Programme Training

The PLANFORBIO research programme supports national strategic objectives of increasing the number of post-graduates being trained in Ireland and will build research capacity to underpin a very important sustainable national industry.

The programme has a significant training component, including PhDs, Masters and and Bachelors degree projects. The research outputs from the projects are also incorporated into the curriculum of the Certificate in Biodiversity Components of Forestry at UCC and other national courses.

PhD research projects:

• The biodiversity of canopy arthropods in a range of Irish forest types
• Bird diversity in native and plantation woodlands
• Hen Harrier (Circus cyaneus) ecology and requirements for conservation
• Lepidopteran diversity in native and plantation forests
• Invertebrate diversity in Irish and British forests
• Achieving effective Rhododendron control
• Successional change in ground flora diversity in a range of Irish forest types

MSc research projects:

• An investigation of usefulness of Terrestrial Laser Scanning in forest biodiversity assessment
• The importance of brash from felling and thinning activities in Irish plantation forests for fungus gnats (Diptera, Sciaroidea)