The research aims to study how climate changes, together with changes in agronomic, pastoral, and forest management, which are closely linked to the socioeconomic variations of the last 70 years, can negatively affect biodiversity and the resistance/resilience of semi-natural grasslands in the mountains. Understanding these impacts on rural areas and finding indicators capable of predicting them is essential for identifying sustainable management practices for agroecosystems, in line with biodiversity conservation and ecosystem service principles. Not only the conservation of current status should be targeted, but also the restoration of permanent grasslands should be achieved in a sustainable way wherever possible. Innovative practices should be identified and applied to preserve and restore different target ecosystem functions, which depend on the starting condition of the land and socioeconomic framework (e.g. main targets could be the recovery of sward productivity when farms are present, biodiversity improvement in a natural park, land protection when grasslands on a steep slope surmount a village…). The PhD student will analyze the conservation status of different grassland habitats, assess how rapidly grasslands deteriorates due to abandonment/change of agricultural practices and climate, study land use evolution with regard to fragmentation and ecological connectivity, and experiment agronomic practices for conservation/restoration.

The candidate should be have a master degree in the areas of agronomic, forestry, biological or natural sciences. He/she should be able to combine knowledge of agronomic and grazing management, botany, soil science, and remote-sensing. Since an important part of the activities will be outdoor, the candidate must be able to navigate comfortably in mountain terrain.

The research team includes researchers specialized in agro- and silvo-pastoral management, botany, soil science, plant-soil-animal relations, GIS and remote-sensed analyses.The study will be carried out in the mountains of Italian north-western Alps, mainly Susa valley where the co-funding company operates. However, also case-studies from other areas will be considered.