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The Bumblebee Conservation Trust (BBCT), a conservation charity launched at the University of Stirling in 2006, was aimed at bridging the gap between research findings and conservation practice. BBCT now has 11 staff, offices and staff based in England, Wales and Scotland, 8,000 paying members, and has involved >12,000 people in bumblebee recording or conservation. Other impacts include awareness raising through extensive media coverage for bumblebee conservation, creation of an education pack for primary schools, joint initiatives with a nationwide Garden Centre chain (Wyevale) and a supermarket (Morrisons), helping to create >2,000 ha of flower rich habitat, involvement in a reintroduction attempt for the locally extinct short-haired bumblebee, political lobbying and influencing national and international policy.
We set up one of Britain's first online recording projects (www.harlequin-survey.org) to track the spread and study the effects of an invasive alien species (IAS), the harlequin ladybird. We used this as a model to develop a recording programme for other IAS (www.nonnativespecies.org/recording/). The main areas of impact are: (i) Informing conservation policy through collecting and analysing wildlife data (e.g. GB non-natives surveillance and monitoring system stemmed from our work; long-term trends data used to address Convention on Biological Diversity targets); (ii) Utilizing `citizen science' and (iii) Changing public attitudes to IAS (e.g. by engaging the public, changing the way that IAS are recorded; educating and training the public).
The Large Blue butterfly, formerly extinct in the UK, was successfully reintroduced over two decades to sites in south-west England. New research at the University of Oxford has greatly improved its conservation status and identified key factors that determine the ability of this extreme specialist to survive, especially in the context of climate change. Since 2008 this has led directly to new, larger and more stable populations, to significant expansion of the butterfly's range into cooler regions, and to new `races' with greater environmental tolerance. The research has thus contributed directly to the positive upgrading of this species' global conservation status.
York research developed the essential common ground of our understanding of invasive alien species, highlighting their effects on biodiversity and their economic costs. The conceptual frameworks developed at York underpin all subsequent policies and practical strategies in 2008-2013, including the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), whose 193 signatory countries are legally bound to "prevent the introduction of, control or eradicate those alien species which threaten ecosystems, habitats or species". UK and international policies and strategies to prevent new introductions and control established aliens stem directly from York research.
Dr Anne Goodenough and Professor Frank Chambers undertake applied ecological research with importance for conservation and management, nationally and internationally. Working with, or commissioned by, major national bodies including The Heather Trust, Natural England, Countryside Council for Wales, British Trust for Ornithology and RSPB, their research on rare species and habitats influences major national policy (e.g. species conservation priorities, and degraded habitat restoration and conservation). Furthermore, their research informs evidence-based changes in management for species (leading to conservation of internationally declining songbird, the pied flycatcher, at key sites throughout the UK) and landscapes (blanket bog and heather moorland restoration in Wales and England).
Research to quantify the ecological structure and spatial dynamics of terrestrial habitats in Northern Ireland (NI), and to assess the effects of recent land use change, has enabled the Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA) to develop and implement a science-based strategy for landscape-scale biodiversity management and conservation. It has directly facilitated the integration of NIEA and the Department of Agriculture for NI (DARD) biodiversity management strategies and their monitoring of the implementation of European Community biodiversity legislation (and cross-compliance).
The science information-base and time-series change models developed from the research have allowed NIEA to lead inter-governmental department discussion on biodiversity and land use issues. It has also guided the development of an NI habitat biodiversity management strategy. Specifically, the statistically structured field and analytical methods developed by the research for assessing terrestrial habitats at the regional landscape-scale have been adopted by NIEA as key to reporting on the biodiversity outcomes of implementing the European Community conservation Habitats Directive.
The research has provided a common ecological framework within which NIEA, DARD (including Forest Service) and non-government organisations (Ulster Wildlife Trust and Northern Ireland Environment Link) have been able to discuss and agree on biodiversity and agri-environment management practices in designated statutory conservation sites and the farmed countryside. It has also been key in guiding a NI assessment of the socio-economic value of habitats (ecosystem services).
Listing an endangered DPS under US law (governed by the Endangered Species Act, ESA, of 1973) requires the use of genetic markers to assess the extent of reproductive isolation, direction and pattern of gene flow, and effective size of the DPS under assessment. Professor Hoelzel's group provided these essential data from work in multiple peer-review publications, and in a commissioned report in 2004 in support of a successful petition by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) to protect the killer whale population residing in the inland waters of Washington State, USA, after it was shown to have declined by 20% in 10 years (Krahn et al. 2004; see volume 79, No.222 of the Federal Register for DPS listing). This formed the foundation for on-going impact on policy and regulation between 2008 and the present, including support in response to petitions filed in 2012 and 2013 (see testimonial from the Branch Chief, NOAA Fisheries). Killer whale sustainability in this region reflects general ecosystem health and supports an economically important whale-watch industry.
Research at York provided strong empirical evidence that species are responding rapidly to recent anthropogenic climate change, and that climate change threatens many species with extinction. This research underpins key climate change impacts reported by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), transforming international understanding of the magnitude of the threats to biodiversity and steering major national and international policy decisions affecting many sectors of society in 2008-13. The research stimulated governmental and non-governmental policy development at regional, national and intergovernmental levels, influencing climate change mitigation and adaption strategies throughout the world.
Bangor Research since 1998 has pioneered, through experimental, comparative and modelling studies and industry collaborations, quantification of the wider ecosystem effects of fishing, specifically on seabed habitats. Novel findings gave policy and economic benefits to the fishing industry and led to the sustainable, continued profitable development of the UK's largest blue mussel fishery and Isle of Man scallop fishery, with a combined value of £22M. It directly led to Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certification of these fisheries and underpinned certification of dozens of other demersal fisheries. Additionally, the research has influenced UK retailer policies on sustainable fish sourcing, providing direct environmental and commercial benefits and improving public knowledge and sustainable consumption.
Based on biogenic reef research at Heriot-Watt University (HWU), nine Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) have been designated and established in the Northeast Atlantic, Caribbean and Eastern Pacific, and a further six are under consideration. These MPAs represent 10% of the Caribbean Sea area, 6% of the UK's inshore Special Areas of Conservation (SAC) and 18% of the MPAs under consideration in Scotland. In addition, our ecological assessments of the biodiversity value and structure of biogenic habitats, and their sensitivities to widespread stressors, stakeholder conflict assessment and economic assessments have underpinned the objectives, management measures and assessment of MPAs, and other marine spatial planning initiatives, undertaken in the context of both the current marine environmental conditions and future climate change trajectories.