Grace MoorePhD StudentEmail: g.v.moore@qmul.ac.ukRoom Number: Geography building, Room 224ProfileProfileResearch Interests Rewilding, conservation ecology, zoogeomorphology, ecosystem engineering, nature-based solutions, climate change PhD project Title: Animals as geomorphic agents in landscape rewilding As a bid to restore damaged ecosystems and increase biodiversity, rewilding schemes have increased throughout the UK and Europe. A key approach to rewilding involves the protection or reintroduction of animal species. The Quaternary extinction event resulted in a huge loss of large megafauna and many rewilding proposals today aim to emulate the lost ecological roles of these animals. Consequently, ungulates are often targeted species for rewilding projects. Due to their feeding habits (e.g. grazing/ browsing vegetation, rootling soil) and movements (e.g. trampling, wallowing), these ‘ecosystem engineer’ species drive natural processes and shape landforms and landscapes. They can play key roles in vegetation regeneration and succession, and in soil biodiversity and recovery. Yet understanding of these interactions in rewilded environments is sparse, and geomorphological and hydrological impacts in particular remain under-explored. This PhD aims to resolve this by (1) conducting a systematic review and meta-analysis to establish the state of the knowledge of the geomorphic impacts of ungulates in different environments (2) investigate geomorphic disturbance by ungulates at UK rewilding sites using remote sensing (3) conduct a more in-depth field survey of the cascade effect that occurs in the ecosystem in areas of pig disturbance and (4) use species distribution modelling to assess the resilience and sustainability of current rewilding strategies against climate change. Academic background MSci Zoology, University of Bristol Supervisors Dr Gemma Harvey, QMUL Dr Tim Newbold, UCL Dr Alex Henshaw, QMUL Funding London NERC DTP Research