29 Apr 2025

Vegetation structure affects the territory size of meadow pipits

Our ongoing project at Glen Finglas has shown how sensitive biodiversity is to changing upland management. To maintain consistency, we have used the same monitoring methods since the beginning of the project.

  • Biodiversity
  • Climate and Environment
  • Land and Communities
  • Agriculture

24 Apr 2025

An analysis of Scottish Salmon’s price premium

It has been reported that the UK exiting of the European Union (Brexit) has affected salmon industry. Both the volume and value of salmon exported to the EU, which still is the main market for Scottish Salmon, have been impacted.

  • Animal Health & Welfare; Rural Economy

22 Apr 2025

Adding value to Scottish salmon: role of ecolabels and nutritional claims

The eco-labels "Farmed Responsibly ASC Certified" and "Certified Carbon Neutral" can potentially enhance the desirability of Scottish salmon among UK consumers. Additionally, labelling Scottish salmon as “High in Omega-3” could further increase its value.

  • Climate and Environment
  • Rural Economy; Land and Communities; Climate and Environment
  • Healthier Foods

18 Apr 2025

Adding value to Scottish salmon – what’s in a name?

Farmed salmon is one of Scotland’s main exports, benefitting the national economy and local communities.

  • Land and Communities
  • Healthier Foods

16 Apr 2025

Food support outlets in Scotland: their distribution and activities

In Scotland, about 11% of households experienced low food security (reporting reduced quality, variety, or desirability of diet) or

  • Food & Drink Innovation
  • Healthier Foods
  • Rural Economy

14 Apr 2025

Through the Lens of Psychology: How Can Psychology Theory Help Us Improve the Way We Communicate Animal Health & Welfare Messages?

There are clearly a range of ways that animal health and welfare researchers and policy makers can draw from psychology to improve the ways in which they communicate and/or elicit positive behaviour change in their target audiences.

  • Animal Health & Welfare

9 Apr 2025

Mapping of UK seafood supply reveals mismatch between production and consumption, and large nutrient losses through exports.

Transforming our diets to build a more sustainable food system is paramount to achieving net zero. Here, we provide a high-resolution perspective on United Kingdom (UK) seafood supplies and nutrient flows at species level.

  • Climate and Environment
  • Food & Drink Innovation
  • Land and Communities
  • Healthier Foods

19 Feb 2025

Science in Shetland: A Fast-Paced Week of Hands-on Learning and Knowledge Exchange about Disease Control

The Shetland Islands are some of the most remote Islands of the UK. Therefore, opportunities for hands-on STEM science and knowledge exchange of cutting-edge research can be challenging due to distance, weather and cost.

  • Science Education
  • Agriculture
  • Plant and Animal Health
  • Land and Communities
  • Rural Economy
  • SEFARI Gateway

14 Feb 2025

Atlantic oak woodland functional biodiversity and restoration of PAWS

Scottish Atlantic oak woods or temperate rainforest are rare and threatened habitats that support a vast array of biodiversity, particularly lichens and bryophytes.

  • Climate and Environment
  • Plant and Animal Health

20 Jan 2025

Community Wealth Building: Policy, Practice and Case studies

Community Wealth Building (CWB) is a people-centred approach to local economic development, which redirects wealth back into the local economy, and places control and benefits into the hands of local people.  

  • Land and Communities
  • Rural Economy

19 Dec 2024

What can we learn from AKIS policies in Europe?

Over the past decade, the European Commission has invested in a series of measures designed to support innovation in agriculture through networking all those involved in Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation System (AKIS): farmers, advisors, supply chain members, NGOs and researchers. 

  • Agriculture
  • Food & Drink Innovation
  • Rural Economy

6 Dec 2024

Monitoring castration and tail docking of lambs

Castration and tail docking of lambs are commonly performed management procedures in sheep farming. These interventions aim to prevent unwanted pregnancies caused by young rams that reach puberty, and to minimise risk of blowfly strike and maggot infestation of the breech, respectively.

  • Agriculture
  • Plant and Animal Health

3 Dec 2024

Refreshing crop genetic biodiversity

Genetic biodiversity is the fuel that drives crop improvement.  However, in major cereal crops, while the traditional method of crop improvement has brought significant yield improvements over time, it has also resulted in a drastic loss of crop genetic biodiversity. 

  • Food & Drink Innovation
  • Agriculture
  • Healthier Foods
  • Climate and the Environment
  • Plant and Animal Health
  • Rural Economy

24 Oct 2024

Assessing Scotland’s self-sufficiency of major food commodities

Achieving food security has gained prominence in the present policy agenda to increase resilience to adverse events. Using a novel method, we estimated the food balance sheets of Scotland, and assessed the self-sufficiency of major food commodities for the first time.

  • Food & Drink Innovation
  • Agriculture
  • Healthier Foods
  • Rural Economy

30 Sep 2024

Developing Dialogues on Land Use Decision Making for Natural Capital

Spurred in part by Scottish government policies such as the commitment to reach Net Zero by 2045, there has been an increase in investment in land for natural capital purposes in Scotland.

  • SEFARI Gateway
  • Land and Communities
  • Climate and the Environment

23 Aug 2024

Exploiting plant pathogen biology for future disease control

Agriculture faces many challenges, including a warming climate, more frequent occurrence of extreme climate events and increased incidence and severity of crop diseases.

  • Agriculture
  • Plant and Animal Health
  • Rural Economy

13 Jun 2024

Foodborne toxoplasmosis: a study of retail meat

Toxoplasma gondii is a parasite that impacts human and animal health worldwide. Infection in humans is usually very mild, however, there can be severe or life-threatening disease in immune compromised people or pregnant women.

  • Healthier Foods
  • Agriculture
  • Plant and Animal Health

9 May 2024

Does protected area status prevent biodiversity decline in plant communities?

Biodiversity is the variety of life on earth and is important to most aspects of our lives.

  • Climate and the Environment

21 Mar 2024

Developing a novel vaccine to protect sheep from chlamydial abortion

The bacterial pathogen Chlamydia abortus is responsible for causing the disease ovine enzootic abortion (OEA), also known as enzootic abortion of ewes (EAE).

  • Plant and Animal Health
  • Animal Health & Welfare

5 Mar 2024

Biosecurity, sustainable livestock parasite control and messaging

Roundworms and sheep scab mites are common throughout the UK and threaten the health, welfare and productivity of grazing livestock.

  • Plant and Animal Health
  • Rural Economy
  • Animal Health & Welfare

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