Context
The European Union sets a zero net land take objective for 2050. The transcription of this objective in the French regulation must be implemented by city planners through a reduction of sealed areas. While sealing effects on soil are well-known, desealing effects are less characterized. The “Permeasol” project has been built by the Eurometropole of Strasbourg and research laboratories : Engineering science, computer science and imaging laboratory (ICube); Ecology, systematics, Evolution laboratory (ESE) and Image, City, Environment Laboratory (LIVE). This project studies the ecological trajectory of desealed urban soils: can this intervention allow the growth of a functional ecosystem, to what extent and how fast?
Permeasol experimental design is composed of two former parking lots in the “Green Belt” of Strasbourg city. Their surface was partly desealed in late 2023 (Treatment); the other half is still sealed and acts as a control. The experimental design also includes an urban grassland localized in Strasbourg and used as a reference.
Several analyses are regularly carried out for each treatment to integratively capture the system dynamics: water infiltration and storage, quantity and functional characteristics of vegetation and soil microorganisms, soil fertility and pollution, and soil chemical composition. The interactions and feedback loops between associated processes are investigated. This monitoring is part of an on-going three-years PhD work.
The internship position takes place in this context. The aim of the internship is to contibute to the assessment of the ecological trajectory of a desealed urban soil by working on vegetation growth, reproduction and survival. These functional traits will be used to compare the modalities impact on the fitness of plant species found in all treatments.
Intern missions
The aim of the internship is to identify and measure functional traits of species common to the three modalities (sealed, desealed, grassland). This work involves a literature research and synthesis on functional traits to select the most relevant ones to assess growth, survival and reproductive functions of urban plants. From previous data acquisition, the intern will identity plants on which the measured traits must be applied. For this part, an experimental protocol must be designed from both the literature review and previous knowledge. The fieldwork will consist in measuring the plant traits. Then, the statistical analyses of the acquired data will have to be performed.
The intern can also participate in the full fieldwork session of May 2025 (soil sampling, soil water infiltration, plant inventories, soil CO2 emissions).
Calendar: Bibliography, traits selection, experimental design elaboration: March – April 2025 || Implementation of the experimental protocol (field and lab depending on selected traits): May 2025 || Analyses, data exploitation and valuation: June – August 2025.
Delivrables: internship report || In Situ (technical document for city servants) for the “Urban environmental zone atelier”. || Participation to a scientific article writing
Required qualifications
This internship requires a highly rigorous candidate, comfortable with field and lab work but also in data analysis with R. Master students in ecology (second year) or equivalent are welcomed. Knowledge in population functional analyses and an interest in botanic are needed. Good writing skills and a capacity for synthesis are also expected. An interest for research and urban biodiversity conservation is appreciated.
Where, when, duration
The internship will take place in the Bot anical Institute of the Strasbourg University, in the Image, City and Environment Laboratory (LIVE, URM 7362 Unistra, CNRS). The intern will work under the supervision of Lisa Le Moller (PhD student) and Audrey Muratet (Assistant Professor). The internship will last 6 months and starts in March 2025. The salary will be based on the national regulation for interns.
To apply
Send CV and cover letter to Lisa Le Moller (lisa.le-moller@strasbourg.eu) and to Audrey Muratet (audrey.muratet@live-cnrs.unistra.fr) before the 29th of November 2024.
References
Adobati F., Garda E., Soil releasing as key to rethink water spaces in urban planning, City, Terrritory and Architecture (7), 2020.
Balasooriya, B. L. W. K. et al. Biomonitoring of urban habitat quality by anatomical and chemical leaf characteristics. Environ. Exp. Bot. 65, 386–394 (2009).
Brandt, A. J., Leahy, S. C., Zimmerman, N. M. & Burns, J. H. Plant trait expression responds to establishment timing. Oecologia 178, 525–536 (2015).
Cochard, A. et al. Intraspecific trait variation in grassland plant communities along urban-rural gradients. Urban Ecosyst. 22, 583–591 (2019).
Maienza A., Ungaro F., Baronti S., Colzi I., Giagnoni L., Gonelli C., Renella G., Ugolini F., Calzolari C., Biological Restoration of Urban soils after De-Sealing Interventions, Agriculture (11), 2021.
Renella G., Evolution of Physico-Chemical Properties, Microbial Biomass and Microbial Activity of an Urban Soil after De-sealing, Agriculture (10 :12, 596), 2020.
Ugolini, F. et al. Assessing the influence of topsoil and technosol characteristics on plant growth for the green regeneration of urban built sites. J. Environ. Manage. 273, 111168 (2020).
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