Ecology and Conservation

Research Activity

Ecology and conservation at Lancaster Environment Centre use ecological, behavioural and molecular techniques to understand how ecosystems function, how they respond to global change, and how they can be managed to enhance biodiversity and its associated services.

Further Highlights

• A coral collaboration
  A long term collaboration between a Lancaster professor and an Australian conservationist has produced a unique insight into the ecology and management of coral reefs
• Coral bleaching
  The window for saving the world’s coral reefs from global warming is rapidly closing, according to a novel study in the prestigious journal Science
• Going back to university
  A prizewinning student gave up a successful teaching career to become a student, just as her son was starting school
• World's most influential researchers
  Two Lancaster Environment Centre researchers have been listed in the 2017 Clarivate Analytics Highly Cited Researchers list of scientists who have had a significant global impact
• Small is biodiverse in the Amazon
  Amazonian streams found teeming with fish species are lacking protection
• Life on the Edge
  Breaking up the rainforest into small, isolated patches is forcing more species to live at the forest edge, putting those that are dependent on the forest core at risk
• Selective logging threatens biodiversity
  A new study finds that even low levels of logging in the Amazon rainforest may lead to great losses in biodiversity
• Bees feast on fast food
  Honey bees love the invasive plant Himalayan balsam and eat it like ‘fast food’ but, like humans, they thrive better on a varied diet
• The ‘Hollywood effect’
  Scientists should work with filmmakers to highlight conservation issues and help wildlife
• Why development fails in the Amazon
  Only local Amazonians can bring truly sustainable development to their forest as protected areas, species and people come under increasing threat
• Armyworm biopesticide moves closer
  Researchers win funding to push forward the production of a cheap, effective and locally-produced biopesticide to combat one of Africa’s major crop pests.
• Cities threaten rainforest wildlife
  Urban food demand in the Amazon could be hitting wildlife up to 1,000 km away from the city, according to new research.
• Studying butterflies in the field
  A double prizewinning graduate shows how changing habitat management could help reverse the decline of some of the UK’s signature butterflies.
• How early environment affects the quality of a dipper’s song
  Successful PhD student Dr Lucy Magoolagan explains why her research, on the song of Britain’s only aquatic songbird, captured the imagination of the producers of the BBC Springwatch programme.
• Remote Amazonian cities more vulnerable to climate change
  Amazonians living in remote cities are more vulnerable to flooding and droughts than more accessible centres, researchers at Lancaster University have discovered.
• Poor diet may contribute to the decline in British bees
  The changing British landscape could be contributing to the decline in our bee populations, according to Lancaster University research.
• Human threat to grassland ecosystems
  A manmade pollutant is having a significant impact on our global environment according to a new study published in ‘Ecology’ this month (June 2015).