L’UMR Eco&Sols recherche un ingénieur ou jeune docteur en Microbiologie des sols ou Biologie des procédés
Poste de 6 mois à pourvoir rapidement (1er décembre 2021)
Offre de post-doc portant sur l'effet des réseaux mycorhiziens sur les interactions plante-plante en mélange variétal de blé dur.
Poste d'un an, à partir de janvier 2022, à l'UMR Eco&Sols, Montpellier.
Application deadline: 31th October 2021
Postdoctoral fellow starting date: January 2022
We are looking for a postdoctoral researcher to work on the SolACE H2020 project (Solution for improving Agroecosystem and Crop Efficiency for water and nutrient use) funded by the European Union and supported by the Occitanie Region. The postdoctoral fellow will work at UMR Eco&Sols (https://www.umr-ecosols.fr/), a unit located at the Institute Agro of Montpellier campus (France, https://www.institut-agro.fr). The postdoctoral fellow will get a one-year position at INRAE.
Scientific context
The involved workpackage of the SolACE project aims to understand how crop management practices (durum wheat genotype mixtures here) can help to enhance stress resistance, by investigating above- and below-ground processes associated with nutrient use efficiency (AMF, nutrient availability). A greenhouse experiment based on the mycorrhizal response of 10 durum wheat genotypes and a field experiment based on the effect of genotype mixture on belowground traits related to nutrient acquisition (i.e. root morphology, AMF communities) were already carried out in 2021. These studies were achieved in collaboration with Hélène Fréville and Pierre Roumet of the UMR AGAP (GE2pop team, Montpellier).
Plants can be connected through common mycorrhizal networks (CMNs). CMNs can involve both con- and heterospecific plant individuals (Jakobsen & Hammer 2015). All connected plants invest carbon in the CMNs but the retribution rules, in terms of mineral nutrients provided by the mycorrhizal fungi, remain highly debated (Wipf et al. 2019). Thus, the role of CMN in plant interactions, i.e. competition vs facilitation for resource acquisition is still poorly understood. For instance, CMNs have been found to amplify intraspecific competition and to alter population size-class distribution within A. gerardii populations (Weremijewiccz and Janos 2013). This post-doc aims to investigate how the nutrient dynamics of the CMNs influence competition / facilitation in varietal mixtures vs monocultures of durum wheat.
Postdoctoral research fellow
The postdoctoral fellow will set up a greenhouse experiment to understand the role of CMN in nutrient allocation in monospecific vs binary mixtures of durum wheat. The latter will be done following an experimental approach inspired by Weremijewicz & Janos (2019), with or without CMN disruption. The study will focus on the carbon cost of the mycorrhizal association (13CO2 labelling), when grown with a con- or heterospecific neighbor, and possibly by assessing the sharing of an 15N source only accessible to hyphae. This work will be carried out in collaboration with Pierre-Emmanuel Courty (UMR Agroécologie, Dijon).
The C, N and P content of durum wheat and external mycorrhizal hyphae will be measured coupled with isotope ratio mass spectrometry measurements to determine the 13C and 15N contents at the Stable Isotopes Workshop of the UMR Biochemistry and Molecular Physiology
of Plants in Montpellier. Abundance of intra- and extra-root colonization by mycorrhizal fungi will be evaluated.
The postdoctoral researcher will work with a Master student. In addition, the postdoctoral research will get involved in the organization of a seminar on durum wheat mixtures with national stakeholders (farmer, researcher, cooperative, student...).
Profile and skills
- Stable isotope probing experience
- Knowledge in soil and plant-associated AMF ecology
- Background with plant cultivation in greenhouse
- Strong organizational, rigor, autonomy and teamwork skills to collaborate in a multidisciplinary unit
- Comfortable with R
- Good writing skills in English (min level B2) to publish in international scientific journals
- Train and mentor Master student working on the same project
- Proficient oral communication skills
Contract
- One-year contract at INRAE
- Starting date: January 2022
- Location: Unité Mixte de Recherche Eco&Sols, 2 Place Pierre Viala, 34060 Montpellier
- Contract : 2371 € gross salary. Contribution to social security system.
How to apply
Candidate should send a cover letter (1-2 pages) and detailed CV including previous experience, list of publications and contact details of one reference to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. before the 31th of October 2021.
Jakobsen, I., & Hammer, E. C. (2015). Nutrient dynamics in arbuscular mycorrhizal networks. In Mycorrhizal networks (pp. 91-131). Springer, Dordrecht.
Weremijewicz, J., & Janos, D. P. (2019). Investigation of plant interactions across common mycorrhizal networks using rotated cores. JoVE (Journal of Visualized Experiments), (145), e59338.
Weremijewicz, J., & Janos, D. P. (2013). Common mycorrhizal networks amplify size inequality in A ndropogon gerardii monocultures. New Phytologist, 198(1), 203-213.
Wipf, D., Krajinski, F., van Tuinen, D., Recorbet, G., & Courty, P. E. (2019). Trading on the arbuscular mycorrhiza market: from arbuscules to common mycorrhizal networks. New Phytologist, 223(3), 1127-1142.
Candidature à envoyer par mail à This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. et This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. avant le 31 octobre 2021
La biodiversité est essentielle à la résilience des écosystèmes, à la sécurité alimentaire et à la santé. C’est un patrimoine précieux et un bien commun qu’il faut préserver pour elle-même, mais aussi pour les services écosystémiques dont dépendent les sociétés humaines. Mais la multiplication des pressions liées aux activités humaines, aggravées par le changement climatique, ont mené à un déclin de la biodiversité. Dans ce contexte, les recherches d’INRAE concernent de nombreux milieux, des montagnes aux littoraux en passant par les forêts, les milieux aquatiques, et les agroécosystèmes. Les scientifiques s’attèlent à mieux comprendre la biodiversité et sa dynamique, et à développer, avec les acteurs des territoires, des solutions pour la préserver, la restaurer et gérer les milieux de manière durable.
Mikael Hedde DR INRAE d'Eco&Sols a partcipé à cette initiative
Vous trouverez ci-dessous une vidéo de présentation de la plateforme expérimentale DIAM's (Dispositif instrumenté en agroforesterie méditerranéenne sous contrainte hydrique) située sur l'UE DIASCOPE INRAE à Mauguio (34)
Contact : Isabelle BERTRAND
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PhD opportunity
Effects of functional diversity on the resilience of forest plantation to drought
As part of the recently funded BIODIVERSA project MixForChange, we have an opening for a 3-yr PhD position on the effects of functional diversity on the resilience of forest plantation to drought. This position will be based at INRAe (URFM) and Cirad (Eco&Sols). Starting date mid 2021.
Project description:
Forest restoration is key in climate change mitigation strategies. The « Bonn challenge » targets 350 millions hectares of forest planting by 2030. However increasing drought related to climate change can jeopardize plantation success. An increasing number of studies support the idea that species and functional diversity can mitigate drought effects, thereby improving forest resilience to climate change. Using tree mixture instead of monoculture in plantations would therefore be a key solution to improve forest plantation resilience to climate change. So far the mechanisms driving the tree diversity vs drought-resilience relationships are poorly known, which precludes the use of resilient tree mixtures at large scales.
The overall objective of the MixForChange project (https://treedivnet.ugent.be/ProjectMixForChange.html) is to promote mixed-species forest plantations as nature-based solutions to fight the causes and consequences of climate change, by providing science-based recommendations and guidelines endorsed by forest owners, man-agers and policy-makers. The project will rely on an existing unique global network of forest biodiversity experiments (TreeDivNet, http://www.treedivnet.ugent.be/index.html), which are based on a common, statistically sound design that allows for the effects of tree species composition on ecosystem services and functions to be tested.
The major task of this PhD project is to explore the mechanisms involved in the tree diversity vs drought-resilience relationships. The successful candidate will conduct ecophysiological and soil geophysical measurements, to compare water use between mixtures and monocultures in two experiments of the TreeDivNet. To this aim, she/he will combine tree transpiration measurement (using sapflow monitoring) to soil resistivity and leaf water potential measurement. Key functional traits linked to tree resistance and resilience to drought, such as xylem resistance to cavitation or minimal stomatal conductance, will be measured at larger scale, along diversity gradients. The successful candidate will also use process-based models currently developed and use in our group to produce testable hypotheses regarding the effects of diversity on tree water use and survival that will be confronted to observed data.
Candidate profile:
We are looking for a highly motivated person with a strong background in forest ecology, tree physiology and modelling, or related fields. Demonstrated ability to carry out research projects and statistical background are desirable. English proficiency is indispensable, as strong interactions with the different research groups involved in MixForChange are expected. This project will be jointly supervised by Nicolas Martin StPaul (INRAe), Joannès Guillemot (Cirad) and Guerric le Maire (Cirad). The position is based in southern France, in Avignon and/or Montpellier (location can be discussed and decided with the successful candidate). Both cities offer vibrant living environment, with a large panel of cultural events and possibilities of outdoor activities.
Applications will be accepted until 26/02/2021.
Applications and questions regarding the project should be addressed to Nicolas Martin StPaul (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.), Joannès Guillemot (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) and Guerric le Maire (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.).
