2-year postdoc in large-herbivore ecology, trophic rewilding, and novel ecosystems Full-time NEW

2-year Postdoc in Large-herbivore Ecology, Trophic Rewilding, and Novel Ecosystems

The Department of Biology, Aarhus University invites applications for a 2-year postdoc position in large-herbivore ecology, trophic rewilding and novel ecosystems, with a specific focus on alien and feral ungulates. The position is part of the Center for Ecological Dynamics in a Novel Biosphere (ECONOVO), a Danish National Research Foundation Center of Excellence. ECONOVO studies how global change is reshaping biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, and how emerging novel ecosystems can be steered towards better outcomes for biodiversity and people.

This postdoc will contribute to ECONOVO Research Theme 2: Complexity Restoration, which tests whether restoration of ecological complexity can enhance biodiversity in novel ecosystems. The project will ask when and where alien and feral ungulates enhance or reduce vegetation heterogeneity, ecosystem complexity and biodiversity.

The postdoc will investigate ecological effects of alien and feral ungulates in novel ecosystems. The project will focus on effects on vegetation structure, open–closed habitat mosaics, woody vegetation dynamics, disturbance patches, dispersal processes, and multi-taxon biodiversity. The work will integrate synthesis and field studies, integrating existing biodiversity and restoration datasets, ungulate trait and occurrence data, camera-trap data, GIS, and remote-sensing indicators of vegetation structure, biomass, phenology, and landscape heterogeneity. A key focus will be assessing when alien or feral ungulates function as biodiversity-enhancing ecosystem engineers versus when they contribute to degradation or biotic homogenization. The geographic focus will be determined in collaboration with the appointed candidate. Relevant systems may include European restoration and rewilding landscapes and comparative systems in the Global South, for example in East Africa, South Asia, South America or southern Africa.

Applicants should have a PhD in ecology, biodiversity science, conservation biology, macroecology, restoration ecology, invasion ecology, remote-sensing ecology, or a related field, or have submitted their PhD thesis for assessment before the application deadline. Applicants should demonstrate advanced quantitative ecological abilities and a sincere interest in large-herbivore ecology, alien and feral ungulates, trophic rewilding, and how biodiversity responds to changing ecosystems.

The application must be in English and include a motivation letter, including a brief outline of the applicant's ideas for developing the postdoc project within the framework described above; CV; full publication list; educational documentation, including copies of Master's and PhD degree diplomas, in English or Danish; contact information for 2–3 academic references.