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Evaluation of Swedish Biodiversity Research Vetenskapsrådets Rapportserie

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Evaluation of Swedish Biodiversity Research Vetenskapsrådets Rapportserie 14:2010 Evaluation in 2001 the Swedish Government made a special allocation of funding for biodiversity research to be administered by the Swedish Research Council and the Swedish Research Council for Environment, agricultural Sciences and Spatial Planning. The research councils appointed 2010 two committees of to evaluate their investment in biodiversity research from the perspectives of the quality and strategic Sw E direction of the science (Science Committee) and the relevance of the research (relevance Committee). di S h this report outlines the analyses and findings of the two committees. biodiv E r S ity r ese arch Evaluation of SwEdiSh biodivErSity research klarabergsviadukten 82 | box 1035 | SE-101 38 Stockholm | SwEdEN | tel +46-8-546 44 000 | [email protected] | www.vr.se Ve t E – funded by the Swedish Research Council and the Swedish n S kap research Council for Environment, Agricultural Sciences and S råd E Spatial Planning 2002–2009 t s rapport the Swedish research council is a government agency that provides funding for basic research of the highest scientific quality in all disciplinary domains. besides research iSSN 1651-7350 funding, the agency works with strategy, analysis, and research communication. iSBN 978-91-7307-183-3 se ri the objective is for Sweden to be a leading research nation. E vEtEnSKAPSRÅDEtS RAPPORTSERIE 14:2010 EVALUATION OF swEdIsh bIOdIVErsITy rEsEArch – funded by the swedish research council and the swedish research council for Environment, Agricultural sciences and spatial Planning 2002–2009 EVALUATION OF SWEdISH bIOdIVERSITy rEsEARCH This report can be ordered at www.vr.se VETENsKAPSRÅdET swedish research council box 1035 101 38 stockholm, SWEdEN © swedish research council ISSN 1651-7350 ISBN 978-91-7307-183-3 Graphic design: Erik hagbard couchér, swedish research council cover Photo: Jet Tan/istockphoto Printed by: cM-Gruppen Ab, bromma, sweden 2010 PrefacE In 2001 the Swedish government allocated 400 million SEK for research on biodiversity and ecological sustainable development for the years 2002–2004 to the Swedish Research Council for Environment, Agricultural Sciences and Spatial Planning Formas (250 million SEK) and the Swedish Research Council (150 million SEK). Most of the fundning were distributed to indivi- dual research projects through open calls. The management of the funding has varied over time and between the councils, but initially a joint call was carried out. The increased funding became a permanent supplement to the Research Councils, however after 2007 the biodiversity earmark was removed. Since then, both funding agencies have had no special management of the fun- ding to biodiversity research. Recently, more strategic initiatives, such as impact on natural resources, ecosystem services and biodiversity were intro- duced (Government Bill 2008/09:50; A boost for research and innovation). Against this background, the two Councils decided to jointly evaluate the previous efforts on biodiversity research, to assess the research quality and relevance, to analyze the development of the area, and to take advantage of lessons learned from management of a major research effort. For this purpose, the Councils appointed two separate committees of dis- tinguished experts given the task of carrying out the evaluation; one science committee with international scientists and one relevance committee with experts working in national and international stakeholder organisations. Prof. David Penman was appointed Chairman of the Science Committee and Prof. Peter Bridgewater was appointed Chairman of the Relevance Committee. This report contains the findings and recommendations of the committees. The evaluation comprised projects that had funding during 2002–2009, i.e. projects starting from 2002 to 2007. In total, over 400 individual projects with some 220 project leaders, spending more than 630 Million SEK, were included. The evaluation was planned and supported by a secretariat of staff compri- sed of Andreas Augustsson (Swedish Research Council), Marie Emanuelsson (Formas), and Sven Larsson-Östergren (Swedish Research Council). A re- ference group was appointed comprised of Arne Johansson, Dan Holtstam and Maud Quist from Swedish Research Council and Hans-Örjan Nohr- stedt and Sofie Björling from Formas. The Research Councils would like to express their deepest gratitude to the participating researchers and to the Science and Relevance Committees for devoting their time and expertise to this important task. The recom- mendations of the committees are highly appreciated by the Councils. The findings and recommendations will provide important guidance for future initiatives in the area of biodiversity research. Stockholm June, 2010 Pär Omling rolf Annerberg Swedish Research Council Swedish Research Council for Environment, Agricultural Sciences and Spatial Planning cONTENTs EVALUATION rEPOrT. .7 EXEcUTIVE sUMMARY ANd rEcOMMENdATIONs. 9 1 INTrOdUcTION. 14 2 EVALUATION PrOcESS. .18 3 rEsEARCH ArEAs . 22 3.1 Zoology. 22 3.2 botany . 24 3.3 cellular, Molecular and Microbial biology. 25 3.4 Aquatic and Marine research. 26 3.5 Ecology. 27 3.6 Landscape . 29 3.7 biodiversity dynamics. 30 3.8 human dimensions. 31 3.9 Taxonomy. 32 4 FINdINGs OF ThE SCIENcE cOMMITTEE. 34 5 cOMMENTs FrOM ThE rELEVANcE cOMMITTEE . 40 6 cONcLUsIONs. 41 APPENdIX 1: EXcErPT FrOM ThE bUdGET bILL for 2002. 44 APPENdIX 2: ASSESSMENTs OF rEPOrTING ENTITIEs. 46 APPENdIX 3: LIsT OF PrOJEcTs, PrINcIPAL INVEsTIGATORS ANd rEPOrTING ENTITIEs. 86 APPENdIX 4: bIbLIOMETrIc rEPOrT. 121 APPENdIX 5: SHOrT cV’s OF ThE EVALUATION cOMMITTEE MEMbERS. 129 sAMMANFATTNING Och rekommendationer. 162 EVALUATION rEPOrT To The swedish research council The swedish research council for Environment, Agricultural sciences and spatial Planning At the request of the above-mentioned organisations, we have evaluated the Swedish research in Biodiversity, funded by the Swedish Research Council and the Swedish Research Council for Environment, Agricultural Sciences and Spatial Planning during 2002–2009. We take full responsibility for the judgements and the recommendations given in the report. Stockholm, April 2010 The science committee Prof. Ellen van donk Prof. Emmett duffy Prof. rob. Freckleton Prof. douglas MacMillan Prof. L. scott Mills Prof. Ole seberg Prof. Ian swingland Prof. Tom Veldkamp Prof. Katherine willis Prof. david Penman Chairman EVALUATION OF swEdIsh biodiversity rEsearch 7 The relevance committee dr. Anna-helena Lindahl dr. Mark Marissink Assoc. Prof. Lennart Nyman dr. Tania runge Prof. Peter bridgewater Chairman The committee members, back row left: Peter Bridgewater, David Penman, Rob Freckleton, Lennart Nyman, Emmett Duffy, Ole Seberg, Tom Veldkamp, Mark Marissink, front row left: Katherine Wil- lis, L. Scott Mills, Douglas MacMillan, Ian Swingland, Tania Runge, Ellen van Donk, Anna-Helena Lindahl. EXEcUTIVE sUMMAry ANd rEcOMMENdATIONs Sweden has a long and proud history in biological and ecological research and has shown a strong commitment to being part of global environmental initiatives such as the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), taking a key role in both the Conference of the Parties’ (CoP) and subsidiary body’s (SBSTTA) meetings in the formative years. Swedish research has been par- ticularly strong in areas such as taxonomy, population ecology and genetics and in ecosystems such as boreal forests, lakes, running water, and agricul- tural systems. In 2001 the Swedish Government made a special allocation of funding for biodiversity research to be administered by the Swedish Re- search Council (VR) and the Swedish Research Council for Environment, Agricultural Sciences and Spatial Planning (Formas). The research councils appointed 2010 two committees to evaluate their investment in biodiver- sity research from the perspectives of the quality and strategic direction of the science (Science Committee) and the relevance of the research (Rele- vance Committee). The Science Committee consisted of ten international experts representing a wide range of science relevant to biodiversity. The Relevance Committee consisted of five national and international experts representing stakeholder organisations relevant to biodiversity issues. This report outlines the analyses and findings of the two committees. The committees evaluated the quality of the research entities that were reci- pients of project funding from 2002. The Committees noted a wide range of performance with some particularly strong research groups in forest, lake and agricultural ecology and strong disciplinary capability in areas such as taxonomy, evolutionary biology, population biology, conservation genetics, microbial ecology, climate/ecosystem modelling, economics and landscape ecology. The Committees also noted that much of the investment served to deepen existing areas of research whereas truly integrative interdisciplinary research was in the minority. In particular there was little evidence that the human dimensions of biodiversity research were well incorporated into projects. The Committees concluded that the investment since 2002 had developed some strong, mainly disciplinary-based groups and a number of PhD students who were finding positions outside of the academic research community. More work on integrating stakeholders into the development and mangement of projects, to enhance rapid and appropriate uptake of results should be encouraged where practicable. Deepening novel areas EVALUATION OF swEdIsh biodiversity rEsearch 9 EXEcUTIVE sUMMARY
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