Jake Freddie Spong
PhD Student

Profile

Biography

I’m a PhD student in the Department of Environment and Geography supervised by Dr. Robert Mills (University of York), Dr. Aidan Keith (Centre for Ecology & Hydrology) and Dr. Ashley Lyons (RSPB), interested in understanding the structure, function and future of our upland soils. I am keen to explore how we can use food-web ecology to predict the effects of a changing climate.on these biodiverse environments and the key functions (e.g. carbon sequestration, nutrient cycling) they provide, focussing on the catchment at RSPB Haweswater in the Lake District.

Prior to my PhD I completed an Integrated Masters in Natural Sciences at the University of Exeter, where I focussed on the application of mathematical and physical modelling to biological systems. For my masters project I modelled the thermoregulatory aspect of bumblebee nests in Python, using physical equations to understand how climate change could affect the balance of energy and the implications this has for colony success. 

Qualifications

MSci (Hons) Natural Sciences - First Class, University of Exeter (2018-2022)

Research

Overview

PhD Project Title: A changing climate in the oceanic mountains; the role of food-web ecology in the response of belowground functions

Upland soils are understudied ecosystems; as a result, we know very little about how they are structured or function, which limits our ability to predict how they might be affected by climate change. This project will work with the RSPB research team at Haweswater in the North East of the Lake District, and functional ecologists from University of York and UKCEH in Lancaster, to explore how these upland soils function from the perspective of microbes, invertebrates and plants.

By using a food-web ecology approach, a combination of field and lab techniques, and existing data and infrastructure on the Haweswater catchment, we hope to understand how the structure of soil communities affects their functioning and the implications this has across the above-belowground boundary. If we can identify key species governing the flow of energy or matter through these upland systems, we can begin to model the effects of changing environmental conditions on key belowground functions (e.g. carbon sequestration, nitrogen cycling) and the implications this has for upland ecosystems as a whole.