Project properties
Title Do termites matter?
Group Soil Biology
Project type thesis
Credits 24-39
Supervisor(s) Luciana Chavez Rodriguez, prof.dr. Ellis Hoffland
Examiner(s) tbd
Contact info luciana.chavezrodriguez@wur.nl
Begin date 2025/02/01
End date
Description Deadwood decay is a critical yet understudied carbon flux, especially in the tropics. Deadwood is lost due to fire and biological activity, among other factors, but microbial and termite activity are the main drivers of deadwood decomposition. However, microbes and especially termites are still neglected in earth system models, so the relative contribution of termites and microbes on the tropics' overall carbon budgets cannot be adequately quantified.
In this thesis, you will build up a process-based model for deadwood decomposition that includes termite and microbial activity and use it to estimate the role of termites in deadwood decomposition along a precipitation gradient in Australia. Your tasks will include: i) setting up the process-based model (partially written) and extending it to account for differential moisture and temperature sensitivities of termites and microbes, ii) finding parameter values in the literature, iii) calibrating the model using data from two recent publications (see below), and iv) running simulations for a carbon budget in the tropics, including other processes like wildfire. Additionally, you will gain experience in programming, version control with git, and the use of the Wageningen HPC system.

Relevant literature:
- Duan, E. S., Chavez Rodriguez L.., Hemming-Schroeder, N., Wijas, B., Flores-Moreno, H., Cheesman, A. W., Cernusak, L. A., Liddell, M. J., Eggleton, P., Zanne, A. E., and Allison, S. D. (2024). Climate-based prediction of carbon fluxes from deadwood in Australia, Biogeosciences, 21, 3321–3338, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-3321-2024.
- Wijas, B. J., Flores-Moreno, H., Allison, S. D., Chavez Rodriguez L.., Cheesman, A. W., Cernusak, L. A., Clement, R., Cornwell, W. K., Duan, E. S., Eggleton, P., Rosenfield, M. V., Yatsko, A. R., & Zanne, A. E. (2024). Drivers of wood decay in tropical ecosystems: Termites versus microbes along spatial, temporal and experimental precipitation gradients. Functional Ecology. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2435.14494
Used skills Statistics, programming, mechanistic modeling, model analysis
Requirements Experience in programming languages with Matlab, python, or R, affinity with differential equations, and process-based modeling is desired.