Sustainable Use, Conservation and Ecology of Natural Resources

The College has notable research strength in the Sustainable Use, Conservation and Ecology of Natural Resources, which spans marine and terrestrial environments with foci on marine renewable energy, fisheries and aquaculture, the coastal zone, forests, the agricultural landscape, and along the whole value chain of renewable materials and bio-based chemical products. Our impact in biodiversity conservation is underpinned by interdisciplinary research, with a major focus on the impact of conservation interventions on the livelihoods of local people. This theme delivers much of the impact derived from research in our three underpinning environmental and biological science themes.

Notable research centres are the Biocomposites Centre, Marine Centre Wales, SEACAMS, the Shellfish Centre, The Plastic Research Centre of Wales and the Environmental Centre Wales (a joint initiative with the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology). Major collaborative research projects include the BEACON Biorefining Centre of Excellence and Bluefish (Building Resilience into Blue Growth in the Irish & Celtic Seas Fisheries & Aquaculture).

Research with Impact

We have a long and successful record of promoting research with impact on the world beyond the University. Our research is marked by an interdisciplinary approach which is vital to tackle the pressing and complex challenges that face the world’s population, including global environmental change, biodiversity loss, soil degradation and unsustainable use of natural resources as well as communications, power generation and chemical clean up. Our research has a high level of impact.

International conservation and restoration of peatland and improved drinking water quality through peatland carbon sequestration research

Our research has impacted on UK and international policy on peatland/wetland conservation and restoration for climate change mitigation and water purification, by showing how peatlands function as a major global carbon sink and regulator of climate and water quality.

Novel genetic marker-assisted breeding produced a pearl millet hybrid grown on 700,000 ha of drought-prone areas in Northern India which has improved food security of three million people

Research using novel techniques of genetic marker-aided selection enabled the development of new high yield, disease- and drought-resistant pearl millet hybrids, of which HHB67-Improved was released throughout India.

Maize variety GM-6 brings £55 million of benefits to more than 300,000 resource-poor farmers in Western India

GM-6, a new maize variety developed through innovative Bangor crop breeding research (pioneering the use of participatory plant breeding) was released in three states in Western India between 2002 and 2005.

Novel applications for fractionation of plant biomass in the food ingredients industry

Yield of valuable biomass fibre components and their utilization in the food industry has been maximised by novel, cost-effective and environment-friendly plant fibre extraction methods developed by BEAA.

Enhanced carbon footprinting of food products

Bangor research has significantly affected vegetable sourcing and the distribution policies and practices of major fresh producers and UK supermarkets.

The Biocomposites Centre

The Biocomposites Centre plays a leading role in the bioeconomy by delivering innovations in biomaterials to industry such as sustainable food packaging to replace plastics. The Centre led a key report for the UK Centre for Climate Change:
Spear, M., Hill, C., Norton, A., Price, C., Ormondroyd, G. (2019). Wood in Construction in the UK: An Analysis of Carbon Abatement Potential. Extended Summary. Published as an annex to the Committee on Climate Change report "Biomass in a low-carbon economy". Report to the Committee on Climate Change.

Research Excellence Framework 2021 Impact Case Studies

Research Highlights

Julia is a conservation scientist who researches conservation impact evaluation (using quasi-experimental approaches, experimental approaches and participatory impact evaluation) and the impacts of conservation interventions (including agri-environment schemes, Payments for Ecosystem Services, community forest management, protected areas and biodiversity offsets). She has a particular focus on the social dimensions of conservation and greatly enjoys working with people, methods and approaches from across disciplinary divides. Julia has a strong interest in Madagascar where she has worked, with many Malagasy colleagues, for 20 years on issues around conservation and development. She has recently had a rekindling of interest in her first research focus, crayfish in Madagascar (due to the rapid spread of a parthenogenetic invasive crayfish with potentially huge social and ecological implications).

Find out more

Spotlight on Publications

Our research staff produce a range of publications within the theme of Sustainable Use, Conservation and Ecology of Natural Resources. This list represents the best of the best from 2014 to the present day.

Amoroso, RO, Pitcher, R, Rijnsdorp, AD, McConnaughey, RA, Parma, AM, Suuronen, P, Eigaard, OR, Bastardie, F, Hintzen, NT, Althaus, F, Baird, SJ, Black, J, Buhl-Mortensen, L, Campbell, A, Caterino, R, Collie, J, Cowan, JH, Durholtz, D, Engstrom, N, Fairweather, TP, Fock, HO, Ford, R, Galvez, PA, Gerritsen, H, Gongora, ME, Gonzalez, JA, Hiddink, J, Hughes, K, Intelmann, SS, Jenkins, C, Jonsson, P, Kainge, P, Kangas, M, Kathena, JN, Kavadas, S, Leslie, RW, Lewis, SG, Lundy, M, Makin, D, Martin, J, Mazor, T, Mirelis, GG, Newman, SJ, Papadopoulou, N, Posen, PE, Rochester, W, Russo, T, Sala, A, Semmens, JM, Silva, C, Tsolos, A, Vanelslander, B, Wakefield, CB, Wood, BA, Hilborn, R, Kaiser, M & Jennings, S 2018, 'Bottom trawl-fishing footprints on the world’s continental shelves', Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States, vol. 115, no. 43, pp. E10275-E10282. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1802379115

Fox, MD, Williams, GJ, Johnson, MD, Radice, VZ, Zgliczynski , BJ, Kelly, ELA, Rohwer, FL, Sandin, SA & Smith, JE 2018, 'Gradients in primary production predict trophic strategies of mixotrophic corals across spatial scales', Current Biology, vol. 28, no. 21, pp. 3355-3363. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2018.08.057

Safaie, A, Silbiger, NJ, McClanahan, TR, Pawlak, G, Barshis, DJ, Hench, JL, Rogers, JS, Williams, G & Davis, KA 2018, 'High frequency temperature variability reduces the risk of coral bleaching', Nature Communications, vol. 9, 1671. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-04074-2

Gove, JM, McManus, MA, Neuheimer, AB, Polovina, JJ, Drazen, JC, Smith, CR, Merrifield, MA, Friedlander, AM, Ehses, JS, Young, CW, Dillon, AK & Williams, G 2016, 'Near-island biological hotspots in barren ocean basins', Nature Communications, vol. 7, 10581. https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms10581

Wintle, BA, Kujala, H, Whitehead, A, Cameron, A, Veloz, S, Kukkala, A, Moilanen, A, Gordon, A, Lentini, PE, Cadenhead, NCR & Bekessy, SA 2019, 'Global synthesis of conservation studies reveals the importance of small habitat patches for biodiversity', Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, vol. 116, no. 3, pp. 909-914. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1813051115

Brown, JL, Cameron, A, Yoder, AD & Vences, M 2014, 'A necessarily complex model to explain the biogeography of the amphibians and reptiles of Madagascar', Nature Communications, vol. 5, 5046. https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms6046

DRYFLOR, McDonald, M, Banda-R, K, Delgado-Salinas, A, Dexter, KG, Linares-Palomino, R, Oliveira-Filho, A, Prado, D, Pullan, M, Quintana, C, Riina, R, Rodríguez M, GM, Weintritt, J, Acevedo-Rodríguez, P, Adarve, J, Álvarez, E, Aranguren B., A, Arteaga, JC, Aymard, G, Castaño, A & Ceballos-Mago, N 2016, 'Plant diversity patterns in neotropical dry forests and their conservation implications', Science, vol. 353, no. 6306, pp. 1383-1387. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aaf5080

Willcock, S. et al. (2020). Regime shifts occur disproportionately faster in larger ecosystems. Nature Communications (in press).

Willcock, S. et al. (2020). Asynchronous carbon sink saturation in African and Amazonian tropical forests. Nature (in press).

Warren-Thomas, E.M., Edwards, D.P., Bebber, D.P., Chhang, P., Diment, A.N., Evans, T.D., Lambrick, F.H., Maxwell, J.F., Nut, M., O’Kelly, H.J., Theilade, I. & Dolman, P.M.. (2018). Protecting tropical forests from the rapid expansion of rubber using carbon payments. Nature Communications 9: 911.

Poorter, L, van der Sande, MT, Thompson, J, Arets, EJ, Alarcón, A, Álvarez-Sánchez, J, Ascarrunz, N, Balvanera, P, Barajas-Guzmán, G, Boit, A, Bongers, F, Carvalho, FA, Casanoves, F, Cornejo-Tenorio, G, Costa, FR, de Castilho, CV, Duivenvoorden, JF, Dutrieux, LP, Enquist, BJ, Fernández-Méndez, F, Finegan, B, Gormley, L, Healey, JR, Hoosbeek, MR, Ibarra-Manríquez, G, Junqueira, AB, Levis, C, Licona, JC, Lisboa, LS, Magnusson, WE, Martínez-Ramos, M, Martínez-Yrizar, A, Martorano, LG, Maskell, LC, Mazzei, L, Meave, JA, Mora, F, Muñoz, R, Nytch, C, Pansonato, MP, Parr, TW, Paz, H, Pérez-García, EA, Rentería, LY, Rodríguez-Velazquez, J, Rozendaal, DM, Ruschel, AR, Sakschewski, B, Salgado-Negret, B, Schietti, J, Simões, M, Sinclair, FL, Souza, PF, Souza, FC, Stropp, J, ter Steege, H, Swenson, NG, Thonicke, K, Toledo, M, Uriarte, M, van der Hout, P, Walker, P, Zamora, N & and Peña-Claros, M 2015, 'Diversity enhances carbon storage in tropical forests', Global Ecology and Biogeography, vol. 24, no. 11, pp. 1314-1328. https://doi.org/10.1111/geb.12364

Soteriades, AD, Foskolos, A, Styles, D & Gibbons, JM 2019, 'Diversification not specialization reduces global and local environmental burdens from livestock production', Environment International, vol. 132, no. November, 104837. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2019.05.031

Voelker, SL, Brooks, JR, Meinzer, FC, Anderson, R, Bader, MK, Battipaglia, G, Becklin, KM, Beerling, D, Bert, D,

Betancourt, JL, Dawson, TE, Domec, JC, Guyette, RP, Korner, C, Leavitt, SW, Linder, S, Marshall, JD, Mildner, M, Ogee, J, Panyushkina, I, Plumpton, HJ, Pregitzer, KS, Saurer, M, Smith, AR, Siedwolf, RT, Stambaugh, MC, Talhelm, AF, Tardif, JC, Van de Water, PK, Ward, JK & Wingate, L 2016, 'A dynamic leaf gas-exchange strategy is conserved in woody plants under changing ambient CO2: evidence from carbon isotope discrimination in paleo and CO2 enrichment studies', Global Change Biology, vol. 22, no. 2, pp. 889-902. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.13102

Reinsch, S, Koller, E, Sowerby, A, de Dato, G, Estiarte, M, Guidolotti, G, Kovács-Láng, E, Kröel-Dulay, G, Lellei-Kovács, E, Larsen, KS, Liberati, D, Peñuelas, J, Ransijn, J, Robinson, D, Schmidt, IK, Smith, A, Tietema, A, Dukes, JS, Beier, C & Emmett, B 2017, 'Shrubland primary production and soil respiration diverge along European climate gradient', Scientific Reports, vol. 7, 43952. https://doi.org/10.1038/srep43952