Making space for open ecosystem research in Scotland

In early May, the Centre for Sustainable Forests and Landscapes hosted the first Scottish Open Ecosystems Research Day led by the National Trust for Scotland and Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE). The aim was to bring together voices from policy, practice and research to hear updates about ongoing activities across sectors and make space for sharing perspectives, building collaboration and identifying the opportunities and challenges facing open ecosystems in Scotland.  

Open ecosystems caught the attention of one of the lead organisers Dr Susan Eshelman (RBGE), who shares how they came up with the idea for the event:

I have worked across open ecosystems throughout my career, including African savannas, Hungarian loess grasslands, and Scottish uplands. My research primarily focuses on how land use change and management impact open ecosystems’ distributions, diversity, and functioning. 

Recently I have been working on a co-designed fellowship project between RBGE and NTS aimed at understanding the impacts land use change has on Scotland open habitats (species rich grasslands to peatland and upland heath). When designing this project, we noticed that there were limited opportunities for those of us working on open ecosystems in Scotland to come together and share our knowledge as well as discuss the challenges and areas for future development. Therefore, we wanted to create a (hopefully) annual event aimed at highlighting different research, discussing particular themes, and encouraging collaboration between individuals and organisations working on open ecosystems across Scotland and the wider-UK. 

Scottish open ecosystems are brimming with biodiversity and provide invaluable services, such as carbon sequestration, pollination, and water filtration and storage. However, these important ecosystems are in a difficult position facing the pressures of land-use change, which can impact their ability to function and, ultimately, existence. For example, the policy drive to rapidly increase tree cover for meeting national Net Zero targets, some of which may occur on open ecosystems. Currently, there is a lack of evidence on the impacts woodland creation causes to the biodiversity of open ecosystems, such as grasslands.

Understanding and managing these pressures to maintain open ecosystems are complicated by the spread of priorities, knowledge, and data across research, government, NGOs, and private organisations. By gathering 50 voices of those with interests, access and enthusiasm for Scotland’s open ecosystems to share their knowledge and discuss these land-use pressures, this event enabled progress towards a coherent understanding of what we know and how to prioritise where to go next.

Before the event, attendees were asked to complete a survey to help the organisers gauge expectations for the day, prioritise topics for discussion and understand who had relevant data sources they may be willing to share. The results flagged key themes that apply to the ecological functioning of open ecosystems, such as uncertainty over afforestation and herbivore grazing impacts and resilience to climate change. Other themes referred more to the governance and social side of managing these ecosystems, namely funding pathways, public perceptions and policy regulation. 

To start the day, Prof Caroline Lehmann (RBGE) and Prof Marc Metzger (CSFL) set the scene and introduced the aims of the day before welcoming the exciting line-up of speakers for the morning. The presentations about ongoing research alongside management and policy initiatives from representatives of University of Highlands and Islands (UHI), Butterfly Conservation and Scottish Forestry alongside lead organisers Dr Susan Eshelman and Jeff Waddell (National Trust for Scotland), gave a mix of perspectives on important issues for open ecosystems.

In the afternoon, breakout groups used a ranking activity to discuss and prioritise the impacts and pressures facing open ecosystems. This was separated out into the following different types of open ecosystems:

• Coastal habitats
• Grasslands
• Heathland, scrub and tundra
• Mires, bogs and fens

Across all types of open ecosystems, climate change was a key concern. The next task was exploring how these pressures are connected through a mapping exercise – a complex task given the context, time and location of each site can hold unique challenges. Climate change was identified as an underlying driver of other impacts such as afforestation, agriculture, grazing, invasive species and land abandonment. However, the social dynamics of land-use decision making were also identified as attendees shared how the balance of voices representing ecosystems is far from fair in all sectors. Data sharing was identified as one key way to build more knowledge, communication and cohesion amongst those advocating for the value of these ecosystems going forward. Hopefully, more events like this one will open the doors for a more positive future for Scotland’s open ecosystems!

Attendees from the research day kindly shared their reflections from the event:

Interested in hearing more about the day? To read the full report from the event, please contact Dr Susan Eshelman at seshelman@rbge.org.uk  

Keep an eye out on CSFL’s LinkedIn if you are interested in attending similar events!