Browsing by Author "Butler, Simon J."

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    Predicting the impacts of bioenergy production on farmland birds
    (Elsevier, 2014-01-21) Rivas Casado, Monica; Mead, Andrew; Burgess, Paul J.; Howard, David C.; Butler, Simon J.
    Meeting European renewable energy production targets is expected to cause significant changes in land use patterns. With an EU target of obtaining 20% of energy consumption from renewable sources by 2020, national and local policy makers need guidance on the impact of potential delivery strategies on ecosystem goods and services to ensure the targets are met in a sustainable manner. Within agroecosystems, models are available to explore consequences of such policy decisions for food, fuel and fibre production but few can describe the effect on biodiversity. This paper describes the integration and application of a farmland bird population model within a geographical information system (GIS) to explore the consequences of land use changes arising from different strategies to meet renewable energy production targets. Within a 16,000 ha arable dominated case study area in England, the population growth rates of 19 farmland bird species were predicted under baseline land cover, a scenario maximising wheat production for bioethanol, and a scenario focused on mix of bioenergy sources. Both scenarios delivered renewable energy production targets for the region (> 12 kWh per person per day) but, despite differences in resultant landscape composition, the response of the farmland bird community as a whole to each scenario was small and broadly similar. However, this similarity in overall response masked significant intra- and inter-specific variations across the study area and between scenarios suggesting contrasting mechanisms of impact and highlighting the need for context dependent, species-level assessment of land use change impacts. This framework provides one of the first systematic attempts to spatially model the effect of policy driven land use change on the population dynamics of a suite of farmland birds. The GIS framework also facilitates its integration with other ecosystem service models to explore wider synergies and trade offs arising from national or local policy interventions.
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    What do we need to know to enhance the environmental sustainability of agricultural production? A prioritisation of knowledge needs for the UK food system
    (MDPI, 2013-07-17T00:00:00Z) Dicks, Lynn V.; Bardgett, Richard D.; Bell, Jenny; Benton, Tim G.; Booth, Angela; Bouwman, Jan; Brown, Chris; Bruce, Ann; Burgess, Paul J.; Butler, Simon J.; Crute, Ian; Dixon, Frances; Drummond, Caroline; Freckleton, Robert P.; Gill, Maggie; Graham, Andrea; Hails, Rosie S.; Hallett, James; Hart, Beth; Hillier, Jon G.; Holland, John M.; Huxley, Jonathan N.; Ingram, John S. I.; King, Vanessa; MacMillan, Tom; McGonigle, Daniel F.; McQuaid, Carmel; Nevard, Tim; Norman, Steve; Norris, Ken; Pazderka, Catherine; Poonaji, Inder; Quinn, Claire Helen; Ramsden, S. J.; Sinclair, Duncan; Siriwardena, Gavin M.; Vickery, Juliet A.; Whitmore, A. P.; Wolmer, William; Sutherland, William J.
    Abstract: Increasing concerns about global environmental change and food security have focused attention on the need for environmentally sustainable agriculture. This is agriculture that makes efficient use of natural resources and does not degrade the environmental systems that underpin it, or deplete natural capital stocks. We convened a group of 29 ‘practitioners' and 17 environmental scientists with direct involvement or expertise in the environmental sustainability of agriculture. The practitioners included representatives from UK industry, non-government organizations and government agencies. We collaboratively developed a long list of 264 knowledge needs to help enhance the environmental sustainability of agriculture within the UK or for the UK market. We refined and selected the most important knowledge needs through a three-stage process of voting, discussion and scoring. Scientists and practitioners identified similar priorities. We present the 26 highest priority knowledge needs. Many of them demand integration of knowledge from different disciplines to inform policy and practice. The top five are about sustainability of livestock feed, trade-offs between ecosystem services at farm or landscape scale, phosphorus recycling and metrics to measure sustainability. The outcomes will be used to guide ongoing knowledge exchange work, future science policy and funding.