Research

All communities in Scotland face water-related challenges but remote and coastal communities may face different challenges to those in urban areas, for example, difficulty in connecting to water mains supply or increased vulnerability to changes in distribution. This project aims to identify perceptions of water issues, exemplars of community action, and linkages between national & local policy, for better management of water resources in coastal areas.  

Our overall aim is to investigate the potential productivity and environmental impacts of the introduction of alternative land management practices including measures introduced as part of CAP Greening. We will investigate both technological and knowledge based solutions, involving participatory approaches with farmers and land managers, in order to deliver profitability and step changes in environmental performance.

The research builds on previous work within the RESAS Strategic Programme and on collaborations with UK and International partners.

To advance our knowledge of how to improve disease control strategies through epidemiological and socio-economic approaches.  This includes research into the spread of important, targeted, endemic pathogens and antimicrobial resistance (AMR) via livestock and the environment including transmission of such pathogens to humans. 

In order to achieve this, we will more specifically:

There remain large gaps in understanding how changes in management and the environment alter community composition and, hence, ecosystem functions. This Research Deliverable (RD) addresses how ecosystem functions are regulated by the traits of species present, and how potential limits for the maintenance of ecosystem function can be captured in ecosystem health metrics.

Biodiversity management To deliver research that helps Scotland meet biodiversity goals as set by the Aichi Targets, the EU Biodiversity Strategy and, specifically, the Scottish Biodiversity Strategy. It will do this by considering the effectiveness of alternative biodiversity/land management measures and potential options for safeguarding against biodiversity loss. These measures and options can then be integrated into future policy development.

The main activities will focus on barley, wheat, potato and soft fruit, the crops of major importance to the Scottish economy. For each crop, the spectrum of capabilities is linked into translational crop genomics pipelines that ultimately deliver improved cultivars. Underpinning research in all projects will be the continued development of novel technologies and approaches including custom platforms for genomic and functional characterisation of important traits.

This research deliverable addresses the following question: What are the links between trends in farming/crofting/key rural industries and population change, in sparsely populated rural areas, and how do these affect the resilience of rural communities? The project will consider recent trends (since 1991) and will formulate scenarios for the period up to 2050.

The current crisis in public health (obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, stroke and some cancers) is strongly rooted in an imbalance in dietary components. A healthy balanced diet not only requires reductions in fat, salt, sugar, and in overall calorie intake, but also an increase in fibre and an appropriate level of protein intake. The aim of this RD is to strengthen our understanding of the role of dietary components (in particular fibre and protein) in a healthy diet.

Disease mechanisms: The aim of this work is to provide increased understanding of how pathogens (viruses, bacteria and parasites) interact with their host to cause disease.  This new knowledge will underpin the development of next-generation control strategies for a range of infectious diseases of importance to livestock production both nationally and internationally.

Disease Threats in the Environment: Investigate the importance of the environment in disease transmission and host susceptibility to improve risk prediction and ultimately disease control. This aligns with the UK Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) strategy and will contribute towards the vison for capacity building and further integration.  The work is split into four main objectives: (1) wildlife ecology; (2) the impact of farm management practices on disease risk; (3) a role for the environment on disease transmission; and (4) systems approaches for disease control.