Europe.

The postdoc candidate is expected to provide cutting-edge skills in
statistical modeling and to have strong collaborative skills. Relevant
expertise specifically in relation to rewilding, e.g., animal ecology,
conservation ecology, or grazing ecology, is also an advantage.

The postdoc will be employed in ECOINF at the Department of Biological
Science, AU. The position is for 1 year but will likely be extended as the
project runs until the end of 2012. The preferred starting date is January 1
2011. Applications must be submitted online no later than Dec. 1st. 2010.

For more information please contact Professor Jens-Christian Svenning, tel
+45 8942 4711 svenning@biology.au.dk.

This ad can also be found at:

http://www.nature.com/naturejobs/science/jobs/170841-Postdoc-Project-in-Rewilding-with-large-wild-herbivores