Mr Ben Wilson

My role as PhD researcher at the University of Stirling began in 2023, my research will focus on exploring the effects of implementing alternative forest management in Scotland.

Optimisation of Britain’s productive coniferous forests over the previous century has resulted in the successful growth and production of products to meet the demand within the United Kingdom. However, these management practices only succeed when conditions are constant and predictable. Forest management in Britain should seek diversification through alternative forest management such as continuous cover forestry to be resilient in a future of climate uncertainty. To better understand the effects of implementing continuous cover forestry I aim to explore the benefits and trade-offs from current forest management practices and continuous cover forestry through (1) the use of a human wellbeing scale which measures responses to biodiversity, (2) a forest scenario analysis tool to model scenarios of forest management types, (3) exploring the response of moths as sensitive woodland specialist bioindicators in forest management types and (4) utilising eDNA metabarcoding to understand how forest management type can support fungi, nematode and arthropod communities. Throughout the project I will work closely with a proportion of the funding partners: Corrour Estate, Forest Research and Forestry and Land Scotland

Previous to my current role, I achieved a first class honours degree in Woodland Ecology and Conservation at the National School of Forestry, University of Cumbria. My academic background is coupled with several years of practical experience working in forests, woodlands and trees.

Forest and woodland ecology; Remote sensing; Environmental change