The Bio-Protection Research Centre, a New Zealand Centre of Research Excellence hosted by Lincoln University, finds innovative, natural and sustainable solutions to protect New Zealand's plant-based, productive ecosystems from pests, diseases and weeds. We are now entering a new five-year funding period, with exciting new opportunities for students and post-doctoral research associates.
Within the Bio-Protection Research Centre, the Contemporary Evolution in Weed Invasions project seeks to provide the first comparative assessment of multiple evolutionary mechanisms underpinning weed invasions. Results will be critical in the development of improved weed risk assessment approaches that account for the potential for evolutionary change in alien plants. In particular, it will point to the risks of assuming climate matching is transferable across regions and the conditions under which novel environments may select for evolutionary change. http://bioprotection.org.nz/research/programme/contemporary-evolution-weed-invasions Shifts in the niche of weeds may result from changes in biotic interactions, phenotypic plasticity or rapid evolution in the introduced range. To examine these options the Postdoctoral Fellow will sample life-history traits and natural enemy damage of weed species across multiple sites along a similar latitudinal range in both the UK and NZ. Seeds from each population in each range will be grown in a common garden in NZ to examine whether clinal variation in life-history traits persists under the same environmental conditions. Comparison between field and common garden studies will test the importance of environmental, maternal and population effects on trait variation and how these differ between ranges. Weeds may not show strong local adaptation but might evolve greater phenotypic plasticity and thus perform better over a wider range of environments than their native congeners. For each species we will test the ability of provenances to maintain fitness homeostasis across gradients in water availability and soil fertility, using clonal material derived from the rootstocks of plants established in the glasshouse. Significant range effects would be indicative of a shift in performance that may facilitate invasion, and will be pertinent to examining potential performance under increased drought frequencies arising from climate change. The position is funded for a period of 3 years, starting in 2016. Applicants will be required to have: •A PhD in ecology or a related field •Research experience in the area of plant invasion ecology. •Strong skills in quantitative data analysis, particularly statistical modelling. •A record of peer reviewed publications As travel between field sites may be a feature of this position, a current driver’s licence is also required. The position will report to Professor Philip Hulme (Lincoln University) Further information can be found here: http://www.lincoln.ac.nz/Global/HR/PostDoc1_Weed_Evolution_Descript.pdf Application to consist of: Cover letter expressing interest in position, your suitability for the post and date of availability, CV, publication list, statement of research interests, contact details for three references. Applications close 29th April 2016. Philip Hulme Professor of Plant Biosecurity Bio-Protection Research Centre Burns 432 P O Box 85084 Lincoln University Lincoln 7647 Christchurch New Zealand p +64 3 4230902 | e philip.hu...@lincoln.ac.nz | w www.lincoln.ac.nz<http://www.lincoln.ac.nz/> Lincoln University, Te Whare Wānaka o Aoraki New Zealand's Specialist Land-Based University From: Ecological Society of America: grants, jobs, news [mailto:ECOLOG-L@LISTSERV.UMD.EDU] On Behalf Of John Anderson Sent: Wednesday, 6 April 2016 9:48 a.m. To: ECOLOG-L@LISTSERV.UMD.EDU Subject: Re: [ECOLOG-L] GPS recommendations Malcolm's comments are super important if you are concerned about sub-10m accuracy. By chance I was just lecturing my Wildlife Students today about this very topic. We have always used Trimble (not "Trumble") units with their software (even though both can be ENORMOUSLY irritating,have compatibility issues from one generation to the next, and are sooo non-intuitive) because a) we need sub-meter accuracy & b) we need the unit to be honest about when it can and cannot get real data. Many cheap GPS units (and your phone) will happily give you a position, but as Malcolm says, you have little idea how accurate it might be... On Tue, Apr 5, 2016 at 12:21 PM, Malcolm McCallum <malcolm.mccallum.ta...@gmail.com<mailto:malcolm.mccallum.ta...@gmail.com>> wrote: when using apps, if you are doing research-quality spatial analysis, it will be important for you to know whether the app is reporting an average or the first reading it gets. I know that several of the hobby-grade GPS units report an average but do not provide an estimate of dispersion (e.g. SE, SD). The Tremble units give you the individual points, then you can dump out the influential outliers and take the average yourself. The advantage here is that if you need 95% CI data, this will allow you to hone in on the point much more accurately. Usually, the outliers are LITERALLY a bird or plan flew over you while recording that individual point, or a key sat went behind a cloud while the other sats are in an less-than-ideal conformation in the sky. I suspect mos of what I am telling you is much more technical than you really need, but since I don't know for sure your needs, I figure I ought to try to help you out the best I can. These details are ignored frequently in the literature, but a plan flying over while the other sats are in a bad conformation can cause you with a supposedly 1 ft resolution GPS to record the point 10 m or more from its actual location. When you are using a GPS and you notice the unit tells you your waypoint is say 5 m to the north, then you go 5 m to the north and it tells you its now 10 m to the east, then you follow thorugh, and it starts telling you its 5 m to the east, its because of the resolution ability + sat conformation + interference in the atmosphere. IT was always interesting to me when I would average the points that there would be individual points that were plotted way outside the cluster. Those instantaneous readings can be WAY off! :) On Tue, Apr 5, 2016 at 9:17 AM, Trevor Middel <tmid...@gmail.com<mailto:tmid...@gmail.com>> wrote: > Merav, > > Another app to try, depending on whether you have access to ArCGIS Online, > is Collector. It's available for Windows 10, Android, and iOS I believe. > It's from ESRI and is full featured, though maybe a little buggy still. It > allows use of custom basemaps, offline editing and synchronization of data > from multiple field crews. Also, I was looking into the accuracy of tablet > and phone based GPS vs consumer grade handheld GPS units and ran across a > few sources which suggested the comparison was quite favourable. I don't > have the references handy but found them relatively quickly using Google. > > We've used Garmin handhelds for years now in the field and have been quite > happy with their durability. I don't like how quickly they seem to retire > and change models, and change interfaces but we've managed to live with > that. We also just acquired a couple of rugged Android tablets from Cedar > Tree (CT7) to use as GPS/data logging devices. So far they seem quite good, > this field season will tell for sure though. They are not far off the price > of a consumer handheld GPS. > http://www.junipersys.com/Juniper-Systems-Rugged-Handheld-Computers/products/Cedar-Products > > Good luck, > > Trevor > > On Tue, Apr 5, 2016 at 7:17 AM, Howard, Tim G (DEC) > <tim.how...@dec.ny.gov<mailto:tim.how...@dec.ny.gov>> > wrote: >> >> Merav, >> The open source app Geopaparazzi can do all those things for you. It is >> Android only so would work on the Nexus, not the iPhone. You can find it in >> the Play Store. >> >> Cheers, >> Tim >> >> > -----Original Message----- >> > From: Ecological Society of America: grants, jobs, news >> > [mailto:ECOLOG-<mailto:ECOLOG-> >> > l...@listserv.umd.edu<mailto:l...@listserv.umd.edu>] On Behalf Of Merav >> > Vonshak >> > Sent: Monday, April 04, 2016 6:25 PM >> > To: ECOLOG-L@LISTSERV.UMD.EDU<mailto:ECOLOG-L@LISTSERV.UMD.EDU> >> > Subject: [ECOLOG-L] GPS recommendations >> > >> > ATTENTION: This email came from an external source. Do not open >> > attachments or click on links from unknown senders or unexpected emails. >> > >> > >> > Hi all, >> > I would greatly appreciate your input on a handheld GPS device. I’m >> > looking >> > for a GPS device that would allow me to navigate to my field sites, >> > including >> > uploading plot locations from Google Earth or ArcGIS and viewing them in >> > the >> > field, over an aerial photo of the site. I will also need to record data >> > points. >> > I’m considering using an iPhone 6 or a Google Nexus 9 device, wondering >> > about the pros and cons of each options and the app I should use in case >> > I >> > choose the iPhone or the Nexus. >> > Thank you! >> > Merav > > -- Malcolm L. McCallum, PHD, REP Link to online CV and portfolio : https://www.visualcv.com/malcolm-mc-callum?access=18A9RYkDGxO “Nothing is more priceless and worthy of preservation than the rich array of animal life with which our country has been blessed. It is a many-faceted treasure, of value to scholars, scientists, and nature lovers alike, and it forms a vital part of the heritage we all share as Americans.” -President Richard Nixon upon signing the Endangered Species Act of 1973 into law. "Peer pressure is designed to contain anyone with a sense of drive" - Allan Nation 1880's: "There's lots of good fish in the sea" W.S. Gilbert 1990's: Many fish stocks depleted due to overfishing, habitat loss, and pollution. 2000: Marine reserves, ecosystem restoration, and pollution reduction MAY help restore populations. 2022: Soylent Green is People! The Seven Blunders of the World (Mohandas Gandhi) Wealth w/o work Pleasure w/o conscience Knowledge w/o character Commerce w/o morality Science w/o humanity Worship w/o sacrifice Politics w/o principle Confidentiality Notice: This e-mail message, including any attachments, is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged information. 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