The Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) is inviting applications to join a scoping group that will develop the science case for a potential strategic research programme on designing future landscapes for biodiversity and ecosystem services.

Introducing the opportunity, NERC said land-use changes are a major influence on biodiversity and ecosystem processes at multiple scales. With environmental, social and economic pressures likely to engender further land use changes, managing the natural environment will necessitate radical improvements in the quality and quantity of information on the biodiversity / ecosystem services supply chain.

Improved integration of knowledge, driven in part by new technologies, provide an opportunity for a more targeted and adaptive approach to be developed to underpin bespoke evidence-based policy and decision making across the UK.

Integration is required to answer key questions such as how to spatially arrange landscapes to maintain biodiversity and agricultural productivity in a changing world.

Promising new technologies include:

• the new European Copernicus satellites;
• information communication and technology (ICT) methods for linking local and remote sensors;
• networks and systems;
• and advances in metagenomics and transcriptomic analysis.

According to NERC, there is an opportunity for a step change in understanding of the role of landscape properties for the delivery and resilience of biodiversity and ecosystem services.

NERC is now inviting applications from individuals wishing to join the scoping group that will develop the science case for consideration by NERC.

Scoping group meeting

Professor Alison Hester of the James Hutton Institute has agreed to chair the scoping group. The scoping group will convene for a two-day meeting which all members must attend. The group will be tasked with producing a science case by the end of June 2017.

The meeting will take place on 10-11 May 2017 at a venue in the London area. Applying to join the scoping group will be confirmation of applicants’ availability to attend the two-day meeting.

Deadline for submission of applications is 27 March 2017 - successful applicants will be informed of the outcome by 6 April 2017.

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