A multi-million pound programme of strategic research delivered over five years providing science and evidence to support policymakers and its partners. Informed by strong partnerships and the needs of a broad range of stakeholders. Science at the heart of society contributing to the health, wealth and wellbeing of Scotland and beyond.
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Research
Ongoing research (2022-2027)
Displaying 21 - 30 of 32
Alternative approaches to sustainable land management
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.
- Improving Agricultural Practice
- 2016-2022
Ecosystem services provision
Ecosystem services provision: To develop an in-depth understanding by 2021 of the impacts of selected management interventions (including restoration) on Ecosystem Service (ES) flows and of the associated trajectories of change. This will be linked to decision making and reporting towards international commitments at the national level, and help develop our impact and collaborations in the international scientific community.
- Natural Capital
- 2016-2022
Effectiveness of water management
To enable the uptake of measures that will improve water management, both to improve water quality and to contribute to flood risk management. This RD examines the options to improve water management in the complex socio-economic and policy settings of 'real world' catchment management.
- Water
- 2016-2022
Identifying and understanding multiple benefits and trade-offs
Identifying and understanding multiple benefits and trade-offs – this work aims to have developed approaches that will support integrated decision-making to protect multiple natural assets and maximise benefits in socially acceptable ways. We will have identified and quantified impacts on, and trade-offs among, multiple ecosystem services (ESS) generated by land use and land management change across spatial scales.
This will entail:
- Natural Capital
- 2016-2022
Livestock genetic improvement tools
The aim of this RD is to improve livestock production, efficiency and welfare, whilst decreasing the use of resources and impact on the environment. This will be achieved using current and next generation tools, focussing on genomics and targeted gene approaches for production (growth, efficiency), maternal and health characteristics (including economically important endemic diseases).
- Livestock Improvement
- 2016-2022
Natural Asset Inventory and Natural Capital Accounts
Natural Asset Inventory and Natural Capital Accounts: the aim is to develop a spatially-referenced register of Scotland’s natural assets and contribute to a set of natural capital accounts for Scotland that can over time track the progress of Scotland's green growth aspirations.
- Natural Capital
- 2016-2022
Practical interventions to realise multiple benefits and manage trade-offs
The aim of this research is to evaluate the potential to manage trade-offs and deliver multiple benefits from natural assets at the landscape scale. Focussing on agri-environment and woodland expansion schemes, together with integrated catchment management, the research uses practical examples to explore trade-offs and impacts taking into account social and cultural values as well environmental considerations in relation to land use and land use change.
- Natural Capital
- 2016-2022
Soil and GHG emissions
To improve understanding of the impacts of extensive land use and management on greenhouse gas dynamics The work will focus on the impacts of land use, including the agricultural intensification of extensive/upland soils and the management of semi-natural ecosystems such as peatlands and moorlands (wet and dry heathlands excluding areas of deep peat) on soil carbon stocks and greenhouse gas dynamics to reduce the uncertainty in our estimates of GHG uptake and release from these systems and to enhance our understanding of the impacts of forest-to-bog peatland restoration...
- Soils
- 2016-2022
Soil management
To support the sustainable use and management of Scotland’s soil resource. We will provide new and improved tools to predict how soil functions respond to land use, management and environmental pressures.
- Soils
- 2016-2022
Soil resilience
To understand resilience of soils in Scottish semi-natural ecosystems. This research aims to understand the relationships among disturbance factors, soil properties, processes and soil functions for a range of important Scottish semi-natural ecosystems (peatland, moorland, woodland, grassland, alpine systems). This will enable assessments of the resilience of soil functions to changes in climate, environmental, and socio-economic factors.
- Soils
- 2016-2022