Hedges and field margins are important wildlife habitats and deliver a range of ecosystem services, and their value is increasingly recognised by ecologists. This book reviews and assesses the current state of research on hedgerows and associated field margins. With the intensification of agriculture in the second half of the last century, field sizes were increased by amalgamation and the rooting out of hedges, synthetic pesticide and inorganic fertiliser use increased, and traditional methods of hedge management were largely abandoned. The book is split into two main sections. The first deals with definitions, current and historic management, the impact of pesticides, the decline in hedge stock and condition, and new approaches to hedge evaluation using remote sensing techniques. The second section explores the pollination and biological pest control benefits provided by hedges and field margins and examines the ecology of some of the major groups that are found in hedgerows and field margins: butterflies and moths, carabid beetles, mammals, and birds. A case study on birds and invertebrates from a research farm managed as a commercial enterprise, but which attempts to farm with wildlife in mind, brings these themes together. A final chapter introduces the neglected area of hedges in the urban environment. The book will be of great interest to advanced students, researchers and professionals in ecology, agriculture, wildlife conservation, natural history, landscape, environmental and land management.

An absorbing celebration of the ecology, biology and cultural history of the rich hedgerow heritage in the British Isles. Much of the UK is intensively farmed, and in such landscapes hedges are often the only refuge for wildlife. In addition to providing shelter, protection and food for animals, they also connect and bind together the patches of habitat that do remain, as well as playing vital roles in soil conservation and flood prevention – in short, they are vital for nature's recovery. In Hedges, Robert Wolton brings together decades of research, while also incorporating personal experiences from his farm in Devon, to explore the ecology, nature conservation and wider environmental values of our hedges. From improving water quality and producing wood fuel as a renewable energy source to the use of hedges in boosting crop pollination, this engaging and authoritative book will help to inspire people to value and look after the remarkably rich hedgerow heritage we have in the British Isles. Containing more than 300 photographs and figures, this latest addition to the British Wildlife Collection is a comprehensive commentary on hedges and our relationship with them.

On this joyous journey around the wild edges of Britain, celebrated author Christopher Hart takes us through the life, ecology and history of the humble countryside hedge and how it is inextricably woven into our language, landscape and culture. Hedges – or hedgerows – have long been an integral part of the British landscape. An ancient, human-made boundary, hedgerows have become a critically important haven for wildlife and are now being recognised as one of the greatest ‘edge’ habitats on Earth. Britain boasts 400,000 kilometres of hedgerows, but has lost 50 per cent of them since the Second World War and their slow deterioration today is becoming a huge threat to the ecosystem. In Hedgelands, Christopher Hart shares the history of the hedge, highlighting the hawthorn and hazel of ancient hedgerows, and reveals its abundance of wildlife, from the elusive dunnock to the iconic nightingale, the industrious hedgehog to the miniscule harvest mouse. He demonstrates how this true environmental hero and powerful climate ally can help rebuild species-rich, resilient havens for birds, mammals and insects. Hedges play a vital role in mature woodland, grassland and even wetland, all of which can offer us much-needed ecological diversity and carbon sequestration. Through rewilding a patch of land in southwest England, Christopher shows us how easy, joyful and rewarding it is to restore even the smallest stretch of hedge. Whether you live in the country or the city, Hedgelands shares how simple actions can make a huge difference to the future of our precious hedges – and environment. “What’s good for us is good for nature, and what’s good for nature is good for us. And nowhere is this more true than in the bustling, flourishing, flowering, fruiting and altogether glorious native British hedge.”—Christopher Hart

This book examines, discusses and shares over 30 years’ worth of research from the Allerton Project, a research and demonstration farm in the UK which has been carrying out applied interdisciplinary research to explore and explain the need to adapt the management of farmland for environmental protection and to provide public benefits. Designed to provide guidance, feedback and recommendations to farmers, practitioners and policymakers, the Allerton Project is an exceptionally well-documented case study of lowland agricultural land management which has the purpose of meeting multiple objectives. This book draws on the wealth of knowledge built over the past 30 years and unveils and clarifies the complexity of a number of topical debates about current land and wildlife management at a range of spatial scales, explores the underlying historical context and provides some important pointers to future directions of travel. Topics include soil health and management, farmland ecology, development of management practices to enhance biodiversity, natural flood management, water quality and aquatic ecology. Most importantly, the book demonstrates how the findings from this project relate to agricultural and conservation policy more broadly as well as how they are applicable to similar projects throughout Europe. This book will be of great interest to professionals working in agricultural land management and conservation, as well as researchers and students of agri-environmental studies and agricultural policy.

Using more than 30 years research from the author team at the Wildlife Conservation Research Unit (WildCRU), this volume reveals how agricultural systems and wildlife interact, presenting examples from scales varying from landscape to microcosm, from populations to individuals, covering plants, invertebrates, birds, and mammals. It demonstrates the essential ecosystem services provided by agricultural land, and discusses the implications of agricultural development for natural habitats and biodiversity.

Ecological engineering is about manipulating farm habitats, making them less favourable for pests and more attractive to beneficial insects. Though they have received far less research attention and funding, ecological approaches may be safer and more sustainable than their controversial cousin, genetic engineering. This book brings together contributions from international workers leading the fast moving field of habitat manipulation, reviewing the field and paving the way towards the development and application of new pest management approaches. Chapters explore the frontiers of ecological engineering methods including molecular approaches, high tech marking and remote sensing. They also review the theoretical aspects of this field and how ecological engineering may interact with genetic engineering. The technologies presented offer opportunities to reduce crop losses to insects while reducing the use of pesticides and providing potentially valuable habitat for wildlife conservation. With contributions from the USA, UK, Germany, Switzerland, Australia, New Zealand, Kenya and Israel, this book provides comprehensive coverage of international progress towards sustainable pest management.

This synopsis covers evidence for the effects of conservation interventions for native farmland wildlife. It is restricted to evidence captured on the website www.conservationevidence.com. It includes papers published in the journal Conservation Evidence, evidence summarized on our database and systematic reviews collated by the Collaboration for Environmental Evidence. It is the thrid volume in the series Synopses of Conservation Evidence. Evidence was collected from all European countries west of Russia, but not those south of France, Switzerland, Austria, Hungary and Romania. A list of interventions to conserve wildlife on farmland was developed collaboratively by a team of thirteen experts. A number of interventions that are not currently agri-environment options were added during this process, such as ‘Provide nest boxes for bees (solitary or bumblebees)’ and ‘Implement food labelling schemes relating to biodiversity-friendly farming’. Interventions relating to the creation or management of habitats not considered commercial farmland (such as lowland heath, salt marsh and farm woodland) were removed. The list of interventions was organized into categories based on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) classifications of direct threats and conservation actions. Interventions that fall under the threat category ‘Agriculture’ are grouped by farming system, with separate sections for interventions that apply to arable or livestock farms, or across all farming types.

Understanding of the ecology of fungal entomopathogens has vastly increased since the early 1800’s, but remains challenging. The often complex interactions between pathogen and host are being unravelled through eloquent research and the importance of the often subtle interactions, in determining the success or failure of biological control, cannot be underplayed. The realm of ecology is vast and deciphering insect-fungal pathogen interactions within an ecological context will take us on voyages beyond our imagination. This book brings together the work of renowned scientists to provide a synthesis of recent research on the ecology of fungal entomopathogens exploring host-pathogen dynamics from the context of biological control and beyond. Dr. Helen Roy leads zoological research in the Biological Records Centre at the NERC Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, UK. The focus of her research is insect community interactions with particular emphasis on the effects of environmental change. She has been working on the ecological interactions between fungal entomopathogens and their hosts for 15 years; this continues to be a source of fascination. She has been an associate editor of BioControl since 2006. Dr. Dave Chandler is an insect pathologist at the University of Warwick, UK. He has studied entomopathogenic fungi for just over 20 years. He has particular interests in entomopathogenic fungi as biocontrol agents of horticultural crops, fungal physiology and ecology, and the pathogens of honeybees. Dr. Mark Goettel is an insect pathologist at the Lethbridge Research Centre of Agriculture & Agri-Food Canada, specializing in the development of fungal entomopathogens as microbial control agents of insects. In addition to this research, he has been extensively involved in the review and revision of the regulations for registration of microbial control agents and has addressed regulatory and safety issues at the international level. He is currently President of the Society for Invertebrate Pathology and has been Editor-in-Chief of Biocontrol Science & Technology since 2000. Dr. Judith K. Pell heads the Insect Pathology Group in the Department for Plant and Invertebrate Ecology at Rothamsted Research, UK. She leads research on the ecology of fungal entomopathogens, to elucidate their role in population regulation and community structure and to inform biological control strategies. Specifically: intraguild interactions; the relationships between guild diversity, habitat diversity and ecosystem function; pathogen-induced host behavioural change. Dr. Eric Wajnberg is a population biologist specialising in behavioural ecology, statistical modelling and population genetics. He is also an expert in biological control, with more than 20 years experience of working with insect parasitoids. He has been the Editor in Chief of BioControl since 2006. Dr. Fernando E. Vega is an entomologist with the United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, in Beltsville, Maryland, USA. He conducts research on biological methods to control the coffee berry borer, the most important insect pest of coffee throughout the world. He is co-editor, with Meredith Blackwell, of Insect-Fungal Associations: Ecology and Evolution, published by Oxford University Press in 2005, and serves as an Editorial Board Member for Fungal Ecology.

This book has been produced as a part of the project ‘Social-Ecological Systems at the Indian Rural-Urban Interface: Functions, Scales, and Dynamics of Transition’. It addresses transition processes in agriculture and society triggered by urbanization, focusing on Bengaluru as an example of a rapidly growing megacity in India. Adopting a holistic, multidisciplinary approach embedded within a social-ecological systems research framework, it explores how the physical and socio-economic landscapes have led to changes in economic priorities, which have overpowered ecological and traditional priorities with regard to ecosystem governance. Allowing readers to gain a deeper understanding of this unexplored dimension of socio-ecological systems, this book is a valuable resource for international researchers, scholars and master’s students in the field of environmental science, socio-ecology, forestry and agriculture.