BTO RESEARCH REPORT 710 A world informed by science: the impact of BTO in 2012–18 Pearce-Higgins, J.W. & Robinson, R.A. (Eds) A world informed by science: the impact of BTO in 2012–18 Pearce-Higgins, J.W. & Robinson, R.A. (Eds) BTO Research Report 710 © British Trust for Ornithology 2019 BTO, The Nunnery, Thetford, Norfolk IP24 2PU, Tel: +44 (0)1842 750050 Email: [email protected] Registered Charity Number 216652 (England & Wales), SC039193 (Scotland). ISBN 978-1-908581-96-9 CONTENTS Summary .................................................................................................................................................................................5 1. Overview ...............................................................................................................................................................................10 2. Our approach...........................................................................................................................................................................12 3. The science of monitoring: the state of biodiversity and how we monitor this ........................................................14 Methods development ..................................................................................................................................................14 Monitoring schemes ......................................................................................................................................................14 Monitoring outputs ........................................................................................................................................................16 Societal benefits of monitoring ...................................................................................................................................18 4. Science for ecological challenges: what processes drive biodiversity change? ........................................................ 20 Farming ............................................................................................................................................................................ 20 Urban landscapes ...........................................................................................................................................................23 Afforestation and silviculture ...................................................................................................................................... 26 Changing seas ................................................................................................................................................................ 29 Climate change ...............................................................................................................................................................33 Species interactions .......................................................................................................................................................37 Valuing nature and ecosystem services.....................................................................................................................41 5. Conservation science .............................................................................................................................................................43 Methodological development .................................................................................................................................... 44 Causes of change and testing solutions ................................................................................................................... 46 6. Scientific support in the wider sector ..................................................................................................................................47 7. Conclusions ............................................................................................................................................................................. 49 Acknowledgements ....................................................................................................................................................................51 References ...............................................................................................................................................................................51 Collaborators ...............................................................................................................................................................................53 BTO publications 2012–2018 ................................................................................................................................................... 54 4 BTO Research Report 710 SUMMARY 1) OVERVIEW 2) KNOWLEDGE GAINED AND INFORMATION MADE AVAILABLE BTO’s core mission is to combine professional and citizen science to provide evidence of change in wildlife populations, We are committed to making our data accessible and we fulfil particularly birds, and to make this information available to about 500 requests for data each year. We have, for example, the public, opinion-formers and environmental policy-makers. provided, over 170 million records to the NBN Living Atlas. Our surveys engage around 50,000 volunteers with their local We publish regularly in the scientific literature, with over 300 environment and facilitate their understanding of changes publications listed on Web of Science for the period 2012–18; in it. They collect large-scale and long-term data on the these have an average of 14 citations per item so far and an distribution, abundance and population trends of species that h-index score of 32. occur regularly in the UK. ASSESSING STATUS The combination of citizen science data to examine large-scale Our long-term monitoring programme produces robust patterns and processes, complemented by more detailed population trends on over 100 breeding and ~50 wintering measurements and studies, at individual sites or a range of species, which are reported on annually at bto.org/birdtrends study areas, is a powerful one. (breeding species), WeBS Report online (wintering) and through the State of UK’s Birds (SUKB) and State of Nature An important characteristic of BTO is that we design, publications. Our long-term data sets (including the longest- implement and coordinate surveys quantifying numbers, running single species bird survey in the world) show how distribution and demographic rates, but also analyse and dynamic populations can be. From these data we provide interpret their outputs. We take an integrated approach to evidence and interpretation of both temporal and spatial data collection, combining data from different parts of an changes. animal’s life-cycle to understand not just the pattern, but also the process, of change. We provide the information that underpins the conservation status assessment for most UK bird species and our research Our organisation plays an important role in delivering also contributes significantly to the conservation science significant infrastructure and capability for use by the wider evidence-base. academic, conservation and policy communities to achieve greater impact, where our reputation for providing impartial Our monitoring data are essential for formal assessments evidence and an ability to work with a range of stakeholders by statutory bodies in support of national and international as an ‘honest broker’ is crucial. reporting requirements, such as under Article 12 of the Birds Directive. In particular, the UK supports internationally A substantial amount of our research is commissioned important populations of non-breeding waterbirds and our directly by policy-making bodies ensuring impact at a policy data are used to identify important areas for conservation level, and much of the rest is informed by, or relevant to, designation (notably the Natura 2000 network) based on wider policy needs. internationally recognised thresholds. A WORLD CLOUD OF THE MOST FREQUENT INFORMATIVE Natural capital, and the ecosystem services that flow from WORDS IN THE DOCUMENT it, is an increasingly important concept that BTO needs to engage with more. Although birds may provide relatively few ecosystem services (and those mostly cultural and aesthetic), international understand ringing collaboration counts or densities derived from data sets, such as the BTO/ reporting forest farmland interactions land volunteer waterbirds JNCC/RSPB Breeding Bird Survey (BBS), have the potential to people health sites informationeuropean individual humaneurope provide direct measures of natural capital. evidence windfarm habitats biodiversity ecosystem environment design nature breeding QUANTIFYING THE IMPACT OF ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE webs groups data policy survival migratory Identification of one of the highest profile conservation issues garden trends distribution issues development management of our time, the collapse of farmland biodiversity in the effects impacts longterm develop birds processes review public UK, in a large part stems from analysis of BTO’s long-term annual identify change climate analysis bto value demography monitoring data; these made real the concerns documented survey risk by Rachel Carson in Silent Spring. ecological scale species abundance network localmonitoring bbs british planning tracking decline More recently our research, supported by Natural England landscapestudy research marine