Participate in important and timely research to fight back against ash dieback, and save this important noble broadleaved tree species from its serious population decline!
Background: In Sweden, ash trees are threatened by an invasive fungal pathogen which is causing extensive dieback and death on trees of all age classes. The situation is now critical since large populations of ash are slowly disappearing from our forest ecosystems. In 2010, ash was one of the first tree species added to the Swedish Red-List with vulnerable status at risk of extinction. Though the estimated proportion of trees with natural resistance is very low, these genotypes can be used to build a future population of trees that have higher resistance to the disease for future planting in Swedish forests, cities and landscapes.
There are two Master thesis projects available in which student(s) will participate in a larger collaborative project involving a team researchers from SLU (Alnarp and Uppsala) and tree breeders at Skogforsk to study how genetic control can save this species from further demise, and to promote a more resistant population through long-term breeding.
Masters Thesis Project 1: The aim of the work is to quantify how the pathogen has affected the population of ash at a landscape level and what is the estimated level of resistance in nature. The student will travel to preselected ash stands in Skåne, Halland and perhaps Småland (if time permits) and conduct field work during 5 weeks in either June, July or August to survey, identify and inventory ash trees in natural stands that show high levels of natural resistance to the pathogen. The student should be familiar with the use of equipment in forest mensuration (e.g. for determining DBH, tree height), and GPS. The student will also learn to use geospatial tools (WebGIS and/or ArcGIS), or a combination of both.
Masters Thesis Project 2: The student will mainly work with ArcGIS to create a GIS database that will support data management of the larger project. Using data collected from numerous inventories of ash stands during 2014, and also planned inventories to be conducted during the current year, the student will obtain, organize, synthesize, and visually represent (by generating maps), data in ArcGIS. The work is mainly computer-based. Previous experience with ArcGIS is an asset but not required as the student will be able to use this project to develop those skills as he/she learns to use the software, and concurrently gain a deeper understanding of how this geospatial tool can be used for guiding broader forest management decisions. No field work involved. However, if there is a desire to also gain some field experience, the student may opt to assist during some days with inventories in the field – this may give the student also a better perspective of the main project aimed at ‘saving the ash’ (Note: field work is totally optional in this case!). This project can start as early as March or April, but not later than June.
Contact: Michelle Cleary, , mobile 0767878771