Professor Kirsty Park

Professor

Biological and Environmental Sciences University of Stirling, Stirling, FK9 4LA

Professor Kirsty Park

Contact details

About me

My research is broadly concerned with the effects of environmental change on biodiversity and testing solutions to mitigate anthropogenic impacts. Much of this addresses questions relating to animal ecology and conservation in managed environments (e.g. urban, agricultural, forestry). Recent work includes ecological restoration projects, focussed on the use of a natural experiment approach to examine biodiversity responses woodland restoration in the UK over the past 150 years. To get a copy of any of my publications please email me or find me on ResearchGate.

Brief biography

•Head of Biological & Environmental Sciences - University of Stirling (2021 - )
•Professor - University of Stirling (2016 - )
•Lecturer / Senior Lecturer / Ass. Prof - University of Stirling (2005 - 2016)
•Leverhulme Early Career Fellow - University of Stirling (2003 - 2005)
•Postdoctoral researcher - University of Stirling (1998 - 2003)
•DPhil - University of Bristol (1994 - 1998)
•BSc - University of Leeds (1991 - 1994)

Vacancies: I typically advertise funded PhD studentships on findaphd.com and postdoctoral researchers on jobs.ac.uk. However, I am happy to discuss possibilities for joining my group at any time including potential grants and fellowships.

Access to research results: Many of my publications are open-access but for any that are not, you can request access through the University's repository system (go to the Outputs tab) or email me directly.

Questions currently being asked within my research group include:

1) How do we prioritise conservation efforts to restore functioning ecosystems? In this series of projects we are using a natural experiment approach to ask questions about how to prioritise actions to restore ecosystems and ecological networks. Ultimately, we want to provide evidence to underpin future conservation efforts.

a) Woodland creation & ecological networks (The WrEN project) Woodlands provide essential ecosystem services and in the UK they support more wildlife species than any other habitat. Historic deforestation has drastically reduced our woodland cover and much of it now consists of non-native plantations or small, isolated and degraded patches immersed in an agricultural matrix that dominates the landscape. Recent woodland creation schemes were introduced over 25 years ago and are contributing to the slow return of wooded landscapes within the UK but we currently have little information on how these schemes are performing – as part of Woodland Creation and Ecological Networks we are addressing questions about how to prioritise efforts for conservation given limited resources. For more details and a list of publications click here. You can follow the team on twitter @WrENproject.

b) Restoring Resilient Ecosystems (RestREco). Ecological restoration typically involves trying to return semi-natural areas to what they looked like before they were disturbed. However, with the environment changing, particularly in response to climate changes, is this possible or even desirable if we are to secure long-term functioning ecosystems that deliver for both biodiversity and the ecosystem services that humans rely on?

In RestREco we consider ecological complexity, multi-functionality and resilience as fundamental aims for restoration projects, rather than attempting to re-create specific reference ecosystems. We will examine how the outcomes of restoration vary with proximity to other similar habitats, the type of former land use (in particular, agriculture and ex-quarry sites), and the methods used to restore them. The Stirling team will focus on woodlands, and will be compare the outcomes from tree planting versus allowing trees to establish naturally. Importantly, we will also look at how these outcomes vary over time, by including sites of varying restoration age. You can follow the team on twitter @RestREco. This work is being funded by NERC, and is in collaboration with Cranfield University, UKCEH, National Trust and Forest Research, and many project partners.

c) Accounting for temporal, spatial and behavioural spill-overs in evaluating farmland conservation strategies: This project, funded by the Leverhulme Trust, combines ecological science with economics to quantify the biodiversity benefits and economic costs of competing landscape-scale conservation strategies. The team comprises ecologists and environmental economists at the Universities of Stirling and Glasgow, alongside researchers at RSPB and Forest Research.

There is currently much debate on how to conserve biodiversity in agricultural landscapes. The research team will use a unique approach to identify effective biodiversity conservation strategies whilst accounting for three types of spill-over effects: spatial (e.g. effects of agriculture on wildlife in adjacent semi-natural habitats), temporal (e.g. effects of past land use on current biodiversity) and behavioural (e.g. landowner decisions being influenced by their neighbours’ responses).

2) How can we improve agricultural landscapes for wildlife? Agricultural intensification and expansion are regarded as major causes of worldwide declines in biodiversity during the last century. There are a number of measures that includes lower intensity agricultural systems and agri-environment schemes that may support viable wildlife populations alongside food production, and we have a several projects on-going in this area. For example:

a) Do agri-environment schemes work? These are financial incentives paid by Governments for farmers to adopt environmentally-sensitive agricultural practices on their land aim to counteract the negative effects of intensive agriculture on biodiversity. However, most agri-environment schemes (AES) are largely designed for birds, some invertebrates and floral species, and there is little information on the contribution that current AES prescriptions make for other taxa. We have been working to assess the benefits provided by AES to bats (and their insect prey), moths and bumblebees.

Work to date indicates that some of our commonly implemented AES prescriptions (e.g. species rich grasslands, hedgerow management) is associated with higher moth and bumblebee species richness and abundance (Fuentes-Montemayor et al. 2011; Lye et al. 2009). In contrast, abundance of Diptera was considerably lower on AES farms, as was the activity of two common bat species (Pipistrellus pipistrellus and P. pygmaeus) that feed primarily on Diptera (Fuentes-Montemayor et al. 2011).

b) Improving upland grassland systems for breeding waders Until relatively recently, the breeding wader community of marginal, upland farmland was thought to have escaped the losses witnessed in lowland England and Wales, and Scotland is now critically important in supporting UK populations of breeding waders. However, more recent declines in such marginal upland areas have been identified, with, for example, losses of 48% of Lapwings and 55% of Curlews. Although there is evidence that agri-environment scheme (AES) management directed at waders can reverse population declines at field and farm scales in Scotland, implementation has been far too limited to stem ongoing declines nationally.

In light of such severe declines, observations of unusually high lapwing densities on a livestock farm near Stirling has led to a collaborative project between Stirling and RSPB Scotland to determine the environmental drivers behind these localised high densities and how these are influenced by farm management. Management involves a combination of different activities, including planting of a fodder crop and liming, and is undertaken as part of the core farm business rather than under agri-environment support. Research showed that after controlling for other habitat parameters of importance, the density of breeding Lapwings was 52% higher in fields that had undergone fodder crop management than those that had not (McCallum et al. 2018). Densities were highest in the first year after the fodder crop was planted, prior to reseeding with grass, but remained above levels in control fields for approximately seven years after the fodder crop was last planted.

The farmer at this site won an RSPB Nature of Scotland award (2012) for his work.

3. How can we make plantation forests work for timber and wildlife? Currently approximately 70% of woodland in the UK consists of forestry plantations, much of which is intensively managed, using a limited number of exotic fast-growing conifers and employing a variety of silvicultural practices to prepare sites for planting (e.g. ploughing, use of herbicides), thinning and clear-cut harvesting. A common perception of plantation forests is that they are ecological deserts and there is a long-standing debate about the potential, and realised, role of plantation forestry in biodiversity conservation. There is now a body of evidence from numerous countries, however, to suggest plantation forests can provide habitat for a wide range of native forest plants, animals, and fungi. In the UK there have been fundamental changes to silvicultural practices over last 30 years following policy changes which have placed a greater emphasis on maximising biodiversity benefits of plantations. There are several projects on-going at Stirling which aim to address ecological and applied conservation questions about the use of plantation forestry by wildlife species including pine marten (e.g. Caryl et al. 2012), bats (e.g. Kirkpatrick et al. 2017) and other UKBAP priority species (e.g. Broome 2019). Much of this work is carried out in collaboration with, and funded by, Forest Research and the Forestry Commission.

4. How does wildlife respond to urbanisation? Urbanisation is a major driver of the global loss of biodiversity the rate of urban expansion continues to accelerate. Green spaces within urban areas (e.g. parks, gardens) can hold relatively rich wildlife communities but are often threatened by development. In order to mitigate the adverse effects of urbanisation it is essential to understand what drives species’ patterns of habitat use within the urban matrix and what mitigation may promote population persistence. Projects on urban ecology and conservation at Stirling have used a range of wildlife taxa which with to address these broad questions, including bats (e.g. Lintott et al. 2016), bumblebees (e.g. Lye et al. 2012) and moths (e.g. Lintott et al. 2014).

5. What effects do small wind turbines have on bats and birds? The wind energy sector is growing worldwide and large scale wind farms have been shown, in some situations, to have significant adverse effects on wildlife. There has been little work, however, on the rapidly growing sector of small wind turbines. Research is underway at University of Stirling to better understand the effects that small wind turbines have on birds and bats, and how they may be mitigated. To achieve these aims, we use a multidisciplinary approach including field studies, experiments, questionnaires of owners and planning officers, and public attitude surveys using choice experiments.

Experimental studies indicated that bat activity (primarily Pipistrellus species) decreases in close proximity to operating SWT, but that this effect diminishes within 20m (Minderman et al. 2012). Whilst such avoidance will reduce collisions, it may exert displacement effects which could be important in landscapes where suitable habitat is limiting. Based on these findings we recommend that all SWT are sited at least 20m away from potentially valuable bat habitat. EUROBATs’ International Working Group has now considered these findings and specifies 50m in their installation guidance.

Other activities and research

I also have research interests in several other areas including the effect of endocrine disrupting chemicals on wildlife, impacts and control of non-native invasive species and human-wildlife conflicts. I collaborate with a wide range of government agencies and organisations including NatureScot, Forest Research, Bat Conservation Trust, Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, and Bats without Borders. I am a trustee for Loch Lomond & Trossachs Countryside Trust, a member of the Scottish Biodiversity Programme Advisory Group, and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology.

Research group members

Current

Ross Barnett (PhD student, 2024-) “ Restoring Ecosystems to Stop the Threat Of (Re-)Emerging Infectious Diseases”. Funded by NERC.
Ponsarut Boonchuay (PhD student, 2022-) "Agricultural management and the conservation of insectivorous bat biodiversity in Southern Thailand: a comparison of land-sparing and land-sharing strategies". Funded by the Government of Thailand.
Anna Costley-Wood (PhD student, 2023-) "Raptor movement ecology and the influence of wind turbines: red kite, Milvus milvus, as a case study". Funded by Eneco, RSPB, NatureScot.
Sam Rogerson (PhD student, 2022-) “The impacts of long-term woodland creation on invertebrate communities”. Funded by the Natural Environment Research Council.
Emily Waddell (Postdoctoral Research Associate, 2021-) “Restoring Resilient Ecosystems”. Funded by the Natural Environment Research Council.

At the University of Stirling, I also co-supervise Sarah Watts, Madeline Richardson and Rochelle Kennedy. I am an external co-supervisor for Luisa Fernanda Paez Triana and Maria Jose Lopez Jara at the University of Glasgow.

Past (chronological order)

Alice Helyar (PhD student, 2001-2005) "The ecology of American mink (Mustela vison): response to control". Now a Principal Ecologist at Bowland Ecology, Lancashire.
Fiona Caryl (PhD student, 2004-2008) "Pine marten diet and habitat use within a managed coniferous forest". Now an MRC Skills Development Fellow at University of Glasgow.
Elisa Fuentes-Montemayor (PhD student 2007-2011). Now a Senior Lecturer at University of Stirling.
Heather McCallum (PhD student, 2008-2012) "Identifying and implementing key habitat features for breeding waders in upland grassland systems: ecology and economics". Now a reserves ecologist at RSPB Scotland.
Paul Lintott (PhD student, 2010-2015) "Ecology and conservation of urban bats". Now a Senior Lecturer at UWE Bristol.
Laura Kubasiewicz (PhD student, 2010- 2014) "Ecology and conservation management of pine martens in fragmented landscapes". Now a Senior Researcher at the Donkey Sanctuary.
Alice Broome (PhD student, part-time, 2010-2019) "Research response to the conservation needs of UKBAP Priority and protected woodland species in Britain". Now a Project Manager in woodland ecology at Forest Research.
Rachael Cooper-Bohannon (PhD student, 2011-2015) "The distribution and conservation of cave-dwelling bats in southern Africa". Now a project officer at Amphibian & Reptile Conservation.
Cerian Tatchley (PhD student, 2011-2015) "Wildlife impacts and public attitudes to small scale turbines". Now Senior Manager at BIAZA.
Luci Kirkpatrick (PhD student, 2012-2016) "How do silvicultural practices influence bat populations in commercial coniferous plantations?". Now a lecturer at Bangor University.
Jeroen Minderman (Research Fellow, 2012-2014) "Assessing the effects of micro-turbines on wildlife". Now a Lecturer in Data Science at the Office for National Statistics.
Orly Razgour (Research Fellow, 2013-2015) “Bats as indicators of species response to environmental change“. Now a Senior Lecturer at University of Exeter.
Lauren Fuller (Postdoctoral Research Associate, 2014-2016) "Woodland Creation and Ecological Networks”. Now a data scientist at SEPA.
Robbie Whytock (PhD student, 2014-2018) “Assessing the effects of landscape structure on woodland birds”. Now a Director at Okala.
Matt Guy (PhD student, 2015-2020) "Seabird-mediated impacts of marine environment changes on agri-ecosystem productivity". Now a researcher at Forest Research.
Emma Sheard (PhD student, part-time, 2014-2021) “Translating small scale ecological studies to large scale agricultural practices: breeding waders and grassland management”. Funded by Nature Scot, RSPB and University of Stirling. Now a researcher at RSPB Scotland.
Tom Bradfer-Lawrence (Postdoctoral Research Associate, 2021-2023) “Evaluating the costs and benefits of different landscape-scale conservation approaches in farmed landscapes”. Now a Senior Conservation Scientist at RSPB.
Jérémy Froidevaux (Leverhulme Research Fellow, 2021-2023) “From bats to bees: effects of artificial electromagnetic fields on biodiversity”. Now an Assistant Professor at University of Franche-Comté.
Olivia Azevedo (PhD student, 2019-2024) “Above and below-ground ecological linkages in temperate forest soils”. Now an soil scientist at Forest Research.
Helen Taylor (PhD student, part-time, 2016-2025) "Bat populations in anthropogenic landscapes in Zambia". Now a lecturer at Keele University.
Eleri Kent (PhD student, 2020-2025) “Does woodland use by bats depend on landscape context? Implications for woodland creation schemes”. Now a Research Assistant at University of Stirling.

I also co-supervised the following students who have now successful completed their PhDs: Gillian Lye (Factors affecting nest site choice and colony success in bumblebees, 2009), Lynne Osgathorpe (Reconciling ecology and economics to conserve bumblebees, 2010), Steph O’Connor (The nesting ecology of bumblebees, 2013), Nicola Redpath (Restoration and management of wildflower-rich machair for the conservation of bumblebees, 2010), Ciaran Ellis (Biodiversity and risk management for sustainable pollination services, 2015), Hannah Feltham (Factors influencing pollination limitation and yield, 2015), Rachel Steenson (Dippers as bioindicators of health and resilience of freshwater ecosystems in the face of complex ecological change, 2024).

Research programmes

Research centres/groups