Centre for Econics and Ecosystem Management (CEEM)

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The School of Sustainable Environments supports a broad research portfolio within the discipline of biodiversity conservation. A significant component of this work is carried out in collaboration with partner academic institutes and sector-based organisations both in the UK and abroad including the RSPB, Woodland Trust, Forestry Commission, National Trust and Essex Wildlife Trust, in this country; and Oulu University, Finland, Eberswalde University of Sustainability, Germany, and the Carpathian Biosphere Reserve, Ukraine. Much of the research across the school is applied and focuses on the needs of various sector organisations. For instance both staff and PhD students are currently investigating aspects of ecosystem resilience and thermodynamic efficiency in semi-natural landscapes with particular reference to forest systems in the UK, northern Finland, Eastern parts of Germany, and the Carpathian region of the Ukraine. Distinct from this work is a programme of ongoing theoretical research in partnership with German colleagues that analyses the application of complex systems theory and post normal science to problems of sustainable development and global biodiversity conservation. A synthesis of this research culminated in the publication of a substantial volume of the Convention for Biological Diversity technical series in preparation for the COP10 congress on biodiversity hosted in Nagoya, Japan. Both staff and PhD research outcomes have been published widely in various journals, and also presented at international conferences around the World including, most recently, the IUFRO congress in Korea, the ECCB in Prague, the European congress on Natura 2000 in Germany, and the European conference on beech forest also hosted in Germany.

Other collaborative staff-sector research work with a more specific species focus has helped strengthen the ties between academia and industry but also contributed significantly to applied research knowledge. For instance, the recent work carried out on the ecology of a new British Plume Moth (Emmelina argoteles), and the Red-tailed Bumblebee Bombus lapidarius.

Finally, the research programme within the School of Sustainable Environments draws heavily on the resources offered at the college including extensive use of mixed agricultural landscape, glasshouse facilities, livestock, and considerable meta data generated from the two national recording schemes based at the college – the National Butterfly Monitoring Scheme, and the Rothamsted Insect Survey Scheme. In addition, ongoing collaboration with organisations within the environmental sector including the RSPB, National Trust, Woodland Trust, Essex and Suffolk Wildlife Trusts, and Forestry Commission allows staff to broaden the scope of research to include landscape types other than agricultural systems.