Sustainable Land Use
Lead Research Organisation:
UK CENTRE FOR ECOLOGY & HYDROLOGY
Department Name: UNLISTED
Abstract
Abstracts are not currently available in GtR for all funded research. This is normally because the abstract was not required at the time of proposal submission, but may be because it included sensitive information such as personal details.
People |
ORCID iD |
| Richard Pywell (Principal Investigator) |
Publications
Albrecht H
(2016)
Management options for the conservation of rare arable plants in Europe
in Botany Letters
Amy S
(2015)
Hedgerow rejuvenation management affects invertebrate communities through changes to habitat structure
in Basic and Applied Ecology
Arndt D
(2017)
State of the Climate in 2016
in Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society
Ball S
(2015)
Size matters: Body size determines functional responses of ground beetle interactions
in Basic and Applied Ecology
Barnes CJ
(2016)
Temporally Variable Geographical Distance Effects Contribute to the Assembly of Root-Associated Fungal Communities.
in Frontiers in microbiology
Beaumont N
(2014)
The value of carbon sequestration and storage in coastal habitats
in Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science
Bernes C
(2016)
How are biodiversity and dispersal of species affected by the management of roadsides? A systematic map protocol
in Environmental Evidence
Bernes C
(2017)
How are biodiversity and dispersal of species affected by the management of roadsides? A systematic map
in Environmental Evidence
Broome A
(2017)
Promoting natural regeneration for the restoration of Juniperus communis: a synthesis of knowledge and evidence for conservation practitioners
in Applied Vegetation Science
Broughton R
(2016)
Morphology, geographical variation and the subspecies of Marsh Tit Poecile palustris in Britain and central Europe
in Bird Study
| Description | Research highlights 1. Pollinators: Understanding, quantifying and mitigating threats to beneficial ecosystem functions There is good evidence that insect pollinators are in decline in many countries. A complex interplay of multiple anthropogenic pressures - including the effects of land-use intensification, climate change, and the spread of alien species and of disease - are primarily responsible for changes to insect pollinator biodiversity. A number of recent analyses of national pollinator distribution data suggests that pollination services are at risk in major crop growing regions of the UK; that this deficit is further exacerbated by a mismatch in the distribution of crop-pollinating insects across the British landscape compared with the major crop-growing areas of Britain; and that reduced functional redundancy in areas of intensive agriculture pose a further risk to the stability of the remaining pollination services. These investigations formed a significant part of the evidence base of a Defra report on Status and Value of Pollinators and Pollination Services in the UK, which directly informed the National Pollinator Strategy (NPS) for England & Wales. In addition to CEH research influencing UK policy on pollinators, CEH is a lead author on the UN Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) assessment of pollinators, pollination and food production, with a focus on drivers of change of pollinators, pollination networks and services. 2. Tellus South West Integrated regional Survey The Tellus SW project in Devon and Cornwall was the first regional scale project of this type in Great Britain, a NERC-funded collaboration between CEH, BGS and BAS, working with the University of Exeter Camborne School of Mines to connect with local businesses and the research community. CEH's contribution was to augment the original Tellus specification, which was largely geophysical-based, with surveys of the status of the landscape, flood plains and natural habitats, including a LiDAR derived 1m grid Digital Terrain and Surface Model for the area; soil survey including key soil properties and biodiversity inventories of microbes, fungi and microfauna using sequencing; and new 1km grid maps of soil quality were created using current and historic data showing changes in soil characteristics over the past 30 years. Together these new data holdings represent a unique opportunity to look across landscapes to assess the implications of land use and for land use change on key aspects of the environment. 3. Evidence for land management policies Building on the UK map of microbial diversity produced from Countryside Survey soils in 2011, CEH is looking at how land use and land use intensity gradients affect below ground biodiversity and their associated functional processes. One study looking at declining land use intensity in agricultural contexts indicates that reduced interventions correlate with positive effects on earthworm and fungal community parameters, which support enhanced soil drainage and soil micro-aggregate stability. Another study looking at impacts of completely removing grazing from montane pastures subject to elevated nitrogen deposition has revealed that without any form of management intervention full regeneration of natural woodland vegetation does not occur even after 50 years due to lack of propagules. Chemical and biological analyses of the un-grazed soil time series indicate a shift to a more nitrogen rich, bacterially dominated microbial community and acidification of the soil, an increase in nitrate leaching and concomitant reduction in organic nitrogen leaching. Two recent studies have also demonstrated the benefits of agri-environment schemes for mammals and invertebrates. Hedgerow cutting frequency and timing as per AES prescriptions benefit moth species and their parasitoids (spp richness and diversity) and also taking only 1% of arable land out of production as grassy field margins enhances small mammal populations, with potential benefits to higher trophic levels via their predators.2017-18 developments & highlights New tool to support improvements to environment and rural employment A new web-based tool will support policymakers and farmers to improve the environment and increase rural employment. People working with land in England and Wales can now use different types of data to work out how to better take account of local priorities and needs when making farming decisions. The Landscape Typology Tool contains information about science, people and economics, bringing together more than 100 different national datasets in an innovative web platform. Satellite maps variability of UK countryside CEH has used the latest satellite technology to launch a new digital map which reveals the variability in the character of the UK countryside, from the arable heartlands of East Anglia to the grassy expanses of Wales and Cumbria, and the uplands of Scotland. CEH's latest Land Cover Map 2015 - using Landsat-8 (optical) satellite data - is the most rigorous and up-to-date digital land cover map to chart the face of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland's rural and urban landscapes. |
| Exploitation Route | CEH will continue to develop our understanding of biodiversity-mediated ecosystem services by compiling fundamental data on so-called 'Effects traits' for key functional species (notably pollinators, decompsers and natural enemies of pests). In collaboration with Ecological Processes and Resilience, we use this understanding and national distribution data to construct putative interaction networks responsible for delivering key services (e.g. pest-prey; plant-pollinator) and model the resilience of these networks to environmental change. We will undertake an analysis of historic trends in wild pollinator distributions using data from Biological Records Centre, and link this to patterns of cropping and pesticide use at the national scale. In addition, we have been commissioned by Bayer and Syngenta to undertake a large-scale field experiment to quantify the impacts of neonicotinoid pesticides on honeybee populations in three European countries over the coming year. We will use our national population monitoring networks and large-scale studies to trial novel eDNA techniques to enhance the scope and cost-effectiveness of traditional taxonomic monitoring. These data will be linked to state-of-the-art EO data to provide valuable insights into the response of populations and communities to key drivers. CEH will work with Defra to design and test a National Pollinator and Pollination Monitoring Scheme to provide the scientific evidence base for assessing changes in UK pollinator populations (abundance, diversity, composition and distribution) and pollination services to crops. The design will build on strong links with existing professional and volunteer survey activities to develop a coherent sampling framework with a fully tested and costed set of protocols by 2016. Data from large-scale commercial farm platforms will be analysed to assess of new 'eco-intensive' land management strategies on farmland. The aim is to develop practical approaches to habitat restoration that are highly space efficient and enhance biodiversity-mediated ecosystem functions associated with crop production. CEH will integrate much of the empirical knowledge from the Sustainable Land Management science area into models and tools for landscape- and farm-scale land use planning and optimisation. In 2015 we will continue to develop improved, empirically-based spatial models of crop pollination and pest control using the InVest platform. |
| Sectors | Agriculture Food and Drink Environment |
| Description | 1. Science Area Status The Sustainable Land Management Science Area (SLM) will make contributions to all three challenges which directly affect land use and land management. SLM aims to investigate and optimize land management options to conserve and restore biodiversity and natural resources and optimize ecosystem functions in semi natural through to intensively managed landscapes. CEH will improve understanding of the threats to land use and develop knowledge-based solutions to enhance resilience of these economically important systems to environmental change and extreme events. The SLM science area objectives to achieve by 2019 are: 1. To mitigate threats and enhance beneficial ecosystem functions. 2. To plan future multi-functional landscapes. 3. To understand and quantify threats to semi-natural and managed ecosystems. 4. To inform 'ecological intensification' of food production. 5. To improve the scientific evidence base for land management policies. 2. Research highlights 2.1 Pollinators: Understanding, quantifying and mitigating threats to beneficial ecosystem functions There is good evidence that insect pollinators are in decline in many countries. A complex interplay of multiple anthropogenic pressures - including the effects of land-use intensification, climate change, and the spread of alien species and of disease - are primarily responsible for changes to insect pollinator biodiversity. A number of recent analyses of national pollinator distribution data suggests that pollination services are at risk in major crop growing regions of the UK; that this deficit is further exacerbated by a mismatch in the distribution of crop-pollinating insects across the British landscape compared with the major crop-growing areas of Britain; and that reduced functional redundancy in areas of intensive agriculture pose a further risk to the stability of the remaining pollination services. These investigations formed a significant part of the evidence base of a Defra report on Status and Value of Pollinators and Pollination Services in the UK, which directly informed the National Pollinator Strategy (NPS) for England & Wales. In addition to CEH research influencing UK policy on pollinators, CEH is a lead author on the UN Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) assessment of pollinators, pollination and food production, with a focus on drivers of change of pollinators, pollination networks and services. 2.2 Tellus South West The Tellus SW project in Devon and Cornwall was the first regional scale project of this type in Great Britain, a NERC-funded collaboration between CEH, BGS and BAS, working with the University of Exeter Camborne School of Mines to connect with local businesses and the research community. CEH's contribution was to augment the original Tellus specification, which was largely geophysical-based, with surveys of the status of the landscape, flood plains and natural habitats, including a LiDAR derived 1m grid Digital Terrain and Surface Model for the area; soil survey including key soil properties and biodiversity inventories of microbes, fungi and microfauna using sequencing; and new 1km grid maps of soil quality were created using current and historic data showing changes in soil characteristics over the past 30 years. Together these new data holdings represent a unique opportunity to look across landscapes to assess the implications of land use and for land use change on key aspects of the environment. 2.3 Evidence for land management policies Building on the UK map of microbial diversity produced from Countryside Survey soils in 2011, CEH is looking at how land use and land use intensity gradients affect below ground biodiversity and their associated functional processes. One study looking at declining land use intensity in agricultural contexts indicates that reduced interventions correlate with positive effects on earthworm and fungal community parameters, which support enhanced soil drainage and soil micro-aggregate stability. Another study looking at impacts of completely removing grazing from montane pastures subject to elevated nitrogen deposition has revealed that without any form of management intervention full regeneration of natural woodland vegetation does not occur even after 50 years due to lack of propagules. Chemical and biological analyses of the un-grazed soil time series indicate a shift to a more nitrogen rich, bacterially dominated microbial community and acidification of the soil, an increase in nitrate leaching and concomitant reduction in organic nitrogen leaching. Two recent studies have also demonstrated the benefits of agri-environment schemes for mammals and invertebrates. Hedgerow cutting frequency and timing as per AES prescriptions benefit moth species and their parasitoids (spp richness and diversity) and also taking only 1% of arable land out of production as grassy field margins enhances small mammal populations, with potential benefits to higher trophic levels via their predators. 3. Future research CEH will continue to develop our understanding of biodiversity-mediated ecosystem services by compiling fundamental data on so-called 'Effects traits' for key functional species (notably pollinators, decomposers and natural enemies of pests). In collaboration with Ecological Processes and Resilience, we use this understanding and national distribution data to construct putative interaction networks responsible for delivering key services (e.g. pest-prey; plant-pollinator) and model the resilience of these networks to environmental change. We will undertake an analysis of historic trends in wild pollinator distributions using data from Biological Records Centre, and link this to patterns of cropping and pesticide use at the national scale. In addition, we have been commissioned by Bayer and Syngenta to undertake a large-scale field experiment to quantify the impacts of neonicotinoid pesticides on honeybee populations in three European countries over the coming year. We will use our national population monitoring networks and large-scale studies to trial novel eDNA techniques to enhance the scope and cost-effectiveness of traditional taxonomic monitoring. These data will be linked to state-of-the-art EO data to provide valuable insights into the response of populations and communities to key drivers. CEH will work with Defra to design and test a National Pollinator and Pollination Monitoring Scheme to provide the scientific evidence base for assessing changes in UK pollinator populations (abundance, diversity, composition and distribution) and pollination services to crops. The design will build on strong links with existing professional and volunteer survey activities to develop a coherent sampling framework with a fully tested and costed set of protocols by 2016. Data from large-scale commercial farm platforms will be analysed to assess of new 'eco-intensive' land management strategies on farmland. The aim is to develop practical approaches to habitat restoration that are highly space efficient and enhance biodiversity-mediated ecosystem functions associated with crop production. CEH will integrate much of the empirical knowledge from the Sustainable Land Management science area into models and tools for landscape- and farm-scale land use planning and optimisation. In 2015 we will continue to develop improved, empirically-based spatial models of crop pollination and pest control using the InVest platform. 4. 2016-17 Developments/highlights First ever UK digital crop map from satellite data: a collaboration between CEH and Remote Sensing Applications Consultants Ltd (RSAC) has produced the first ever detailed crop map of the whole of the UK (CEH Land Cover® plus: Crops). This annually updated map provides validated information on crop types for more than 2million land parcels. Habitat creation and management for pollinators: CEH and the Wildlife Farming Company published a practical guide to habitat creation and management for insect pollinators that summarises 20 years of research on this topic. The book was launched to coincide with Government's National Pollinator Strategy which outlined a 10-year plan of action to help pollinators survive and thrive in our countryside and cities. CEH has used a combination of laboratory experiments, field studies and in silico modelling to quantify the effects of exposures to chemicals used in agriculture and released from domestic and industrial sources on wild bees and managed honeybees. Research led by CEH (using data provided by Fera Science Ltd and the Bees, Wasps and Ants Recording Society), showed that exposure to neonicotinoid seed treated oilseed rape crops was linked to long-term population decline of wild bee species across the English countryside by examining changes in the occurrence of 62 wild bee species with oilseed rape cropping patterns across England between 1994 and 2011 - the time period spanning the introduction of wide-scale commercial use of neonicotinoids. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2013 |
| Sector | Agriculture, Food and Drink,Environment |
| Impact Types | Economic Policy & public services |