Details of Award
NERC Reference : NE/R007845/1
Designing landscapes to support pollination services for the soft fruit industry
Training Grant Award
- Lead Supervisor:
- Dr L Dicks, University of East Anglia, Biological Sciences
- Grant held at:
- University of East Anglia, Biological Sciences
- Science Area:
- Terrestrial
- Overall Classification:
- Terrestrial
- ENRIs:
- Biodiversity
- Global Change
- Natural Resource Management
- Science Topics:
- Managed landscapes
- Sustainable agriculture
- Agricultural systems
- Applied ecology
- Earth & environmental
- Ecosystem services
- Conservation Ecology
- Environmental economics
- Pricing of environmental resources
- Pollination
- Plant reproductive biology
- Abstract:
- BerryWorld is the UK's leading soft fruit marketing company, with 30% share of the UK soft fruit market and a turnover of 300 million pounds. Soft fruits such as raspberries, strawberries and blueberries rely on visits from bees and other insects to assure a good yield of well-shaped, sweet, firm fruit. BerryWorld recognises pollination as a core element of sustainability for the business, linking its growers directly to the natural resources within their local landscapes. This project was conceived by BerryWorld, as a way to develop a blueprint for pollinator-friendly landscapes that will serve as guidance for growers and can be incorporated into the company's environmental policy. The research has two overarching aims. First, to characterise what soft fruit pollinators need from the surrounding landscape. Second to quantify in the UK context how landscape management for pollinators compares, in costeffectiveness, to planting wild flower strips on farms, or using purchased bumblebee colonies or honey bee hives to support pollination of soft fruit. Globally, pollinators are worth $235 to $577 billion per year for their direct contribution to production of crops, including many fruits, vegetables and oils. Approximately half of this pollination value comes from wild insects, living freely in the landscapes surrounding the crops. Many of these wild pollinators are declining in range and/or abundance and effective conservation action to reverse these declines is a major societal priority. The recent global assessment of pollinators and pollination conducted by the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Service (IPBES) identified agriculture as a key sector for supporting pollinators and pollination services worldwide. This project represents a big step forward, by engaging agricultural industry in managing landscapes to support specific natural resources of direct value to their business. BerryWorld is investing in the research to improve the long term sustainability and resilience of outdoor fruit growing, both in the UK and in key fruit-supplying countries around the world. BerryWorld is also keen to explore opportunities for efficiency gains in soft fruit production, through maximising natural pollinators and minimising the number of hives bought in to supply pollination. Two key scientific questions need answering before a blueprint for pollinator-friendly landscapes can be written: 1) Can wild pollinator communities provide sufficient pollination for intensive soft fruit production? 2) Which elements of surrounding landscape (if any) predict pollination services delivered to outdoor UK soft fruit? The work will focus on raspberries and blueberries, important crops for BerryWorld. The research will investigate the costs and feasibility of manipulating landscape elements to enhance pollination. During the project, the student will apply standard pollination ecology and landscape ecology methods. He/she will also test new methods of measuring pollination services delivered by wild insects, using DNA sequencing to identify pollinator species and understand how they use the landscape, and mathematical simulation modelling to predict pollination service levels from the traits of flower-visiting insect species. This research fits NERC's strategic direction because it is focused on how food production can benefit from natural resources (pollinators) through changes to landscape management. Pollinators are explicitly highlighted as an example of benefiting from natural resources in NERC's Strategy document The Business of the Environment. In keeping with NERC's approach of working in partnership to achieve a sustainable agri-food sector, this project has been co-designed with business. It will deliver a combination of scientific outputs, excellent student training and added value in the form of a specific product (a blueprint for pollinator-friendly landscapes) needed by the CASE partner.
- NERC Reference:
- NE/R007845/1
- Grant Stage:
- Completed
- Scheme:
- DTG - directed
- Grant Status:
- Closed
- Programme:
- Industrial CASE
This training grant award has a total value of £89,520
FDAB - Financial Details (Award breakdown by headings)
| Total - Fees | Total - RTSG | Total - Student Stipend |
|---|---|---|
| £17,480 | £11,000 | £61,042 |
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