Building resilient and future-proofed ecologies in an Anthropocene landscape

Overview:
The English Midlands is a highly human-modified landscape that is farmed, managed, and urban, with remnant woodlands. Into these landscapes non-native species have been introduced (e.g., Jenkin's spire snail, Indian balsam and Japanese knotweed) reflecting a global phenomenon of accelerating biosphere homogenisation. Introduced species can be beneficial, neutral or damaging. Many proliferate where human environmental impacts are significant and native species are threatened. This begs the questions of what facilitates these introductions and their subsequent expansion, and how ecologies can be managed to be resilient to future environmental change.
Worldwide, species introductions have accelerated since the 19th century. We wish to establish a detailed record of introduced species into Leicestershire and Rutland. This region is a microcosm of England, with a range of landscapes from moorland to lowland vale, woodland, wetland, farmed, industrial, and urban. In Leicester city alone, 22 species have been identified as a threat to ecologies. We will assess times of species introduction relative to first arrival in the UK, modes of introduction, distribution, abundance in different ecologies and characterise introduced organisms in terms of their impact on ecologies. Data analysis on historical and recent invasions in terrestrial systems, such as the invasion of harlequin ladybirds and ash dieback, will provide an important insight on the proliferation of such species. We will investigate archives from hydro-ecological systems (e.g., sediment/fossil archives in wetlands, lakes, and rivers) to reconstruct a temporal (biostratigraphical) record of introduction, targeting organisms like molluscs and crustaceans, and pollen from species such as Azolla, that are known to preserve in the geological record. Coupled with chronological markers, like carbon-dating or fly ash accumulation, our combined geo-ecological and archival-historical approach will examine rates of introduction and proliferation compared with temporal landscape change (agricultural/ urban), transportation, influx of non-biodegradable materials, and removal of barriers (e.g., re-engineering rivers). To model future potential species invasions, we will horizon scan, and analyse - for example - the influx of ring-necked parakeets into South-East England and other potential threats. Identifying key drivers of detrimental and beneficial ecological change will inform the design of ecosystems that are 'future proofed' against harmful introduced species.

Figure 1: Cloud Wood in Leicestershire has suffered ingress from human activity for generations, but somehow has survived as a resilient ecosystem. What does it tell us about the resilient ecologies of the future? Image from Andy Lear, Leicestershire and Rutland Wildlife Trust, https://www.lrwt.org.uk.