Towards design of chemical-resilient agricultural landscapes

Project Overview: UK biodiversity is under threat: the abundance of terrestrial and freshwater species has declined by 13% since 1970 and 15% of species are threatened with extinction. As 71% of UK land is used for agriculture, any effort to halt UK biodiversity decline must consider how agricultural landscapes are managed. This CASE PhD project will address the twin challenge of maintaining UK food production to meet demands for national food security whilst also delivering on the UK's commitment to halt biodiversity loss 2030. To do this, the research will involve visioning of alternative futures for agricultural landscapes; this may range from relatively simple management features, to habitat creation,
alternative cropping systems, and the role of innovative food production systems such as regenerative agriculture and urban agriculture. The project will evaluate impacts of chemicals and other stressors on biodiversity and delivery of other ecosystem services under baseline (current) conditions, and then compare these with landscape-level delivery under the alternative future scenarios.

The supervisory team of Colin Brown (York), Lorraine Maltby (Sheffield), Roman Ashauer (Syngenta) and Mike Fryer (Chemicals Regulation Division) all have extensive experience of research into agricultural systems, and bring complementary expertise in environmental modelling, chemical exposure, chemical effects, landscape ecology, and regulation/policy.