Explore research activities in the Biodiversity Challenges theme related to marine ecosystems. Names shown indicate authors or co-authors involved from the Centre of Conservation and Restoration Science.
Navigate to more Biodiversity Challenges research activities: All | Freshwater | Marine
Habitat Degradation
Habitat degradation, including change, fragmentation and loss, is one of the greatest threats to biodiversity. Species and ecosystems respond differently to type and intensity of habitat degradation, which changes availability and quality of living space.
Projects
Impacts of forestry on breeding curlew distribution
The impact of flicker or pulsating shadow effects, caused by wind turbines, on Atlantic salmon
Publications
The effect of urbanization and exposure to multiple environmental factors on life-history traits and breeding success of Barn Swallows (Hirundo rustica) across China (2022), Avian Research; (Pagani-Nunez)
Linking agri-environment scheme habitat area, predation and the abundance of chick invertebrate prey to the nesting success of a declining farmland bird (2022), Ecological Solutions and Evidence; (White, Briers)
Dynamic trait-niche relationships shape niche partitioning across habitat transformation gradients (2022), Basic and Applied Ecology; (Pagani-Nunez)
Editorial: Impacts of Habitat Transformation on Species, Biodiversity and Ecosystems in Asia (2021), Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution; (Pagani-Nunez)
The diel activity pattern of mountain hare (Lepus timidus) on managed heather moorland in Scotland (2021), Ecology and Evolution; (Gilchrist)
The impact of urbanization on body size of Barn Swallows Hirundo rustica gutturalis (2021), Ecology and Evolution; (Pagani-Nunez)
Pore system characteristics of soil aggregates and their relevance to aggregate stability (2020), Geoderma; (Blaud)
Niches in the Anthropocene: passerine assemblages show niche expansion from natural to urban habitats (2019), Ecography; (Pagani-Nunez)
Land use driven change in soil pH affects microbial carbon cycling processes (2018), Nature Communications; (Blaud)
The abundance of nitrogen cycle genes and potential greenhouse gas fluxes depends on land use type and little on soil aggregate size (2018), Applied Soil Ecology; (Blaud)
The impact of a small-scale riverine obstacle on the upstream migration of Atlantic Salmon (2018), Hydrobiologia; (Dodd)
Pollution
The natural environment is exposed to multiple pollutants. Some of these have only recently been perceived as potential threats to species, for example plastic, noise and light.
Projects
Impacts of cliff-top walkers and boats on the nesting success of seabirds at St Abbs's Head, Scotland
Publications
Firewood usage and indoor air pollution from traditional cooking fires in Gazi Bay, Kenya (2019), Bioscience Horizons; (Huxham)
Climate Change
Human-caused climate change is driving both long-term and rapid changes in temperature, weather-patterns and the chemistry of aquatic and terrestrial environments. Biodiversity is susceptible to these changes and their consequences, but can also help deliver solutions at local and global scales.
Projects
Publications
Greenhouse gas production, diffusion and consumption in a soil profile under maize and wheat production (2023), Geoderma; (Blaud)
Non-Native Species
Patterns of species’ dispersal and establishment around the globe have changed dramatically in recent history, caused by human activity. Receiving ecosystems may be disrupted in various ways by the introduction of novel species.
Projects
Incidence and abundance of hybrid hogweed
Publications
Over-Exploitation
In the last 50 years, the human population has more than doubled, increasing the pressure on the environment to provide food and materials. Over-exploitation happens when more individuals are removed from a population than are replaced naturally, risking species’ current viability and their benefits for future generations.
Projects
Publications
Antimicrobial Resistance
Pharmaceutical pollution contaminates the environment and can result in resistance to antimicrobials used for the control of microorganisms (including bacteria and viruses). The pathways that pharmaceuticals take to enter the environment and cause antimicrobial resistance are not sufficiently well understood.
Projects
Scotland-India Antimicrobial Resistance in the Environment Network (SIAMREN)
Bacteriophage endolysins and novel lipid-degrading proteins as a treatment for Rhodococcus equi infections in foals
Publications
Zoonosis
Zoonosis is any disease that is transmitted from vertebrate animals to humans, for example rabies infection. Habitat degradation and human encroachment into wild landscapes increases the contact between wild animals and people and the spread of zoonotic diseases.
Projects
Unbiased diagnostics to improve clinical prioritization for zoonotic diseases
Health and socioeconomic impact of livestock zoonoses in Northern Kenya
Prevalence of zoonotic abortifacient infections in pregnant women in Ghana
Publications
Prospective cohort study reveals unexpected aetiologies of livestock abortion in northern Tanzania (2022), Scientific Reports; (Wheelhouse)
Recent advances and public health implications for environmental exposure to Chlamydia abortus: from enzootic to zoonotic disease (2022), Veterinary Research; (Wheelhouse)
Molecular detection of Coxiella burnetii infection in small mammals from Moshi Rural and Urban Districts, northern Tanzania (2021), Veterinary Medicine and Science; (Wheelhouse)
Top-Down Characterisation of an Antimicrobial Sanitiser, Leading from Quenchers of Efficacy to Mode of Action (2020), Frontiers in Microbiology; (Singleton)
Listeria monocytogenes isolates from ready to eat plant produce are diverse and have virulence potential. (2019), International Journal of Food Microbiology; (Singleton)
Current perspectives on the transmission of Q fever: Highlighting the need for a systematic molecular approach for a neglected disease in Africa. (2019), Acta Tropica; (Wheelhouse)
Ferlavirus-related deaths in a collection of viperid snakes (2018), Journal of Zoo and Wildlife Medicine; (Wheelhouse)
Sources and contamination routes of microbial pathogens to fresh produce during field cultivation: A review (2018), Food Microbiology; (Singleton)