Improving urban habitat management for insect pollinators and people

该奖学金将通过与重要的利益相关者团体合作，提高英国城市地区对昆虫传粉者的价值，这些利益相关群体包括城市土地管理者、政策制定者、保护从业者、商业、学术研究人员和园林行业。虽然自然保护区和农田有许多传粉者计划，但城市地区却没有，尽管支持了许多传粉者物种。为什么这项工作很重要？大黄蜂、苍蝇和蝴蝶等昆虫为农作物和野花授粉，提供重要的生态系统服务。传粉者保护对全球粮食安全很重要，每年动物授粉服务的价值估计为1290亿GB[1]。据报道，昆虫传粉者的减少对粮食生产有严重影响[2]。对传粉者减少的担忧是政策议程上的重中之重；Defra将于2014年7月发布国家传粉者战略，2013年发布威尔士传粉者行动计划。Defra战略的六个核心领域之一专门针对城镇和公共土地的授粉者友好管理。我们的研究表明，城市地区可以支持重要的传粉者群落，为更广泛的景观提供连接的栖息地，并为城市粮食生产提供授粉服务[3，4]。保护整个英国景观的生物多样性是政府的一项关键优先事项[5，6]，规划当局需要保护优先物种，包括传粉者，并尽可能减少对生物多样性的影响并提供净收益[7]。传粉者服务将是政府间生物多样性和生态系统服务专门委员会的第一次快速评估。背景该奖学金将建立在由昆虫传粉者倡议(NERC、BBSRC、Defra、苏格兰政府和惠康信托基金)资助的“城市传粉者：他们的生态和保护”项目期间进行的研究基础上。我是首席博士后研究员，负责协调研究的所有方面(2011-14年)。该项目研究了复制城市、农场和自然保护区的传粉者，对四个城市的700个地点进行了采样，以评估城市栖息地对传粉者的适宜性，并种植了60片富含花粉和花蜜的花卉草地，以检查它们对传粉者的好处。KE活动将更广泛地利用其他相关的城市研究和其他八个昆虫传粉者倡议项目的研究人员的专业知识。我还将在林恩·迪克斯的NERC KE奖学金(2011-14)的基础上，应用她的交付小组方法来具体解决城市景观中的传粉者保护问题。迪克斯的奖学金侧重于乡村和农业景观中传粉者的保护；拟议的奖学金专门针对城市地区。奖学金KE计划在这个为期三年的奖学金期间，我将应用KE过程来改善英国城市地区昆虫传粉者的管理，并促进采用传粉者友好的管理实践。城市生境是公共和私人所有土地的复杂马赛克，六个工作包将为广泛的利益攸关方带来KE：i)将研究结果纳入政策建议，ii)建立利益攸关方城市传粉者保护交付小组，以确定和解决优先知识需求，iii)审查、研讨会和试验道路边缘和宜人的草原管理，iv)与行业合作开发传粉者草坪混合，v)通过示范点促进私营企业采用有利于传粉者的栖息地管理，vi)制作在布里斯托尔制定的倡议的案例研究，以便在全国范围内应用。2008年生态经济学；[2]Breeze等人。2014 PLoS One；[3]Baldock等人。回顾Proc Roy Soc B；[4]Baldock等人。2011年《自然选择：保护自然的价值》；[6]《生物多样性2020年》；[7]DCLG 2012年国家规划政策框架

This fellowship will improve the value of UK urban areas for insect pollinators by working with important stakeholder groups including urban land managers, policymakers, conservation practitioners, business, academic researchers and the landscape industry. While nature reserves and farmland have many pollinator initiatives in place, urban areas do not despite supporting many pollinator species.Why the work is importantInsects such as bumblebees, hoverflies and butterflies pollinate crops and wild flowers providing an important ecosystem service. Pollinator conservation is important for global food security and the value of pollination services by animals is estimated at £129bn per year [1]. Reported declines in insect pollinators have serious implications for food production [2]. Concern over pollinator declines is high on policy agendas; Defra will publish a National Pollinator Strategy in July 2014 and a Welsh Pollinators Action Plan was published in 2013. One of six core areas of Defra's Strategy specifically addresses pollinator-friendly management of towns, cities and public land. Our research shows that urban areas can support important pollinator communities, provide connecting habitat across the wider landscape and pollination services for urban food production [3,4]. Safeguarding biodiversity across the UK landscape is a key government priority [5,6] with planning authorities required to protect priority species, including pollinators, as well as minimise impacts on biodiversity and provide net gains where possible [7]. Pollinator services will be the first fast-track assessment of the Intergovernmental Panel on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services.ContextThe fellowship will build on research carried out during the 'Urban Pollinators: their Ecology and Conservation' project, funded by the Insect Pollinators Initiative (NERC, BBSRC, Defra, Scottish Government and The Wellcome Trust). I was the lead postdoctoral researcher and co-ordinated all aspects of the research (2011-14). The project studied pollinators in replicate cities, farms and nature reserves, sampled 700 sites in four cities to assess the suitability of urban habitats for pollinators and planted 60 pollen and nectar-rich flower meadows to examine their benefit for pollinators. The KE activities will draw more widely on other relevant urban research and the expertise of researchers in the eight other Insect Pollinators Initiative projects. I will also build on Lynn Dicks' NERC KE Fellowship (2011-14) by applying her Delivery Group approach to specifically address pollinator conservation in urban landscapes. Dicks' fellowship focused on pollinator conservation in rural and agricultural landscapes; the proposed fellowship specifically targets urban areas.Fellowship KE programmeDuring this three-year fellowship I will apply KE processes to improve the management of UK urban areas for insect pollinators and promote the uptake of pollinator friendly management practices. Urban habitats are a complex mosaic of public and privately-owned land and six work packages will bring KE to a broad spectrum of stakeholders: i) incorporation of research findings into policy recommendations, ii) establishment of a stakeholders' Urban Pollinator Conservation Delivery Group to identify and address priority knowledge needs, iii) review, workshop and trials on road verge and amenity grassland management, iv) development of a pollinator lawn mix in collaboration with industry, v) promoting uptake of pollinator-friendly habitat management by private business via demonstration sites and vi) producing case studies on initiatives developed in Bristol to apply nationally.Refs: [1] Gallai et al. 2008 Ecol Econ; [2] Breeze et al. 2014 PLoS ONE; [3] Baldock et al. in review Proc Roy Soc B; [4] Baldock et al. in prep; [5] Defra 2011 The Natural Choice: securing the value of nature; [6] Defra 2011 Biodiversity 2020; [7] DCLG 2012 National Planning Policy Framework