Integrating Spatial Data on the Rural Economy, Land Use and Biodiversity

Project Status: Completed (See Final Report Summary)
Type of Project: Development Activity
Principal Investigator: Dr Piran White, University of York (Email)

 

Objectives

The emphasis of government policy on sustainable development has highlighted the importance of maintaining and enhancing biodiversity on local, regional and national scales. But this objective must be set against significant policy changes that are altering the shape of the rural economy. Understanding the links between biodiversity and economy is therefore important. However, this has been hindered in the past because ecological and socio-economic data are collated in different ways. The aim of this project is to use a new technique within a Geographical Information System to bring these different data sources together, to allow us to investigate the relationships between biodiversity (birds and mammals) and agricultural production at different scales. This integrative approach has the potential to be of considerable value in informing policy in rural areas over the next 10-20 years. It will be of benefit to government departments at both national and regional levels, and nature conservation organisations. The indirect benefits will also extend to local communities and volunteers who collect data on the distribution and abundance of species in the countryside.

Conference Papers and Presentations

 

White, P. (2005) "Integrating spatial data" Presentation to RELU conference Rural Economy and Land Use: The Challenge for Research 19-21 Jan 2005, Birmingham.
http://www.relu.ac.uk/events/Jan05/Presentations/p4.5.White.PDF

Raffaelli, D., White, P. and Seivwright, L. (2005) “International interdisciplinary research: a review of programmes and the implications for RELU” Presentation to RELU Workshop People and the Environment: Scoping the Research Agenda, York.

Raffaelli, D., (2005) “RELU - The international context” Presentation to RELU conference Rural Economy and Land Use: The Challenge for Research 19-21 Jan 2005, Birmingham.