Integrating Macroecology and Modelling to Elucidate Regulation of Services from Ecosystems
Lead Research Organisation:
Queen's University Belfast
Department Name: Sch of Biological Sciences
Abstract
Coastal and shelf marine ecosystems are highly productive, bringing great benefits to humans. These benefits, called "ecosystem services" include food supply, recycling and recreation. Coastal and shelf seas are rich, productive and close to large human populations, so they are under great pressure from factors such as fishing and climate change.
Despite years of intensive study, our knowledge of how shelf ecosystems work is still patchy. Therefore we cannot yet predict how they will respond to changes. IMMERSE combines researchers with complementary track records from across 11 UK institutes. We will develop an integrated, whole-ecosystem approach to understand how changes occur in marine ecosystems and how these affect the services they provide. We will a) synthesise and analyse the vast array of existing, but scattered, data, b) target key data gaps and choke-points in our understanding with focussed fieldwork and experimentation and c) combine these into a suite of computer models that explore future consequences of changes and perturbations for ecosystem services. Our geographical focus will be the western seas, from the western English Channel, through the Celtic and Irish Seas, to western Scotland, although relevant data will be included from a wider area.
The novelty of this project is fourfold:
First, we will use novel web-based approaches to combine existing datasets and rate process measurements, from microbes to whales, and at whole shelf scales. By combining these datasets and published data, we can deduce the underlying "ecological rules" that operate at the level of the individual but lead to patterns at the ecosystem scale - for example how an organism's mortality or feeding rate depends on its body size and the ambient temperature.
Second we will target key knowledge gaps by applying the latest method developments in understanding food webs. We will use isotopic methods to trace the relative input of seaweed and planktonic algae into the base of the food web; we will follow these isotopic tracers in the lab and in the wild to understand exactly how these plants are incorporated into the rest of food web; we will use new image analysis technology to quantify the full size range of organisms in the sea; and we will use the latest molecular techniques to trace who eats whom.
The third novelty is that we will use not just one model to understand these ecosystem linkages but six models, all based on different assumptions. This "ensemble" approach is similar to climate forecasting, but is in its infancy in the sea. We will inform these models with the data synthesised and collected above, and then compare the output across the whole ensemble. This approach limits the shortcomings of any single model for a more robust picture of how the ecosystem works. These models will then be challenged with different scenarios of change, for example changing fishing effort or establishing conservation zones, with and without warming.
The fourth novelty of our approach is that we include a small but important socioeconomic part to our proposal. This will enable policy makers to convert the output from models into economic valuations and indicators, so that judgements can be made on management decisions for a suite of marine ecosystem services.
IMMERSE is part of a larger NERC funding scheme, and its outputs spanning the whole of the food web will be tailored to support the next two rounds of funding: first in developing NERC's model of the lower reaches of the food web, and second in testing efficiency of potential management interventions. The legacies of this project will include tools and combined datasets that will place the UK in a leading position to understand whole ecosystems and the consequences of change in terms of ecosystem services.
Despite years of intensive study, our knowledge of how shelf ecosystems work is still patchy. Therefore we cannot yet predict how they will respond to changes. IMMERSE combines researchers with complementary track records from across 11 UK institutes. We will develop an integrated, whole-ecosystem approach to understand how changes occur in marine ecosystems and how these affect the services they provide. We will a) synthesise and analyse the vast array of existing, but scattered, data, b) target key data gaps and choke-points in our understanding with focussed fieldwork and experimentation and c) combine these into a suite of computer models that explore future consequences of changes and perturbations for ecosystem services. Our geographical focus will be the western seas, from the western English Channel, through the Celtic and Irish Seas, to western Scotland, although relevant data will be included from a wider area.
The novelty of this project is fourfold:
First, we will use novel web-based approaches to combine existing datasets and rate process measurements, from microbes to whales, and at whole shelf scales. By combining these datasets and published data, we can deduce the underlying "ecological rules" that operate at the level of the individual but lead to patterns at the ecosystem scale - for example how an organism's mortality or feeding rate depends on its body size and the ambient temperature.
Second we will target key knowledge gaps by applying the latest method developments in understanding food webs. We will use isotopic methods to trace the relative input of seaweed and planktonic algae into the base of the food web; we will follow these isotopic tracers in the lab and in the wild to understand exactly how these plants are incorporated into the rest of food web; we will use new image analysis technology to quantify the full size range of organisms in the sea; and we will use the latest molecular techniques to trace who eats whom.
The third novelty is that we will use not just one model to understand these ecosystem linkages but six models, all based on different assumptions. This "ensemble" approach is similar to climate forecasting, but is in its infancy in the sea. We will inform these models with the data synthesised and collected above, and then compare the output across the whole ensemble. This approach limits the shortcomings of any single model for a more robust picture of how the ecosystem works. These models will then be challenged with different scenarios of change, for example changing fishing effort or establishing conservation zones, with and without warming.
The fourth novelty of our approach is that we include a small but important socioeconomic part to our proposal. This will enable policy makers to convert the output from models into economic valuations and indicators, so that judgements can be made on management decisions for a suite of marine ecosystem services.
IMMERSE is part of a larger NERC funding scheme, and its outputs spanning the whole of the food web will be tailored to support the next two rounds of funding: first in developing NERC's model of the lower reaches of the food web, and second in testing efficiency of potential management interventions. The legacies of this project will include tools and combined datasets that will place the UK in a leading position to understand whole ecosystems and the consequences of change in terms of ecosystem services.
Planned Impact
The IMMERSE programme will have far reaching impact upon a diverse range of beneficiaries, including policy makers, environmental managers, marine monitoring initiatives and wider society. The programme outputs will place the UK as an international leader in macroecology and ecosystem modelling by improving understanding of the regulation of key ecosystem services, scale-dependence in the underlying processes, functional diversity at different trophic levels and the impact of stressors on the marine environment. It will also provide vital data for, and improvements to, UK marine modelling to explore the impact of environmental change on the structure, function and services associated with marine food webs across scales.
The research and outputs generated by the programme will primarily be of direct relevance and benefit to UK and European policymakers and environmental managers working towards the sustainable exploitation of the UK and Europe's marine environment. These include those working within the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Marine Scotland, Scottish Natural Heritage, Natural Resources Wales, Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC), United Nations Environmental Programme, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization's Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission, International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) and others. By using already well-established links with these organizations and developing these further, targeted outputs will be disseminated to policy beneficiaries to help refine current indicators of state and drivers, ensuring a common currency and, therefore, a smooth transition of robust science between the scientific and policy communities.
The novel, whole system approach employed in IMMERSE will also be of benefit to a wide range of organisations and networks with an interest or involvement in marine monitoring, resource management, marine planning, fisheries, aquaculture, energy provision, licencing, predicting ecosystem change, conservation and food security. The programme will consolidate a range of data sources to provide these organisations and networks with clean, rationalised datasets that are of meaningful and add value to their activities. These include: AFBI, British Ecological Society (BES), Celtic Seas Partnership (CPS), Cefas, Sea Watch Foundation, fisheries Regional Advisory Councils, RSPB, Valuing Nature Network, Marine Climate Change Impacts Partnership, and data networking and integrating groups such as Ocean Biogeographic Information System (OBIS), World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS), National Biodiversity Network, Marine Environmental Data and Information Network (MEDIN), UK Integrated Marine Observing Network (UKIMON), European Marine Ecosystem Observatory (EMECO), UK Marine Monitoring and Assessment Strategy Evidence Groups, NERC Knowledge Exchange Programme on Sustainable Food Production, National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis, British Marine Aggregate Producers Association, Ifremer and IUCN. Existing collaborations combined with new links will facilitate the dissemination and publicity of IMMERSE outputs to the benefit of these organisations and networks.
There is a wider public interest in the research of IMMERSE in that shelf seas are a source of food and energy that is susceptible to environmental change with subsequent socio-economic implications. This includes interest from educational institutes that often require societally-relevant, novel issues to provide context to the science curriculum. This programme will also demonstrate to wider interest groups the shift from individual, narrowly focused studies to "big picture" research endeavours, designed to feed into addressing large social challenges and illustrate how marine science can provide wide-ranging benefits to society.
Methods for engaging with stakeholders are described in the IMMERSE Pathways to Impact.
The research and outputs generated by the programme will primarily be of direct relevance and benefit to UK and European policymakers and environmental managers working towards the sustainable exploitation of the UK and Europe's marine environment. These include those working within the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Marine Scotland, Scottish Natural Heritage, Natural Resources Wales, Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC), United Nations Environmental Programme, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization's Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission, International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) and others. By using already well-established links with these organizations and developing these further, targeted outputs will be disseminated to policy beneficiaries to help refine current indicators of state and drivers, ensuring a common currency and, therefore, a smooth transition of robust science between the scientific and policy communities.
The novel, whole system approach employed in IMMERSE will also be of benefit to a wide range of organisations and networks with an interest or involvement in marine monitoring, resource management, marine planning, fisheries, aquaculture, energy provision, licencing, predicting ecosystem change, conservation and food security. The programme will consolidate a range of data sources to provide these organisations and networks with clean, rationalised datasets that are of meaningful and add value to their activities. These include: AFBI, British Ecological Society (BES), Celtic Seas Partnership (CPS), Cefas, Sea Watch Foundation, fisheries Regional Advisory Councils, RSPB, Valuing Nature Network, Marine Climate Change Impacts Partnership, and data networking and integrating groups such as Ocean Biogeographic Information System (OBIS), World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS), National Biodiversity Network, Marine Environmental Data and Information Network (MEDIN), UK Integrated Marine Observing Network (UKIMON), European Marine Ecosystem Observatory (EMECO), UK Marine Monitoring and Assessment Strategy Evidence Groups, NERC Knowledge Exchange Programme on Sustainable Food Production, National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis, British Marine Aggregate Producers Association, Ifremer and IUCN. Existing collaborations combined with new links will facilitate the dissemination and publicity of IMMERSE outputs to the benefit of these organisations and networks.
There is a wider public interest in the research of IMMERSE in that shelf seas are a source of food and energy that is susceptible to environmental change with subsequent socio-economic implications. This includes interest from educational institutes that often require societally-relevant, novel issues to provide context to the science curriculum. This programme will also demonstrate to wider interest groups the shift from individual, narrowly focused studies to "big picture" research endeavours, designed to feed into addressing large social challenges and illustrate how marine science can provide wide-ranging benefits to society.
Methods for engaging with stakeholders are described in the IMMERSE Pathways to Impact.
Organisations
- Queen's University Belfast (Lead Research Organisation)
- University of Sheffield (Collaboration)
- Reykjavík University (Collaboration)
- University of the Algarve (Collaboration)
- University of Greifswald (Collaboration)
- QUEEN'S UNIVERSITY BELFAST (Collaboration)
- AGRI-FOOD AND BIOSCIENCES INSTITUTE (Collaboration)
Publications
Barrios-O'Neill D
(2017)
Trophic cascades and the transient keystone concept
in Biological Conservation
Dick J
(2017)
Functional responses can unify invasion ecology
in Biological Invasions
Dick J
(2017)
Fictional responses from Vonesh et al.
in Biological Invasions
Laverty C
(2017)
Assessing the ecological impacts of invasive species based on their functional responses and abundances
in Biological Invasions
Lathlean J
(2017)
On the edge: The use of infrared thermography in monitoring responses of intertidal organisms to heat stress
in Ecological Indicators
Barrios-O'Neill D
(2016)
On the context-dependent scaling of consumer feeding rates.
in Ecology letters
Barrios-O'Neill D
(2019)
Biomass encounter rates limit the size scaling of feeding interactions.
in Ecology letters
Wasserman R
(2016)
Emergent effects of structural complexity and temperature on predator-prey interactions
in Ecosphere
Lathlean J
(2016)
Biogeographic Variability in the Value of Mussel Beds as Ecosystem Engineers on South African Rocky Shores
in Ecosystems
South J
(2017)
Predicting predatory impact of juvenile invasive lionfish (Pterois volitans) on a crustacean prey using functional response analysis: effects of temperature, habitat complexity and light regimes
in Environmental Biology of Fishes
Barrios-O'Neill D
(2014)
Predator-free space, functional responses and biological invasions
in Functional Ecology
McElroy DJ
(2015)
Size-balanced community reorganization in response to nutrients and warming.
in Global change biology
Dick J
(2017)
Invader Relative Impact Potential: a new metric to understand and predict the ecological impacts of existing, emerging and future invasive alien species
in Journal of Applied Ecology
Lathlean J
(2017)
Altering species interactions outweighs the effects of experimental warming in structuring a rocky shore community
in Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology
Wasserman R
(2016)
Using functional responses to assess predator hatching phenology implications for pioneering prey in arid temporary pools
in Journal of Plankton Research
Pritchard D
(2017)
frair : an R package for fitting and comparing consumer functional responses
in Methods in Ecology and Evolution
Berg S
(2014)
Ecological communities are vulnerable to realistic extinction sequences
in Oikos
Jonsson T
(2014)
The reliability of R 50 as a measure of vulnerability of food webs to sequential species deletions
in Oikos
Lathlean JA
(2016)
Cheating the Locals: Invasive Mussels Steal and Benefit from the Cooling Effect of Indigenous Mussels.
in PloS one
James A
(2015)
Constructing random matrices to represent real ecosystems.
in The American naturalist
Description | Our whole-ecosystem models currently make very general assumptions about how animals feed that are largely based on temperature and size. Whilst this broadly *works* at large (>10 km) scales, context matters a great deal in terms of, for example, protected areas at finer scales. We have sought to understand how context changes the scaling of interactions at local scales (that is, within a community of directly interacting species). We have found that the presence of habitat structure in particular systemically dampens the scaling of consumer search rates (their ability to find and capture prey), and that this promotes stability and coexistence in the community. We have now published our work on Context-Dependent Scaling in Ecology Letters: Barrios-O'Neill, D., Kelly, R., Dick, J.T.A., Ricciardi, A., MacIsaac, H.J. and Emmerson, M.C. On the context-dependent scaling of consumer feeding rates. (2016) Ecology Letters 19, 668-678. It proved logistically difficult to reliably measure the feeding rates of larger elasmobranchs in a laboratory setting. However, we were able to quantify their effects on lower trophic levels, and were able to show how habitat structure modulated interactions in accordance with some of the concepts outlined by Context-Dependent Scaling. this work was published in Biological Conservation: Barrios-O'Neill, D., Bertolini, C. and Collins, P.C. (2017) Trophic cascades and the transient keystone concept. Biological Conservation. 212: 191-195. Work on a database of consumer-resource feeding relationships led to the development of 122 consumer-resource relationships supplemented by a further 67 consumer resource pairs that represent novel experiments undertaken in the context of the project. This database continues to be analysed using the traits of consumers and resources to explain variation in the form of the relationships. Barrios-O'Neill, D., Kelly, R., and Emmerson, M.C. (2019) Biomass encounter rates limit the size scaling of feeding interactions. Ecology Letters. 22: 1870-1878 doi.org/10.1111/ele.13380 |
Exploitation Route | Our findings are not just relevant to our specific study-system. They have implications for our understanding of coexistence and stability more widely, certainly in other aquatic systems, and perhaps also in terrestrial ones. Notably, the findings of this research are relevant to a range of fisheries modellers and managers using food web based ecosystem models to predict the dynamic changes to composition, structure and function of marine harvested systems. The size based scaling of predator-prey interactions is particularly relevant in this context enabling refined parameterisation of feeding coefficients in these models. |
Sectors | Environment |
URL | http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/ele.12605/full |
Description | Mark Emmerson met with representatives from the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) in Northern Ireland with a view to establishing a platform for Marine related research. He has actively engaged with representatives from the Marine and Fisheries Division within DAERA regarding the ongoing work within MERP and has met with the head of branch for the Fisheries and Ecosystems branch within the Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute (AFBI) regarding the marine platform and ongoing work in MERP. On the back of these contacts, Mark also facilitated introductions between Colin Armstrong within the marine and fisheries division and the secretariat of the Sustainable Management of UK Marine Resources (SMMR) programme. This led to input by DAERA into the SMMR programme from a policy perspective. |
First Year Of Impact | 2017 |
Sector | Education,Environment |
Impact Types | Societal Policy & public services |
Description | Marine Management Organisation stakeholder guidance |
Geographic Reach | National |
Policy Influence Type | Participation in a guidance/advisory committee |
Description | NERC Summer of Science |
Amount | £4,750 (GBP) |
Organisation | Natural Environment Research Council |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 04/2015 |
End | 11/2015 |
Description | PhD ) focussed on multistability and functioning of marine food webs |
Amount | £60,000 (GBP) |
Organisation | Government of Northern Ireland |
Department | Department for Employment and Learning Northern Ireland (DELNI) |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 03/2016 |
End | 04/2019 |
Title | Field-based heating apparatus for rocky intertidal shores |
Description | This new research method enables whole intertidal benthic communities to be experimentally heated in situ. Thus, being able to simulate future global warming in the field under more natural environmental conditions than similar laboratory studies. |
Type Of Material | Physiological assessment or outcome measure |
Provided To Others? | No |
Impact | None yet |
Title | Global Functional Response Database |
Description | Collecting all known published and unpublished data on consumer-resource interactions in order to make generalisations around temperature, body size and other key drivers. The Data base currently holds information on the feeding relationships between 122 consumer-resource pairs, and includes data from 67 supplementary experiments undertaken in the context of the project. |
Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
Year Produced | 2017 |
Provided To Others? | No |
Impact | Refined parameterisation of consumer-resource interactions in ecosystem models. |
Description | AFBI Macroalgal subsidy crusie |
Organisation | Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Public |
PI Contribution | Nate Geraldi and Abby Gilson participated in an AFBI cruise aimed at determining to what spatial extent kelp beds subsidise the food web. This was part of a coordinated UK wide effort with the likes of CEFAs. |
Collaborator Contribution | Sampling benthic inverts and demersal fish: isotopic analysis. |
Impact | 1. Spatial extent of kelp subsidy. 2. Subsidy estimates at UK scale 3. Parametrised ecosystem models |
Start Year | 2015 |
Description | Assessing the generality of marine intertidal food webs along the East Atlantic Sea Board |
Organisation | Reykjavík University |
Country | Iceland |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | PhD student Justin Judge (funded by the Department for the Economy in Northern Ireland) is an aligned PhD student working on the topics addressed in MERP. Justin has engaged with Jorundar Svavarsson (Iceland) and Francisco Arenas (Portugal), deploying sampling devices on the Northwest Coast of Iceland and the Portugese coastline to quantify the intertidal communities on a large part of the North East Atlantic seaboard. The overall aim was to assess the generality in food web structure across a large latitudinal gradient to extend the generality of work being undertaken in MERP. Justin has been hosted by collaborators in Iceland and Portugal as part of this work. Experiments were undertaken using communities collected from Iceland and returned to the laboratory in Belfast. This work is being written up for publication as part of Justin Judge's PhD thesis |
Collaborator Contribution | The partners have hosted the lead PI and PhD student Justin Judge during field visits to Iceland to deploy and collect sampling devices to assess intertidal food web structure. |
Impact | Experiments have been completed - local shoreline communities were sampled and returned to the UK where they are in use in laboratory based mesocosm experiments. The work is being written up as part of Justin Judge's PhD and we aim to publish at least one paper from this work. |
Start Year | 2017 |
Description | Assessing the generality of marine intertidal food webs along the East Atlantic Sea Board |
Organisation | University of the Algarve |
Country | Portugal |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | PhD student Justin Judge (funded by the Department for the Economy in Northern Ireland) is an aligned PhD student working on the topics addressed in MERP. Justin has engaged with Jorundar Svavarsson (Iceland) and Francisco Arenas (Portugal), deploying sampling devices on the Northwest Coast of Iceland and the Portugese coastline to quantify the intertidal communities on a large part of the North East Atlantic seaboard. The overall aim was to assess the generality in food web structure across a large latitudinal gradient to extend the generality of work being undertaken in MERP. Justin has been hosted by collaborators in Iceland and Portugal as part of this work. Experiments were undertaken using communities collected from Iceland and returned to the laboratory in Belfast. This work is being written up for publication as part of Justin Judge's PhD thesis |
Collaborator Contribution | The partners have hosted the lead PI and PhD student Justin Judge during field visits to Iceland to deploy and collect sampling devices to assess intertidal food web structure. |
Impact | Experiments have been completed - local shoreline communities were sampled and returned to the UK where they are in use in laboratory based mesocosm experiments. The work is being written up as part of Justin Judge's PhD and we aim to publish at least one paper from this work. |
Start Year | 2017 |
Description | Cross NERC consortium engagement between MERP, Soil Security Program, and CBESS over development of R software packages |
Organisation | Queen's University Belfast |
Department | School of Medicine, Dentistry and Biomedical Sciences |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | cross three NERC consortia, we have a mixture of PhD students and postdocs working on the development of an R package that provides a unifying framework for generating food web descriptions from archived databases. The consortia are MERP, CBESS and the Soil Security Program. Contributing food web databases and existing R-code to automate the process. |
Collaborator Contribution | An understanding of using relational databases and R-code development. |
Impact | Github account as the platform for the collaboration, no papers have emerged yet from the work. |
Start Year | 2015 |
Description | Cross NERC consortium engagement between MERP, Soil Security Program, and CBESS over development of R software packages |
Organisation | University of Sheffield |
Department | Department of Animal and Plant Sciences |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | cross three NERC consortia, we have a mixture of PhD students and postdocs working on the development of an R package that provides a unifying framework for generating food web descriptions from archived databases. The consortia are MERP, CBESS and the Soil Security Program. Contributing food web databases and existing R-code to automate the process. |
Collaborator Contribution | An understanding of using relational databases and R-code development. |
Impact | Github account as the platform for the collaboration, no papers have emerged yet from the work. |
Start Year | 2015 |
Description | Research partnership with the University of Algarve, Portugal |
Organisation | University of the Algarve |
Country | Portugal |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | Organised and planned fieldwork along the southwest coast of Portugal during sampling associated with a latitudinal study in primary productivity of intertidal macroalgae. |
Collaborator Contribution | Assisted in fieldwork along the southwest coast of Portugal during sampling associated with a latitudinal study in primary productivity of intertidal macroalgae. |
Impact | No outputs as yet. However, several manuscripts resulting from the work are currently in preparation. |
Start Year | 2016 |
Description | University of Greifswald |
Organisation | University of Greifswald |
Country | Germany |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | Abby Gilson is currently collaborating with Dr. Mia Bengsston, at the University of Greifswald, Germany, regarding DNA sequencing of microbial communities on kelp. |
Collaborator Contribution | University of Greifswald has the expertise in microbial communities and QUB has the study-system and field sites. |
Impact | No data as of yet. |
Start Year | 2016 |
Title | FRAIR: functional response analysis in R |
Description | The field of empirically measured functional responses is relatively data-poor and replete with inappropriate experimental design and analyses. To facilitate the flow of useful information from empiricists to whole-ecosystem modellers we have produced an R packaged for the statistically robust selection, fitting and comparison of functional response models. The package is now available on CRAN (https://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/frair/frair.pdf) and the manuscript is currently in review with Methods in Ecology & Evolution: Pritchard, D.W., Paterson, R.A., Bovy, H.C. and Barrios-O'Neill, D. FRAIR: an R package for fitting and comparing consumer functional responses (under revision) Methods in Ecology & Evolution |
Type Of Technology | Software |
Year Produced | 2016 |
Open Source License? | Yes |
Impact | Provides a unified and statistically robust framework for selecting and fitting functional response models to empirical data, and provides novel tools for objective comparisons between responses. |
URL | https://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/frair/frair.pdf |
Description | BES Aquatic Ecology Group meeting |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
Results and Impact | Abby Gilson gave a poster presentation to the BES on 22th July, 2016 |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
Description | BES Aquatic Ecology meeting 2015 (London) |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Other audiences |
Results and Impact | Conference for aquatic ecologists disseminating and debating latest research. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
Description | Canned Ecology Roadshow - mobile touch tank show casing NERC science here focussed on MERP (Slieve Gullion Forest Park Red Squirrel Day) |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an open day or visit at my research institution |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | Canned Ecology is a mobile interactive outdoor space (a trailer with touch tank and NERC branding) that was funded through the NERC Summer of Science. Three live NERC projects were bundled together CBESS, Soil Stability and MERP. The focus of the display is very much about the predator prey interactions. We have placed a strong emphasis on the touch tank embedded in the display and this provides the public with the chance to interact with plants and animals whilst describing the importance of processes like predation and competition. The conservation rangers at Slieve Gullion were particularly impressed with the roadshow and have recently asked us to return in August 2016. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
URL | https://www.facebook.com/cannedecology/ |
Description | Canned Ecology Rockpool Roadshow visit to Stormont as part of Environment week NI |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
Results and Impact | Canned Ecology is a mobile interactive outdoor space (a trailer with touch tank and NERC branding) that was funded through the NERC Summer of Science. Three live NERC projects were bundled together CBESS, Soil Stability and MERP. The focus of the display is very much about the predator prey interactions. We have placed a strong emphasis on the touch tank embedded in the display and this provides the public with the chance to interact with plants and animals whilst describing the importance of processes like predation and competition. in this instance we took Canned Ecology to the very steps of Stormont for the day, engaging with a range of prominent Northern Irish MLAs and Staff at Stormont. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
URL | https://www.facebook.com/cannedecology/photos/a.948032738603351.1073741828.947813065291985/948031771... |
Description | Functional Response Workshop (Stellenbosch, SA) |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Daniel Barrios-O'Neill: teaching delegates analysis methods for functional response data. Initiation of international collaboration to build a database of all published functional responses. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
Description | MERP workshop (Manchester) |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Daniel Barrios-O'Neill, Mark Emmerson and Abby Gilson: Workshop aimed at integrating empirical and modelling data to refine the suite of ecosystem models and to target future empirical work. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
Description | Oldenburg workshop participation |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Invited to participate in a workshop at the University of Oldenburg - presented results from the PDRA (Danny Barrios-O'Neill) and PhD student (Justin Judge) work that is central to MERP |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
Description | Portaferry Marine Lab Open Day |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | Open day showcasing marine life, NERC science and other lab activities. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |