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• Factors involved in the population decline of birds in the UK, particularly farmland birds.
• The application of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) in landscape ecology.

My PhD utilises the atlas data compiled by the British Trust for Ornithology. I am combining GIS and statistical modelling techniques with a guild based methodology to identify relationships between changes in the distribution of 62 species of farmland bird in England and Wales and changes in the agricultural landscape. The data spans the period 1968 to 1991, a period when farmland bird populations fell by approximately 50%. The UK government have a Public Service Agreement target to reverse the decline in farmland bird populations and return them to their 1970 levels by 2020. Although small scale factors are important for birds, these are set within the wider context of the overall landscape. My research is being undertaken at a broad (landscape) scale which I hope will contribute new information to the field and will ultimately benefit UK farmland bird populations.

Publications and Presentations

• Historical Analysis of Habitat Associations with Intra-Guild Richness Hotspots of Farmland Birds: Clues for the Successful Deployment of Agri-Environment Schemes. Proceedings of the GIS Research UK 17th Annual Conference 2009, 131-134.
• Historical Analysis of Habitat Associations with Intra-Guild Richness Hotspots of Farmland Birds: Clues for the Successful Deployment of Agri-Environment Schemes. Proceedings of the 15th Annual IALE (UK) Conference 2008, 95-102.
• Winner of the Combined Sponsor Award for Most Informative Poster at the Showcase of Postgraduate Research at The Forum, Norwich, September 2008.

Professor Andrew Lovett
Professor Andrew Watkinson
Dr. Phil Atkinson (British Trust for Ornithology)

Bird species data has been supplied by the British Trust for Ornithology.