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Ephrem Ngendahimana

Candidature

PhD Candidate

Thesis title

Understanding Mechanisms Underpinning Climate Resilience in Managed Pasture Grassland

Project summary

Ephrem NgendahimanaGrasslands ecosystems play a crucial global role in supporting both the livestock and agricultural industries. They, indeed, provide invaluable ecological services, including carbon sequestration and cycling, thereby, playing a significant part in mitigating climate change. However, these ecosystems face increasing instability due to factors such as population growth, shifting dietary habits, rising incomes, climate change, and urbanization, all of which contribute to heightened demand for livestock products and exert notable impacts on grasslands worldwide.

Grassland ecosystems are sensitive to both biotic factors and abiotic factors. Extreme conditions like heatwaves, drought and overgrazing can have detrimental effects. However, plant species possess various adaptive strategies that enhance their resilience to these stresses. Therefore, it is essential to understand the responses and mechanisms induced by these stresses to accurately anticipate future drier climates and determine the best grazing practices to maximize grassland productivity.

This research will utilize a multi-disciplinary approach, incorporating plant traits measurements, chemical and image analyses and scanning. It aims to uncover the mechanisms underlying the resilience of grassland species to climate change and grazing intensity, and to assess the impact of these factors on grassland ecosystem services. Two-species mixtures will be subjected to a factorial combination of elevated temperatures and extreme rainfall regimes (both wet and dry conditions) to understand and predict their responses under future drier climates. In addition, five-species mixture will be treated with simulated grazing in conjunction with extreme rainfall regimes to identify the best grazing management under changing climatic conditions. Furthermore, a mesic grassland ecosystem, which has undergone rainfall manipulation for twelve years, will be used to disentangle and predict long-term effects of altered rainfall regimes on grassland functions and services.

Publication

Carril P, Cordeiro C, Silva MS, Ngendahimana E, Tenreiro R, Cruz C, (2025) 'Exploring the plant-growth promoting bacterium Herbaspirillum seropedicae as catalyst of microbiome remodeling and metabolic changes in wheat plants', Planta, 261(2), p. 36

Supervisors

Professor Sally Power, Professor Elise Pendall and Dr Manju Chandregowda