Forecasting biodiversity shortfalls and ecological network reorganization under defaunation in Amazonian Forests
The Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales (MNCN-CSIC, Madrid, Spain) is seeking a highly motivated PhD candidate to join the recently funded project NEOSHORTFALLS (“Addressing biodiversity shortfalls in Neotropical forests to understand the effects of defaunation on traits, species assemblages and biotic interactions”).
- Starting date: End 2026-Early 2027 Duration: 4 years (FPI contract)
- Annual Gross Salary: ca. €25000 (see PIF2025 call for guidance)
- Location: Department of Biogeography and Global Change, Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales (MNCN-CSIC), Madrid, Spain
Background
Human-induced defaunation is altering ecological communities worldwide, yet its consequences for ecological interactions remain poorly understood. While species extinctions are widely documented, the erosion and reorganization of ecological interactions often precede biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse.
The NEOSHORTFALLS project aims to understand how biodiversity shortfalls limit our ability to detect and predict these changes. By integrating large-scale camera trapping, environmental DNA (eDNA), functional traits, ecological networks and eco-evolutionary approaches, the project will investigate how defaunation reorganizes plant-frugivore interactions across Amazonian forests.
The project is coordinated by Dr. Ana Benítez López and Dr. Lisieux Fuzessy at the Department of Biogeography and Global Change (MNCN-CSIC), in collaboration with an international network of researchers from Europe and Brazil.
Research Project
The PhD project will focus on understanding how plant–frugivore interaction networks reorganize following defaunation, with particular emphasis on interaction rewiring, network structure, topological roles and functional interaction niches. The PhD candidate will contribute primarily to the objectives of the NEOSHORTFALLS project and will participate in field campaigns and quantitative analyses integrating camera trapping, environmental DNA, functional traits and ecological network approaches.
The project includes field campaigns in the Brazilian Amazon in liaison with the NGO Instituto Juruá. Potentially the PhD will also dedicate to quantitative ecological analyses and synthesis.
Tasks and Responsibilities
The successful candidate will receive advanced multidisciplinary training in:
- ecological network analysis;
- interaction rewiring and network robustness;
- trait-based analyses quantitative ecology and statistical modelling in R;
- DNA metabarcoding and molecular ecology;
- AI-assisted biodiversity monitoring;
- reproducible research and open science.
The PhD candidate will be co-supervised by Dr Ana Benítez-López and Dr Lisieux Fuzessy, will enrol in one of the Ecology doctoral programmes at UAM, UCM, URJC or UIMP, and will become part of the Department of Biogeography and Global Change at MNCN-CSIC.
The contract includes participation in international conferences, specialized training courses, weekly seminars and journal clubs, and an international research stay at either the CBioClima–UNESP with Prof. Mauro Galetti (Brazil) or Universidade Federal do Pará with Prof. Jonathan Ready (Brazil).
Qualifications and experience
Applicants should have:
- MSc degree in Ecology, Evolutionary Biology, Conservation Biology, Environmental Sciences or related disciplines
- Good knowledge of R environment
- Experience with ecological statistics
- Excellent communication skills (both written and oral) in English
- Interest in ecological networks, biodiversity and global change
- Willingness to spend extended periods working under remote and harsh tropical field conditions.
- Excellent organizational skills, pro-active and results-oriented, and the capacity to deliver on allocated tasks and respond in a timely manner to deadlines
- Ability to work as part of a diverse team with different cultural backgrounds and experiences.
Desirable experience includes:
- network analysis;
- GLMMs or Bayesian modelling;
- Git/GitHub;
- trait databases;
- macroecology;
- open science practices.
We Offer
The successful candidate will join a dynamic and highly international research environment at MNCN-CSIC. Specifically, they will be part of a joint research group consisting of two PIs, 5 PhD students (two inhouse, two abroad, plus the hired FPI), 1 Research Assistant joining the project, and 1-2 MSc or JAE-Intro students. Fieldwork activities will be carried in teams of 3-5 people.
The project provides opportunities to work with:
- one of the largest plant-frugivore interaction databases worldwide;
- long-term Amazonian datasets;
- canopy camera-trap networks;
- environmental DNA;
- functional trait databases;
- artificial intelligence tools for biodiversity research;
- high-performance computing facilities (DRAGO);
- an extensive international collaboration network across Europe and South America.
The candidate will receive advanced training in ecological networks, quantitative ecology, reproducible science and scientific communication.
How to Apply
Interested candidates should apply by sending before 4 October 2026:
- Curriculum Vitae (maximum 4 pages)
- One-page motivation letter
- Contact details of two academic referees
- Your MSc thesis (pdf)
to:
- Ana Benítez-López ana.benitez@mncn.csic.es and Lisieux Fuzessy lisieux.fuzessy@mncn.csic.es
- Subject: Name, last name and NEOSHORTFALLS-PhD
Shortlisted candidates will be invited for an interview (in person or online). Subsequently, the three top candidates will need to formally apply through CONVOCA. More details can be found in the previous call (PIF2025). The 2026 call will be published in the coming months.
We are committed to promoting equity. Persons from groups that have been historically excluded from academia are strongly encouraged to apply.
Foto del carrusel: Mono lanudo o macaco barrigudo (Lagothrix lagotricha).
Fecha
- Domingo, 04 Octubre 2026
Ubicación
National Museum of Natural Sciences (MNCN-CSIC)
