Antimicrobial resistance: bringing Scottish expertise together to find the solutions

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a global, immediate and ongoing concern to human health. AMR occurs when microbes become resistant to clinical or veterinary drugs that are used to treat disease, and this has major consequences on how microbial diseases are managed and therefore how antimicrobial compounds are used.

The impact of sustainable cropping on soil-borne diseases – a focus on Rhizoctonia solani AG3

The Centre for Sustainable Cropping (CSC) is a long-term experimental platform established to integrate all aspects of sustainability research on arable ecosystems. The CSC allows us to study crop management at a more integrated and system wide level and compare this to conventional crop husbandry practices. We have been using the CSC platform to study the impact of sustainable soil management practices on soil-borne pathogens. Here, we focus on the detection, quantification and impact of Rhizotonia solani: specifically, the sub-group known as R. solani AG3.

Recommendations for landscape-level adaptive management for ecological, economic, and social outcomes

Improving the management of Scotland’s natural assets at a landscape-level for ecological, economic, and social outcomes is a priority for the Scottish Government and its partners. Adaptive management is one way to achieve this objective and is about connecting the ‘doing’ of natural resource management with ‘learning’ about the context of the management situation, and the responses and effects of the management actions. We provide a series of lessons learned from five studies that cover a range of landscape-level management situations, including upland and lowland areas.

Debbie Fielding

Debbie is a community ecologist with experience of working in a range of habitats including upland and lowland grasslands, moorland and arable landscapes.  She is interested in how land management choices, particularly in the uplands influence biodiversity and other ecosystem services.  Recent work has involved studying the interactions between heather burning and grazing by deer and sheep and the subsequent recovery of vegetation after burning.

Debbie Fielding

The James Hutton Institute
Craigiebuckler
Aberdeen AB15 8QH
Scotland UK

Informing & influencing public opinion towards supporting UK livestock farmers

The concept for this project began when her Royal Highness, The Princess Royal, attended a special event held on Monday 21st October 2019 at Pentlands Science Park, Midlothian, to celebrate Moredun’s commitment to the contribution of livestock to food production, biodiversity and the environment. Discussions included working in collaboration with partner organisations to help promote the wider benefits of livestock in sustainable food production, promoting biodiversity and minimising any impact on the environment.