PhD: Simulating the Latitudinal Biodiversity Gradient over Deep Time

The Latitudinal Biodiversity Gradient (LBG), the phenomenon where biodiversity increases along a pole-to-equator transect, is one of the most widely recognized patterns in macroecology. Many mechanisms for LBG generation have been proposed but the relative merit of these explanations, and the ways in which they might have interacted to produce the observed gradient, remain poorly resolved. In part, this is because of the simplicity of the pattern observed in the Recent. Palaeontological data suggest that, for some groups at least, the LBG differed in the past, in complex ways that are still being investigated; the investigation of past latitudinal biodiversity variation can hence provided a more nuanced dataset with which to compare predictions from models for LBG generation.

This project will approach the LBG problem from a novel angle. An evolutionary simulation system (REvoSim) developed by one of the supervisors (MDS) will be used to experimentally investigate the development of LBG-like patterns in synthetic environments, under a variety of conditions intended to implement suggested mechanisms for LBG-generation. Comparisons of simulation data will be made to the LBG from palaeontological time-slices as well as from the Recent.

The ideal candidate will have a good degree in the biological or geological sciences, but also possess programmer-grade computing skills, or show potential to acquire them. During the course of this project, the student will learn skills in software development, statistical analysis (especially palaeobiodiversity reconstruction), evolutionary simulation, and the oral and written presentation of scientific results. The project will be based primarily at Imperial College, but the student will also become part of the thriving community of palaeobiologists that forms the broader London network.