Developing effective strategies to safeguard globally unique biodiversity in the face of rapid land-use change and habitat loss, requires understanding not just the ecology of threatened biota, but also the economics of competing land uses and the relative opportunity costs of their protection.

The dry forests of the lower Mekong are a global hotspot of threatened biodiversity. They harbour an array of endemic and Red-listed species, with two mammals - kouprey and Javan rhinoceros (subsp. annamiticusare) already extinct. Recent analysis shows that the regions' dry forests are suffering extremely rapid conversion, with up to 41% of forest cover lost between 2000 and 2009. However, the response of biodiversity to land-use change is far less well understood in these fire dominated, dry forests than in the stable, wet humid tropics elsewhere in Southeast Asia. It is critical to understand the relative value for biodiversity of habitats along the gradient of land-use transitions: from pristine forests, to perturbed forests (via logging and cattle grazing), to wholesale conversion for crops of cassava, cashew and sugar cane, or plantations of rubber or eucalyptus.  Conservation strategy must also consider the economic costs of protection, in relation to the values of competing land-uses.

This PhD will first highlight the biodiversity values of different land-uses and the impacts of conversion. It will then explore the potential for Payments for Ecosystem Services to bridge the economic gap between continued land-use change and protection. Strategic interventions require quantifying how the relationship between biodiversity value and economic value changes across the land-use gradient.  Such an analysis can highlight opportunities for effective conservation of biodiversity at minimal financial cost, as demonstrated by Fisher et al. (2011) for SE Asian humid tropical forest under scenarios of logging. For instance, after extraction of valuable timber do logged forests in Indochina retain biodiversity but have lost much of their economic value, potentially reducing the cost of protection of this residual biodiversity?

Our analysis will have strong policy relevance. It will inform conservation strategy within a region where many conservation gains are now threatened by reversal, including the allocation of agricultural concessions in extensive intact forest landscapes, including within protected areas (see: www.opendevelopmentcambodia.net/maps/). Outputs will provide an evidence base for NGOs to promote the least destructive developmental pathways within these national parks, as well as in currently unprotected environments.

We seek a highly motivated candidate with field experience in the tropics who has specific knowledge of a key indicator taxonomic group (e.g. birds, dung beetles, ants). A strong knowledge of GIS and statistical analysis is highly desirable; the candidate must be willing to learn some environmental economics. The successful candidate will have a first class or upper second class B.Sc. in a related discipline, and ideally, a distinction at Masters.

Wright, H.L., Lake, I.R., Dolman, P.M. (2012). Agriculture - a key element for conservation in the developing world. Conservation Letters 5, 11-19. DOI: 10.1111/j.1755-263X.2011.00208.x

Fisher, B., Edwards, D.P., et al. (2011) Cost-effective conservation: calculating biodiversity and logging trade-offs in Southeast Asia. Conservation Letters, 4, 443–450. DOI: 10.1111/j.1755-263X.2011.00198.x