Climate Change, Biodiversity & Natural Capital: Building Resilience in the Environment

As climate change accelerates, the impact on biodiversity and natural capital becomes more profound, with ecosystems, species, and natural resources under increasing threat.

The webinar will focus on the impact of climate change on biodiversity and will discuss the necessary steps to enhance ecosystem resilience.

This blog explores how these changes can be addressed through nature-based solutions, innovative policy frameworks, and sustainable planning, ensuring a balance between human development and the health of natural ecosystems.

This blog features presentations from climate, biodiversity and technology specialists:

  • Conservation & Restoration in a Changing Climate: Complexity, Resilience & Restoring Forwards with Professor Jim Harris (Cranfield University)
  • Integrating Climate Resilience with Biodiversity Net Gain with Julia Baker (Mott MacDonald)
  • Climate Resilience: Understanding and Empowering Change with Chris Burnett (Map Impact)
  • Panel discussion facilitated by Dr Dan Carpenter (Digital Ecology)

Conservation & Restoration in a Changing Climate: Complexity, Resilience & Restoring Forwards

Professor Jim Harris (Cranfield University)

Climate change is moving the biophysical envelope all over the planet – and some species cannot keep up, being deeply embedded in those systems – we are moving swiftly from Red Queen to Court Jester environments, and we need to adapt management to suit. Current approaches, such as management for one or a few species in a SSSI, or as part of a landscape character designation, may appear to produce resistant communities in a location for now, but in the longer term are more likely to induce fragility and potential collapse.

We should consider the role of diversity and complexity in all ecosystem components (abiotic and biotic) to sustain system function and provide emergent properties, particularly resilience. We may have to consider that for some systems we accept shifting community structures in terms of which species flourish where, producing novel assemblages with the same ecosystem interdependencies – “same play, different actors”.

We can ask:

  • Is the system maturing, or capable of maturing, along a stable trajectory?
  • Is the system resistant and resilient?
  • Is the system providing ecosystem goods and services?
  • Is it providing a safe space for species to thrive in response to climate change?
  • Is it time to consider an ecosystems protection policy?
  • Should we be engaged in a triage process due to limited resources?

In this rapidly changing environment we need to bring flexibility to bear, adopting a “Principles and Guidelines” approach, rather than an adherence to rigid Standards and species lists.

  1. Restoring Resilient Ecosystems: https://restreco.com/
  2. Benetkova et al (2022) Soil fauna development during heathland restoration from arable land: Role of soil modification and material transplant. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0925857421003864
  3. Bullock et al (2022) Future restoration should enhance ecological complexity and emergent properties at multiple scales: https://nsojournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdfdirect/10.1111/ecog.05780
  4. Harris et al (2006) Ecological Restoration and Global Climate Change: https://shorturl.at/72AiH
  5. Higgs (2017) Novel and designed ecosystems: https://www.erichiggs.ca/uploads/4/5/2/9/45292581/higgs2016.pdf
  6. Higgs et al (2014) The Changing Role of History in Restoration Ecology: https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1890/110267
  7. Higgs et al (2018) Keep ecological restoration open and flexible: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-018-0483-9
  8. Higgs et al (2018) On principles and standards in ecological restoration: https://research.ed.ac.uk/en/publications/on-principles-and-standards-in-ecological-restoration
  9. Higgs et al (2018) The evolution of Society for Ecological Restoration’s principles and standards—counter-response to Gann et al: https://doi.org/10.1111/rec.12821
  10. Hobbs et al (2014) Managing the whole landscape: historical, hybrid and novel ecosystems: https://doi.org/10.1890/130300
  11. Hobbs et al (2009) Novel ecosystems: implications for conservation and restoration: https://cmapspublic3.ihmc.us/rid=1K7PBR9LC-1318ZTM-2J2/Hobbs%25202009%2520novel%2520ecosystems.pdf
  12. Keane et al (2018) Use of landscape simulation modelling to quantify resilience for ecological applications: https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdfdirect/10.1002/ecs2.2414
  13. Liu et al (2018) Tree species richness increases ecosystem carbon storage in subtropical forests: https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rspb.2018.1240
  14. Radujković et al (2020) Initial soil community drives heathland fungal community trajectory over multiple years through altered plant-soil interactions: https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.16226
  15. Sanczuk et al (2024) Unexpected westward range shifts in European forest plants link to nitrogen deposition. https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/538254/1/N538254PP.pdf
  16. Standish et al  (2014) Resilience in ecology: Abstraction, distraction, or where the action is?: https://escholarship.org/content/qt6sx3893f/qt6sx3893f.pdf
  17. Weise et al (2020) Resilience trinity: safeguarding ecosystem functioning and services across three different time horizons and decision contexts: https://doi.org/10.1111/oik.07213

Integrating Climate Resilience with Biodiversity Net Gain

Julia Baker (Mott MacDonald)

Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) is achieved by following the Biodiversity Gain Hierarchy and creating wildlife-rich habitats. These BNG habitats are secured for at least 30 years but, during that time, more extreme weather events and changes in climatic trends will threaten the viability of BNG habitats. Designing-in resilience is critical for BNG to be successful and, in this presentation, Julia describes an approach to integrate climate resilience into the design, management and monitoring of BNG habitats.

  1. Local Authority Climate Service: https://climatedataportal.metoffice.gov.uk/pages/lacs
  2. UK Climate Projections (UKCP): https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/research/approach/collaboration/ukcp
  3. Forest Research Ecological Site Classification (ESC): https://www.forestresearch.gov.uk/tools-and-resources/fthr/ecological-site-classification/

Climate Resilience Understanding and Empowering Change

Chris Burnett (Map Impact)

Chris Burnett (Chief Operating Officer at Map Impact) will discuss a recent report that indicates that trees and land absorbed almost no CO2 in 2023, and that climate change is impacting on our ability to protect biodiversity to aid in reversing these trends. Remote sensing techniques have the ability to measure the success of nature recovery schemes over long time periods through repeat monitoring, while simultaneously providing an indication of climate change risk that can dictate the success or failure of proposed strategies. This presentation will explore use cases and techniques to determine how multiple datasets can provide insights to support successful strategies to combat climate change.

  1. Sign up to the Map Impact Newsletter: https://www.mapimpact.io/fiind-out-more/
  2. Trees and land absorbed almost no CO2 last year. Is nature’s carbon sink failing? (The Guardian, 14th October 2024): https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/oct/14/nature-carbon-sink-collapse-global-heating-models-emissions-targets-evidence-aoe
  3. Ke et al (2023) Low latency carbon budget analysis reveals a large decline of the land carbon sink in 2023: https://arxiv.org/pdf/2407.12447
  4. Ruehr et al (2023) Evidence and attribution of the enhanced land carbon sink: https://www.nature.com/articles/s43017-023-00456-3
  5. European Space Agency – Canada Wildfires: https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Images/2023/06/Carbon_monoxide_from_fires_in_Canada
  6. NOAA – Amazon Drought, Feb 7th 2024: https://www.climate.gov/news-features/event-tracker/preliminary-analysis-says-global-warming-more-blame-el-nino-amazons
  7. 2023 Surface Air Temperature Anomaly: https://climate.copernicus.eu/global-climate-highlights-2023
  8. UK Climate Change Risk Assessment 2022: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/61e54d8f8fa8f505985ef3c7/climate-change-risk-assessment-2022.pdf
  9. Law Society Climate Risk and Conveyancing Practice Note: https://www.lawsociety.org.uk/topics/climate-change
  10. Climate Change Committee- tree planting   – slide 10
  11. Map Impact HeatView: https://www.mapimpact.io/product/heatview/
  12. Map Impact BiodiversityView: https://www.mapimpact.io/product/biodiversityview/
  13. Saddleworth Moor Wildfire: https://community.rspb.org.uk/ourwork/b/martinharper/posts/the-saddleworth-fire-and-the-importance-of-restoring-our-peatland-habitats-in-tackling-climate-change
  14. Saddleworth Moor WIldfire – Rewilding reduces risk (Rewilding Britain): https://www.rewildingbritain.org.uk/why-rewild/benefits-of-rewilding/how-rewilding-reduces-wildfire-risk#:~:text=Wetlands%20in%20a%20wildfire%20at%20Saddleworth%20Moor&text=The%20RSPB%2C%20which%20is%20managing,in%20the%20heather-dominated%20areas.
  15. Wiltshire Local Nature Recovery Strategy: https://www.wiltshire.gov.uk/article/8288/Wiltshire-and-Swindon-Local-Nature-Recovery-Strategy

Panel Discussion

Hosted by Dr Dan Carpenter (Digital Ecology)

How can practitioners apply some of these principles in our design and management practices in the ecology sector?

Jim: That’s the big question. At the moment, what’s emerging is very clearly pointing that in some cases we’re going to be have to looking at non-natives from more southerly and perhaps easterly parts of Europe to retain ecosystem resilience. Consideration needs to be given to what can safely be brought in, what the legislation allows and how organisms fit within trophic webs. We know there’s a history of organisms that have been introduced in the past that actually have repaired holes in trophic webs and we’ve got an astonishing, almost accidental resource, at our disposal. There’s a large number of parklands across the UK that have been planted with lots of exotic species over the last 200-300 years. Has anyone surveyed those exotics to see what ecological functions they are providing? Would it be possible to use some of those species to help the transition of ecosystems to different kinds of configurations? I think how exotics connect to the whole system and ecosystem functions whilst not driving out native species is an area where we need to be looking very hard what the latitude is in legislation and regulation. I’m not advocating abandoning the conservation of native species or habitats in any way, just highlighting that we will need to consider introducing species too, in specific circumstances.

Julia: There’s really interesting research coming from Germany that shows their native woodlands are already starting to adapt to climate change. The approach to integrate climate resilience with BNG that we developed at Mott MacDonald is to buffer the severity of impacts from climate on BNG habitats. But also to monitor how native species are adapting to a changing climate.

What role does natural regeneration play in habitat restoration or even creation of something new?

Jim: Natural regeneration has got a big part to play in this but you’ve got to be able to get over the hump of things arriving too slowly in a system. The point that jumps out time and time again is the critical importance of moisture and water within ecosystems. Look at the success of some of the beaver introductions that we’ve seen, with biodiversity going through the roof. We need to think about the whole system. We need to be thinking about the kind of metrics that we use to enable us to manage this. It’s a long-term project. The majority of non-native species aren’t invasive, so we can manage those. We just got to really be alert for the invasive ones. I would have thought a good first pass at that, anything you’re moving from south to north is a potential contender for introduction in the system. I think there’s a lot to be said for natural regeneration in places, but we’ve got a mismatch between things like the woodland carbon code and BNG, with those sometimes pulling in opposite directions.

Julia: We must consider the wealth of climate change data that is freely accessible. For example, using climate projection data such as the projections that are freely available from the UK Met Office. Then we can use the projections to consider and mitigate climate risks when designing BNG and especially to understand what a natural regeneration approach might be.

How do satellite and environmental datasets fit into the monitoring of BNG in a changing climate?

Chris: The data that we provide enables ecologists to get a landscape view of condition and is important for understanding climate risk. Are we seeing climate risk change in parallel with the introduction of new habitats that are hopefully mitigating against that? Are BNG and Local Nature Recovery Strategies meeting the KPIs that they are intended to meet at a site, local or national level? Monitoring is crucial to understand all of that. Spatial data helps us understand this across a larger area. Aligning different datasets spatially into a common spatial framework, such as the heat, biodiversity, wildfire and drought layers that I referenced in my talk, enables ecologists to look at how these various factors overlap and can help them put together a Habitat Management and Monitoring Plan (HMMP) that is more robust.

Is it worth unifying the various metrics into a single grand unifying metric?

Jim: The best solution is to have both detailed specific metrics and a single grand unifying metric. A single grand metric is something that we’ve not had in the past and could be used as an overview. We can’t examine all the components at once as it is just not feasible, and we’re not even sure what the interactions for some components. I think that a grand overview of what’s going on and what the response is to factors such as drought and wildlife is going to be critically important. We also need to remember that the UK has an incredibly impoverished fauna post the last glaciation. I think we need to have a bit more of an experimental open approach regarding the colonisation of non-invasive non-natives, in conservation management and ecosystem restoration.

Julia: Designing BNG with climate resilience draws together BNG and climate projection data, and it is critical  to display these datasets in an accessible and easy-to-understand way. Then we can  enable  good design for BNG.

Questions About HeatView and BiodiversityView

What does HeatView provide?

Chris: HeatView is a dataset that utilizes multiple sources to indicate how susceptible specific locations are to heat stress following periods of extreme climatic heat. By integrating both day and night satellite data, the dataset is particularly valuable for assessing the effects of nighttime heat, which is frequently neglected.

Does HeatView consider drought?

Chris: HeatView considers heat itself, using thermal infrared from satellites. We’re planning to release a separate product that will focus on drought (by considering heat, vegetative characteristics and NDV) and hope to launch in January 2025. Sign up to the Map Impact Newsletter to hear more about this when it is released.

Is there technical documentation available for these products?

Chris: There is and we’ll start to release this as and when the related products become available. Again, it’s worth signing up the Map Impact Newsletter for the latest releases.

What scale are the data at?

Chris: Much like our BiodiversityView dataset, these tools are using a H3 hexagonal grid. So each grid is about 50 meters wide. They cover the whole county so you can get an understanding of risk every 50 metres.

Can ecologists add these spatial datasets into their own GIS systems?

Chris: Absolutely. There’s a number of ways that the data can be provided, but normally it would be through an API and it is very easy to integrate into your GIS. We can also provide this both offline and in the form of reports. Get in touch to find out how you can integrate it into your workflow.

Event Partners

This webinar will be delivered by the Biological Recording Company in partnership with Map Impact.

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Biodiversity Net Gain: What Could BNG Mean For Pollinators?

Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) promises to transform the way that we approach nature conservation in the UK. At the moment the focus of BNG is very much on habitats, with less of an emphasis on species. However, BNG has some important implications for the insect pollinators that service the reproduction of around 75% of our native wild plants. This presentation will discuss some of these implications and suggest how BNG may change in the future to accommodate the requirements of pollinators.

Q&A with Prof Jeff Ollerton

Professor Jeff Ollerton is a consulting ecological scientist and author, with more than 30 years’ of experience studying pollinators and their flowers. He is the author of ‘Pollinators & Pollination: Nature and Society’ (Pelagic 2021) and ‘Birds & Flowers: A 50 Million Year Relationship’ (Pelagic 2024). Jeff is also a visiting Professor at the University of Northampton (UK) and the Kunming Institute of Botany (China).

  1. Is there a comprehensive list of requirements for pollinators in terms of flowers?
    No, because it is so diverse, we need to consider pollinators on a case-by-case basis and there are lots of species that we know relatively little about. Some pollinators can be very generalist in nature, whereas others are much more specialist in their nectar and pollen preferences. The Database of Pollinator Interactions (DoPI) is specific to the UK and is run through the University of Sussex. It is a compilation of all of the information that is available to date on which plants different pollinators interact with. We’re hoping to add more information on habitats and soil types into this database and are actively seeking funding for this currently so watch this space!
    Book on the free Plants For Pollinators entoLIVE to hear about more research in this area.
  2. What is the realistic potential of BNG delivered within urban environments to provide the complex habitat opportunities that pollinators require?
    Very high potential, but it varies depending upon the town or city! We’ve published research showing that bees are thriving within the centre of Northampton with 50-60 different bee species present in the heart of the city, including some rare bees. The diversity within Northampton was higher than some of the nature reserves in the area surrounding the city. Most solitary bees need relatively warm and dry conditions to thrive and these microhabitats can be found in towns and cities. BNG will not provide the solution to reversing insect pollinator declines. Less than 10% of Britain is urbanised and 70% is agricultural, so the key to pollinator conservation in Britain lies in tackling threats within agricultural environments.
  3. Will monitoring of BNG evidence if it is having a positive impact on pollinator populations?
    There is nothing specific within BNG monitoring that targets pollinators. the Pollinator Monitoring Scheme is run by the UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology and this, in theory, will help us detect changes in pollinator populations – though attributing any changes to BNG would be very difficult as you’d need to disentangle BNG from other nature recovery initiatives such as Local Nature Recovery Strategies and Sustainable Farming Initiatives.
  4. What changes would you recommend to make BNG assessments more beneficial for supporting pollinator conservation?
    It would probably be possible to go through all of the condition assessments and find criteria that are important for pollinators. A high priority would be the hedgerows as we need to have something in there about the diversity of the hedgerows and can’t really understand why this wasn’t included. Some grasslands, certainly ancient grasslands, should be regarded as irreplaceable habitat. We should also be considering the positive biodiversity gains we get from some ‘undesirable’ species within grassland habitats, but this may conflict with the advice given via agricultural policy (for example removal of creeping thistle and ragwort).

Literature References

  1. Ollerton (2023) Biodiversity Net Gain: What Are The Opportunities For Insect Pollinator Conservation?: https://jeffollerton.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/bng-and-pollinators-ollerton-october-2023-version-1.pdf
  2. Ollerton, J. (2024) Birds & Flowers: An Intimate 50 Million Year Relationship. Pelagic Publishing, Exeter – https://pelagicpublishing.com/collections/jeff-ollerton/products/birds-and-flowers
  3. Ollerton, J. (2021) Pollinators & Pollination: Nature and Society. Pelagic Publishing, Exeter, UK – https://pelagicpublishing.com/collections/jeff-ollerton
  4. Ollerton et al. (2011) How many flowering plants are pollinated by animals?: https://nsojournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1600-0706.2010.18644.x
  5. Tong et al. (2023) New calculations indicate that 90% of flowering plant species are animal-pollinated: https://academic.oup.com/nsr/article/10/10/nwad219/7241545
  6. Rodger et al. (2021) Widespread vulnerability of flowering plant seed production to pollinator declines: https://www.science.org/doi/full/10.1126/sciadv.abd3524
  7. Klein et al. (2007) Importance of pollinators in changing landscapes for world crops: https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10.1098/rspb.2006.3721
  8. Siopa et al. (2024)  Animal-pollinated crops and cultivars—A quantitative assessment of pollinator dependence values and evaluation of methodological approaches: https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1365-2664.14634
  9. Falk (2021) A review of the pollinators associated with decaying wood, old trees and tree wounds in Great Britain: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/349319059_A_review_of_the_pollinators_associated_with_decaying_wood_old_trees_and_tree_wounds_in_Great_Britain
  10. Balfour & Ratnieks (2022) The disproportionate value of ‘weeds’ to pollinators and biodiversity: https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1365-2664.14132
  11. Duffus et al. (preprint) Leveraging Biodiversity Net Gain to address invertebrate declines in England: https://ecoevorxiv.org/repository/view/6667/
  12. Duffus et al. (preprint) Metrics based on habitat area and condition are poor proxies for invertebrate biodiversity: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/384774028_Metrics_based_on_habitat_area_and_condition_are_poor_proxies_for_invertebrate_biodiversity

Further Info

entoLIVE

entoLIVE webinars feature guest invertebrate researchers delving into their own invertebrate research. All events are free to attend and are suitable for adults of all abilities – a passion for invertebrates is all that’s required!

entoLIVE is delivered by the Biological Recording Company in partnership with the British Entomological & Natural History Society, Royal Entomological Society and Amateur Entomologists’ Society, with support from Buglife, Field Studies Council and National Biodiversity Network Trust.

Check out more invertebrate research, publications and events from the entoLIVE partner websites:

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Earthworms 2024: A Year in Review 

Welcome to a round-up from Keiron Derek Brown of all of the earthworm surveying and recording that has been taking place in 2024. The video below provides an overview of the various projects undertaken by Keiron via the Biological Recording Company and Earthworm Society of Britain.

National Earthworm Recording Scheme

In total, we’ve added 810 new earthworm records to the database of earthworm records for the British Isles during 2024 so far. This includes some significant records for England, with Aporrectodea cupulifera being recorded in England for the very first time in West Sussex and Kenleenus armadas recorded at a second site n England (Chelsea Physic Garden in London).

We are also announcing the addition of Lumbricus friendoides to the list of species from Ireland. this is not a new record, but the result of Lumrbicus friendoides being elevated from a subspecies to a species in its own right. The only known record from the UK, Ireland, Isle of Man and the Channel Islands is a record from County Wicklow in Ireland. This brings the list of earthworms for the UK & Ireland up to 32.

Briones et al (2022) Molecular data confirms the existence of distinct lineages within Lumbricus friendi (Cognetti 1904) and related “friends”: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1164556321001187

The following events are now open for bookings:

  • 29 Oct 2024 Earthworm Sampling Day University of Greenwich Avery Hill Campus (Free) SOLD OUT
  • 31 Oct 2024 Earthworm Identification Natural History Museum, London (£50-£81) JUST 1 SPACE REMAINING
  • 23 Nov 2024 Earthworm Sampling Day at RSPB Hesketh Out Marsh, Lancashire (Free)
  • 24 Nov 2024 Earthworm Sampling Day at Longton Brickcroft Nature Reserve, Lancashire (Free)
  • 13 Jan 2025 Earthworms of the UK Part 3 Onlne (£10)
  • 04 Feb 2025 Using Bioturbation Behaviour To Create New Functional Groups for Earthworms Online (Free)
  • 24 Mar 2025 Earthworm Watch: Insights Into Urban Earthworm Communities Online (Free)
Check out our earthworm events

Earthworm Image Recognition Project

The Earthworm Image Recognition Project proof-of-concept study was wrapped up in 2024. The final sampling took place in spring 2024, the prototype algorithm was tested in summer 2024 and a virtual event disseminated the results in October 2024. You can catch up with the event presentations and the results of this project via the Earthworm Image Recognition Project blog.

Read the Earthworm Image Recognition Project blog
Heatmap showing which parts of an image the earthworm ID algorithm used to determine species.

Nurturing Nature Project

Over the past 2 years we have worked with the Nurturing Nature Project to undertake two earthworm surveys:

  • Middleton Down Earthworm Survey: One Earthworm Sampling Day at Middleton Down on Cranborne Chase to engage local volunteers with earthworm recording and generate new earthworm records.
  • Arable Sites Earthworm Survey: Two Earthworm Sampling Days across agricultural sites on Cranborne Chase with the aim of comparing earthworm communities in arable soils and neighbouring habitat features, such as grasslands and hedgerows.

A team of 14 new and existing earthworm recorders counted 203 individual earthworms, including 112 adults that were identified to species using microscopy at a later date. This generated 44 new earthworm records and included the first records of Dendrobaena hortensis, Lumbricus castaneus, Murchieona muldali and Octolasion cyaneum submitted to the National Earthworm Recording Scheme within Vice County 08 South Wiltshire.

Earthworm recorders surveying Middleton Down Nature Reserve in Wiltshire. Image: Anna Cooper

Analysis of the Arable Sites Earthworm Survey data using a paired sample t-test indicated no significant difference in earthworm abundance between arable soils and the soils of neighbouring habitats (p-value = 0.1074). However, the limited surveys that were undertaken during this project indicate that there may be a significant difference in earthworm species diversity between arable soils and neighbouring habitats at the 0.05 significance level (p-value = 0.486). This should act as a word of caution to those using overall earthworm numbers as an indicator of soil health and condition without also considering species diversity.

Box plots showing the earthworm abundance and earthworm species diversity data from the Arable Sites Earthworm Survey.

Check out the Cranborne Chase Earthworm Survey Report below for more details.

Cranborne Chase Earthworm Survey Report v1 21.10.24Download the full report

Leave The Leaves Project

The Leave The Leaves Project was undertaken as part of the Help Nature Thrive Project with The Royal Parks. Our aim was to undertake a comparative survey of 5 sampling sites across two parks (Bushy Park and Kensington Gardens) to look at the impact of leaf litter removal on earthworm populations.

At each sample point, two linear transects were sampled adjacent to one another (each consisting of 10 soil pits spaced 2 metres apart):

  • one transect in an area where leaves are cleared as part of the site management plan.
  • one transect in an area where the leaves are not cleared as part of the site management.
Soil pit transect arrangement within sample point

A total of 2,441 individual earthworms were recorded across the 5 sample sites during the survey. Of these specimens, 666 were identifiable to species level which resulted in 56 new species occurrence records being submitted to the National Earthworm Recording Scheme.

Volunteers sorting through excavated soil pits at Kensington Gardens. Image: Charlie Linton

From this limited study, we found no evidence to suggest that clearance of leaves impacted on the earthworm populations in terms of earthworm abundance or species diversity. However, we recognise that a number of limitations on the survey may have impacted the results and it would be useful to time the surveys with the leaf clearance operations at the survey sites.

Leave The Leaves Earthworm Survey Report v1 26.11.24Download

Sapperton Wilder Project

The Sapperton Wilder project in Gloucestershire investigates how sustainable farming practices and conservation interventions impact biodiversity on arable land.

The five main principles being adopted at Sapperton Wilder. Illustration: Enviro Visuals

For the past two years, we have been working with them to generate some baseline earthworm data for the site. To date, the project has recorded 3,378 earthworms, including 793 adults that were collected and identified to species. This has added 125 new earthworm species occurrence records to the National Earthworm Recording Scheme.

The species diversity across the whole site was relatively low as just 9 species were recorded. All of the species that were recorded are known to have a low habitat specificity and 7 of the species are regarded as widespread and either very common or common (with just a single species regarded as rare, but with a preference for agricultural environments). This is not surprising as the site has been farmed intensively prior to the project.

Long-term monitoring will reveal how their changing management practices influence earthworm populations on site.

Check out the Sapperton Wilder Baseline Earthworm Survey Report below for more details.

Sapperton Wilder Baseline Earthworm Survey Report v2 02.08.24Download the full report

Hay Time Project

The Hay Time project earthworm survey is also in year two of a long-term monitoring scheme. The Hay Time earthworm surveys aim to improve our understanding of the earthworm assemblages associated with hay meadows and how the earthworm communities change over time.

We’ve been undertaking soil pit surveys at sites with differing numbers of years in restoration to look for patterns in earthworm assemblages and to look for a link between earthworm abundance and/or species diversity with the number of years in restoration.

Although we are too early to report any results on these relationships, we’ve discovered that the area is home to a thriving population of the rare species, Aporrectodea limicola. This rare species was the third most commonly recorded species, with 78 adult specimens recorded across 5 different sites.

Pie chart displaying the earthworm species composition across all soil pit transects. Species where the composition was less than 5% were aggregated into the ‘Other species’ category. (n = 507)

Check out the Forest of Bowland Earthworm Survey Report below for more details.

Forest of Bowland Earthworm Survey Report v1 25.10.24Download

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Online Training For Successful Conservation Projects

WildTeam teach a suite of best practices, designed to support wildlife conservation projects across global contexts. They have moved from classroom-based teaching to online teaching, in order to reach more people. This has come with challenges and successes; they continue to adapt in order to best teach and support conservationists across the world to deliver impactful projects. Ali will share WildTeam’s learning, and vision for the future of online training in the conservation sector.

Q&A with Ali Skeats

Ali Skeats has worked in conservation project management and consultancy for 7 years, moving into the field from managing practical conservation projects. Ali is deeply invested in up-skilling others to deliver effective conservation projects and believes that teaching and supporting the people living and working closest to the conservation situation is the most impactful way to do this.

  1. Have you encountered differences in digital cultures with educating people from across the globe and what challenges do these present?
    there can be variability in how people behave when using tech such as Zoom. For example, learners from some areas are much more willing to interact verbally via virtual meeting rooms on Zoom than learners from other areas, who might use the “hand-up” function and wait to be invited to speak. You don’t get this as much in a classroom as you are more able to read body language. We see similar variations in the way learners interact with the worksheets, emails and WildHub too.
  2. Is this training also available for free for UK learners or do you only provide free training to developing countries?
    Rather than offering free courses, we offer bursaries, which may cover partial or full costs. Our bursaries are open to all and are designed to help those who are unable to afford the full cost. We prioritise those who can demonstrate the greatest potential for increased conservation impact or career progression, as well as those who are in need of financial support. More information can be found on our Bursaries webpage.
  3. Are the best practice manuals that your courses are based on available without signing up for the course?
    Yes. All of our best practice manuals are available to download from the Conservation Best Practice webpage. We have best practice manuals for stakeholder engagement, project planning, project management, grant writing, delivering training and monitoring & evaluation. These best practice manuals come with a suite of tools such as trackers that can be used and adapted by organisations regardless of whether their staff have signed up for our training courses.
  4. Have you got any new best practice guidelines or courses coming up in the near future?
    We are currently working on leadership in conservation and wellbeing best practice manuals and their associated courses. As we are building our conservation trainers network, we are also looking to get our best practice manuals translated into other languages (starting with French) so that more people an teach using our materials.

Further info and links

Go to the Natural History Online Training Virtual Symposium page

More for environmental professionals

Check out our events on Eventbrite

Identiplant: A Unique Tutor-led Online Botany Course

Identiplant is for those who want to get started with serious botany. It was created to take near beginners to an intermediate level with the help of an allocated Tutor, whose role is to guide students through the online course content (delivered through our in-house learning platform called Capsella) and provide feedback on submissions. Students are tasked with hunting for a number of common and widespread plant species through the seasons, in order to gain an understanding of the diagnostic features of the commonest plant families found in the UK. Students leave with a set of key skills allowing them to make further progress independently. This talk will discuss the challenges and benefits of delivering an online course to almost 300 students a year, across 5 countries, with the support of over 60 tutors.

Q&A with Dan Asaw

Dr Chantal Helm is the BSBI’s training co-ordinator responsible for FISC and Identiplant. She is also a terrestrial ecologist with field experience in South Africa and the UK, with a broad interest in natural history. After a decade in academia, Chantal now focusses on delivering local voluntary conservation projects, encouraging local biological recording, undertaking freelance bat surveys and supporting students as a visiting lecturer, alongside her part time BSBI role.

  1. Is this course available to people who live outside Britain & Ireland?The course is only available to people within Britain and Ireland as we don’t have tutors outside of the UK and the plants that students would come across in other regions would vary from those found in Britain and Ireland. However, there is no reason why the course couldn’t be adapted to work in other regions if local tutors were recruited and the content was adapted for the plant diversity within that region.
  2. Have BSBI had any discussions with other organisations about replicating this model for other taxonomic groups? We’ve not had any enquiries from other organisations about replicating the format and structure for other groups. Again, there is no reason why the course could not be adapted to work for other groups using the same methodology. The course content would need to be created from scratch and a network of tutors with the taxon-specific knowledge and skills would need to be recruited.
  3. Have you considered creating a self-led version of Identiplant to cater for the demand if tutor availability is a limiting factor?
    Yes, we really don’t want to disappoint those who can’t secure a space every year. We are working on trialling a less intensive foundational self-led version for this very reason and hope to be able to trial this with a select group next year (though this is not yet confirmed). A self-led version wouldn’t replace the tutor version but it could help us engage more people with botany.

Further info and links

Go to the Natural History Online Training Virtual Symposium page

More for environmental professionals

Check out our events on Eventbrite

Exploring the Digital Wild: Teaching Natural History Using a Learning Management System

The surge in popularity of Learning Management Systems (LMS) arises from their capacity to centralise educational materials, enhance course delivery efficiency, and enable interactive learning experiences. Using the Moodle LMS, the Field Studies Council has effectively engaged thousands of participants through initiatives like the BioLinks project and ongoing Biodiversity Team training courses. Join this presentation to delve into the outcomes and challenges encountered when utilizing an LMS for teaching natural history subjects, and share valuable lessons learned.

Q&A with Dan Asaw

Dan Asaw began building and delivering invertebrate themes online courses as part of the BioLinks project in 2022. Now he oversees the Field Studies Council’s Biodiversity online course program which is responsible for hosting over 4000 course participants in 2023 over a wide range of natural history topics.

  1. How much funding was needed to set up the Moodle Learning Management System that is used by the Field Studies Council?
    The Moodle LMS used by the Field Studies Council was developed through the FSC BioLinks project using funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund. We were really lucky in that we had a Digital Developer working 4 days per week on FSC BioLinks project so we were able to have a digital specialist working on this for 6 months straight and then supporting the team afterwards. Considering all costs, including staff time, I would estimate that funding of around £50k was needed to get the platform up and running with the first 3 training courses. If going out to a contractor, you are probably looking at around £35k to set up the system plus in-house staff and course development costs. The alternative is to sign up to a platform such as LearnWorlds or Thinkific that enables you to create your courses on their platforms. These will operate on a subscription model, often with tiered plans, and have transaction fees. There may be limits on the number of learners you can have. The best option really depends on your organisational needs and budget.
  2. What would you do differently if starting from scratch?
    Communication! The online training was developed and delivered initially through a standalone project and it has been difficult to get the wider organisation to engage with it. Communicating with all staff about the platform and how it can be used from the very beginning would have helped educate teams how to use it and engage with the platforms for both external and internal audiences.
  3. What other considerations may impact which LMS you use and how you implement it?
    It is also important to check how the LMS will link with existing digital infrastructure. For example, can your LMS communicate with your website and customer relationship management systems?
  4. What phrasing choices should you avoid for neurodivergent audiences?By contracting the National Autistic Society to review one of our courses we were able to get lots of feedback. the types of phrases that were pointed out were statements that were emotional and rhetorical questions. It is very easy to write content in the way that you would present it in a classroom, but we need to be aware that inflection does not translate within text and is often open to interpretation (often in ways you may not intend). Written content should be direct and factual, think of it like writing your content in the style of a textbook. Instructions should be clear and structured as numbered or bullet-pointed text where possible. It’s important to also look at other forms of accessibility considerations, and there are lots of free browser plugins which can be used alongside learning material.
  5. Where can I find Text to Speech Browser extensions for various browser?
    Read Aloud (Chrome)
    Read Aloud (FireFox)
    Natural reader (Chrome) This does require setting up an account.
    Helperbird (Edge) both free and pro features
  6. Where can I find Dyslexic Font extensions for various browsers?
    Dyslexia Friendly (Chrome)
    Helperbird (Edge) This comes with both free and pro features
    Open Dyslexic (FireFox)

Literature References

Further info and links

Go to the Natural History Online Training Virtual Symposium page

More for environmental professionals

Check out our events on Eventbrite

The Power of the Webinar: Engaging Large Virtual Audiences with Natural History

Since the coronavirus pandemic, the world of virtual events has grown significantly. Many natural history organisations have seized the opportunity to engage bigger and more diverse audiences and continue to do so alongside the traditional in-person training and engagement activities that have now recommenced. This presentation will explore the pros and cons of using webinars to engage with audiences and delve into case studies from the FSC BioLinks project, London Natural History Society and entoLIVE. We’ll explore some of the do’s and don’ts for delivering natural history content virtually and discuss the next steps for engaging large virtual audiences.

Q&A with Keiron Derek Brown

Keiron Derek Brown has been running the National Earthworm Recording Scheme since its launch in 2014. He has been working as a biological recording professional since 2017 when he joined the Field Studies Council to develop and deliver the FSC BioLinks invertebrate recording project. Following the completion of this project, Keiron set up the Biological Recording Company to support the environmental sector through training and consultancy.

  1. How much does it cost to set up and run a webinar series?
    This is something that people always underestimate/ For the FSC BioLinks webinars we covered the costs through the project budget (and I’d estimate is costs 10s of thousands to run those webinars). entoLIVE has a budget of around £6,000 per year (/20 webinars) to cover all costs, including my staff time, contracting webinar assistants, paying speaker fees, marketing, Zoom and Eventbrite. What you put into a webinar series determines what you get out of it! entoLIVE gets the large numbers that I have reported because of the amount of resources that is put into running the programme. I’m always happy to discuss collaboration on webinars with other organisations and invite anyone interested to contact me at info@biologialrecording.co.uk. I’ve built up an audience that potential collaborators from benefit from if they partner with me on a webinar series.
  2. Do you recommend Eventbrite for managing both paid and free events?
    This depends on what facilities your own organisation has to list events, manage bookings and take payments. Eventbrite did introduce a tiered subscription system that added significant cost to managing your events through their platform, even if your events were free to attend. Eventbrite also charges fees on ticket sales, impacting how much of the sales go to the event organiser (I incorporate these fees into my pricing rather than using the option for the customer to pay these as an additional cost at checkout). Due to the high number of events that I organise and the marketing tools that Eventbrite offers, I find that this pricing structure still made it worthwhile for me to run my events through their platform. Furthermore, analysis of my sales indicates that around 50% of my bookings come through Eventbrite-based marketing. I’m pleased to say that Eventbrite has now gone back on this decision to charge for hosting free events and they’ve reduced their subscription rates for using the marketing tools. In my opinion, the platform is good value for money again. One thing that has disappointed me has been their customer service as I’ve experienced several technical issues that they’ve failed to resolve or communicate with me about.
  3. Do any of your events have interactive elements aside from the speaker Q&A segments?
    The interactive components of the webinars that I currently run are the speaker Q&A segments and use of the Zoom chat feature. During the FSC BioLinks webinars we actively encouraged our speakers to include interactive elements such as polls. These were good for encouraging more interaction with attendees, but caused frustration for some users who struggled to participate in them and they are not relevant to viewers of the recordings when the video is replayed. I find that the bigger the audience, the harder it is to incorporate a wider variety of interactive elements. The webinars and virtual symposiums are just one part of the overall natural history training that the Biological Recording Company provides, sitting alongside our Invertebrate Study Days, Field Recorder Days and I’ll be launching self-study training courses with a number of different interactive elements very soon.
  4. How do you evaluate the impact of your webinars?
    Monitoring and evaluation was a key component of the FSC BioLinks project and we surveyed participants, spoke to stakeholders and contracted external evaluators to assess our work. All of the documentation for the FSC BioLinks project is available via Applied Ecology Resources. For entoLIVE, I wanted to ensure that I have evidence to back up any claims that I make about the programme making a difference and I publish this via the entoLIVE Summary Report. I use a range of methods to gather the data that I need for evaluation, including logging engagement stats, surveying attendees and engaging with stakeholders.

Literature references

Further info and links

Go to the Natural History Online Training Virtual Symposium page

More for environmental professionals

Check out our events on Eventbrite

Natural History Online Training Virtual Symposium

Over the last decade, there has been a boom in online training – both for professional development and personal enjoyment. Evolving technology and software have led to a variety of innovative methods for delivering biodiversity training to virtual audiences.

The Natural History Online Training Virtual Symposium explored how virtual training is not synonymous with sitting at a screen to learn about the natural world. We heardfrom four biodiversity education specialists about different online training delivery methods, delving into the challenges and benefits they have experienced through virtual engagement with learners.

This virtual event was aimed at environmental and education professionals that engage both professional and non-professional audiences with biodiversity subjects, such as ecology, species identification, conservation and wildlife monitoring.

Speaker Programme

This event featured four presentations from invertebrate specialists:

  1. The Power of the Webinar: Engaging Large Virtual Audiences with Natural History with Keiron Derek Brown (Biological Recording Company)
  2. Exploring the Digital Wild: Teaching Natural History Using a Learning Management System with Dan Asaw (Field Studies Council)
  3. Identiplant: A Unique Tutor-led Online Botany Course with Dr Chantal Helm (Botanical Society of Britain & Ireland)
  4. Online Training For Successful Conservation Projects with Ali Skeats (WildTeam)

The Power of the Webinar: Engaging Large Virtual Audiences with Natural History

Keiron Derek Brown (Biological Recording Company)

Since the coronavirus pandemic, the world of virtual events has grown significantly. Many natural history organisations have seized the opportunity to engage bigger and more diverse audiences and continue to do so alongside the traditional in-person training and engagement activities that have now recommenced. This presentation will explore the pros and cons of using webinars to engage with audiences and delve into case studies from the FSC BioLinks project, London Natural History Society and entoLIVE. We’ll explore some of the do’s and don’ts for delivering natural history content virtually and discuss the next steps for engaging large virtual audiences.

Check out the full blog here

Exploring the Digital Wild: Teaching Natural History Using a Learning Management System

Dan Asaw (Field Studies Council)

The surge in popularity of Learning Management Systems (LMS) arises from their capacity to centralise educational materials, enhance course delivery efficiency, and enable interactive learning experiences. Using the Moodle LMS, the Field Studies Council has effectively engaged thousands of participants through initiatives like the BioLinks project and ongoing Biodiversity Team training courses. Join this presentation to delve into the outcomes and challenges encountered when utilizing an LMS for teaching natural history subjects, and share valuable lessons learned.

Check out the full blog here

Identiplant: A Unique Tutor-led Online Botany Course

Dr Chantal Helm (Botanical Society of Britain & Ireland)

Identiplant is for those who want to get started with serious botany. It was created to take near beginners to an intermediate level with the help of an allocated Tutor, whose role is to guide students through the online course content (delivered through our in-house learning platform called Capsella) and provide feedback on submissions. Students are tasked with hunting for a number of common and widespread plant species through the seasons, in order to gain an understanding of the diagnostic features of the commonest plant families found in the UK. Students leave with a set of key skills allowing them to make further progress independently. This talk will discuss the challenges and benefits of delivering an online course to almost 300 students a year, across 5 countries, with the support of over 60 tutors.

Check out the full blog here

Online Training For Successful Conservation Projects

Ali Skeats (WildTeam)

WildTeam teach a suite of best practices, designed to support wildlife conservation projects across global contexts. They have moved from classroom-based teaching to online teaching, in order to reach more people. This has come with challenges and successes; they continue to adapt in order to best teach and support conservationists across the world to deliver impactful projects. Ali will share WildTeam’s learning, and vision for the future of online training in the conservation sector.

Check out the full blog here

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Check out our events on Eventbrite