2026-B19 Marine biodiversity and its future under environmental changes and exploitation

PROJECT HIGHLIGHTS

  • Join an interdisciplinary team of scientists to develop predictive models of marine biodiversity; 
  • Train for highly transferable skills including data science, quantitative modelling and programming;  
  • Conduct impactful research and link scientific evidence to sustainability assessments. 

Overview

The marine biota provides an important component of our food systems, yet our knowledge of how many species are being harvested for human use is rather limited, especially among marine invertebrates. For example, marine bivalves – including the widely beloved scallops and oysters – are exploited by humans for food across the world, while also being important players in ecosystems. However, a critical first step towards understanding the diversity of exploited bivalves was only initiated recently in our 2023 study (Nature Communications). We compiled the first global list of bivalve species reported as having been used by humans and integrated the data with a global bivalve database of species traits, fossil occurrences and geographic distributions, setting the foundation for a forecasting framework forward for effective conservation and sustainable fishing opportunities and requirements (e.g. through collaboration with the Marine Stewardship Council, see below).  

In this project, we will employ quantitative techniques to deliver research and contribute to sustainability assessment:  

  1. Good genes or good locations? Exploited bivalves are found to be of large sizes and living in shallower waters, suggesting inheritability of the potential for exploitation. Meanwhile, the proportion of bivalve species being exploited varies dramatically across the world, suggesting biogeographic and/or social-economic influence. A comparative analysis, synthesizing phylogenetic, geographic and social-economic factors, including biological traits, environmental conditions and anthropogenic pressures, will illuminate the underlying drivers of exploitation.  
  2. Who have we missed? Using results for Q1, we will build predictive models, using a variety of techniques for cross-validations, to identify exploitable species that were not on the initial list. Some of these species were missing due to the lack of accessible documentation and others represent unrecognized food sources, especially if they are abundant and widespread to ensure sustainability and require low harvesting effort.   
  3. Where will they be by 2050? Fossil evidence shows that the geographic distributions of marine bivalves were extremely dynamic in response to climate changes. We will model how exploited species under future climate scenarios are likely to shift their distributions relative to the human populations that rely on them, which are critical for sustainable harvesting and conservation.  

Figure 1: Illustration of typical exploited bivalve species (top) and the global distribution of exploited proportion in bivalve species (bottom).

A photo of typical exploited bivales and a map of the proportion of exploited species in 50*50 km grids.

Case funding

This project is not suitable for CASE funding

Host

  • University of Birmingham

Theme

  • Climate and Environmental Sustainability, Organisms and Ecosystems

Supervisors

Project investigator

Co-investigators

How to apply

Each host has a slightly different application process.
Find out how to apply for this studentship.

All applications must include the CENTA application form.
Choose your application route

This project will take advantage of cutting-edge techniques in data science. All bivalve data are integrated in a relational database and actively curated by the larger collaborative team. As an important component of the research training, you will contribute to continuously updating the database, especially the geographic occurrence and exploitation data using the literature. All other data are available in public databases or through the collaboration network of the supervisory team.  

To answer the research questions, you will synthesize the data using a variety of statistical and mathematical models. You will compare potential factors of exploitation (Q1) using Bayesian multi-level regressions and machine learning, which also provide a multi-perspective framework for identifying missing species (Q2). Future distributions of exploited species (Q3) will be inferred using up-to-date species distribution models (SDM), based on environmental conditions of current distributions, fossil occurrences and widely acceptable future climate scenarios.   

DRs will be awarded CENTA Training Credits (CTCs) for participation in CENTA-provided and ‘free choice’ external training. One CTC can be earned per 3 hours training, and DRs must accrue 100 CTCs across the three and a half years of their PhD.  

You will gain a variety of experience and training in biodiversity research. Working closely with a multi-disciplinary supervisory team, you will develop various skills highly transferable across academia and industry, including database building/query, statistical modelling and spatial analyses (in R).  

You will interact with a larger, international collaborative team passionate about marine conservation and sustainability for marine resources (see below). Particularly, you will engage with the Marine Stewardship Council and learn to translate research to social-economic impacts, including forecasting future stock potentials and developing evident-based assessments for sustainable fisheries under projected climate scenarios. 

The larger collaboration team includes researchers from leading institutes across the world for marine research and conservation who will host research visits during the project when needed, including: 

  • Dr. Stewart Edie (Smithsonian Institution, USA) who will advise on analytical strategies,  
  • Prof. David Jablonski (University of Chicago, USA) who will advise on general bivalve ecology and biogeography, 
  • Dr. Sandra Ougier who will provide guidance on shaping research impact and contributing to sustainability assessment of fisheries through the Marine Stewardship Council. 

Data update and revision will be a continuous effort throughout the project, but individual publications can be produced based on the most up-to-date versions of the dataset at the time.  

Year 1: Initial CENTA and project-related training, learning about the bivalve database and comparing various factors in relation to bivalve exploitation (Q1).  

Year 2: Writing manuscript 1, developing predictive models for identifying missing species from the list of exploited bivalves (Q2) and writing manuscript 2.  

Year 3 (till the end): Inferring future distribution of exploited bivalves (Q3) and writing manuscript 3 and the PhD thesis.  

Edie, S. M., Huang, S., Collins, K. S., Roy, K. and Jablonski, D. (2018) ‘Loss of biodiversity dimensions through shifting climates and ancient mass extinctions’, Integr. Comp. Biol., 58, pp. 1179–1190. https://doi.org/10.1093/icb/icy111 

Huang, S., Edie, S.M., Collins, K.S., Crouch, N.M.A., Roy, K., and Jablonski, D. (2023) ‘Diversity, distribution and intrinsic extinction vulnerability of exploited marine bivalves’, Nature Communications. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-40053-y  

Gephart, J.A., Henriksson, P.J.G., and Parker, R.W.R. et al. (2021) ‘Environmental performance of blue foods’, Nature, 597, pp. 360–365. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-021-03889-2  

Further details and How to Apply

 For any enquiries related to this project please contact Dr. Shan Huang, [email protected]

 To apply to this project:  

  • You must include a CV with the names of at least two referees (preferably three) who can comment on your academic abilities.  
  • Please submit your application and complete the host institution application process via: https://sits.bham.ac.uk/lpages/LES068.htm.   Please select the PhD Geography and Environmental Science (CENTA) 2026/27 Apply Now button. The CENTA Studentship Application Form 2026 and CV can be uploaded to the Application Information section of the online form.  Please quote 2026-B19 when completing the application form.  

 Applications must be submitted by 23:59 GMT on Wednesday 7th January 2026.   

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