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This application proposes a module of two complementary PhD projects that will be part of the Zurich-Basel Plant Science Centre Training Module on Plant Science and Policy. Scientifically, the proposal focuses on the biodiversity and functioning of tropical forest study systems in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo. This network of study sites forms a gradient of land use from pristine primary lowland rainforest, through contrasting areas of secondary production forest that are undergoing experimental restoration. The module will link two new large-scale and long-term pure and applied research projects: a 50 ha permanent plot in the primary lowland rainforest of Danum Valley Conservation Area (led by David Burslem) and the Sabah Biodiversity Experiment (SBE, led by Andy Hector). The scientific research addressed by these projects and in this module has strong links to policy on both biodiversity conservation (e.g. the International Convention on Biological Diversity) and ecosystem functioning and services (e.g. the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment), particularly where these policy areas intersect in the climate change domain through the REDD+ initiative that aims at Reducing Emissions through Deforestation and Degradation in a way that is ecologically beneficial through restoration and reforestation. Scaling Biodiversity to Ecosystem Services: Spatial Genetic Structure and Carbon Sequestration Potential in Tropical Forests Trees (Ghazoul, Burslem and collaborators): examines aspects of the link between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning in undisturbed forests (Danum Valley Conservation Area). In particular it quantifies and evaluates the strength of putative relationships between wood density, reproductive traits, gene dispersal and spatial genetic structure of dipterocarp trees in Borneo, with a view to informing policy and management practice on forest restoration and carbon sequestration. The project will test putative relationships between wood density and reproductive plant traits that suggests that the species which store the most carbon are also those that are most dispersal limited. It will also evaluate the impact of fragmentation and degradation on genetic diversity along a wood density gradient, with a view to informing ecological restoration management for the dual purpose of carbon sequestration and conservation. Restoring Functioning Forest Ecosystems: The Effects of Enrichment Planting and Enhanced Climber Cutting (Hector and colleagues): examines initial impacts of attempts to restore biodiversity and ecosystem functioning in secondary forests through enrichment planting of seedlings of trees of the dominant dipterocarp family plus the effects of the associated cutting of competing climber species. The first part of the project will assess to what degree enrichment planting increases seedling density (and thereby potentially future C storage). The second part of project C will assess intended effects of climber cutting on growth and survival of enrichment planted seedlings as well as potential short-term side-effects on biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. The scientific importance and impact of this research module will include the identification of which species are most important to carbon storage and most at risk from dispersal limitation and development and evaluation of enrichment planting and climber cutting techniques for restoration of functional forests.
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