Prof. James Bullock

I am offering a PhD on Genetic structuring of a plant, herbivore and parasitoid metacommunity, which is an excting opportunity to study genetic structuring of interacting species at three trophic levels on the wonderful Dorset cliffs.

1.Wessex BESS. I am leading a consortium project under the BESS Programme in which we are exploring the links between biodiversity and ecosystem services in the farmed landscape around Salisbury Plain. We are doing experimental and modelling studies on ancient grasslands, chalk streams, and farmland.

2. Funded under the NERC ESPA Programme, I am leading the WISER project, in which we are using data and case studies from sub-Saharan Africa to identify what constitutes the simplest adequate ecosystem service modelling framework to inform effective policy and management interventions for poverty alleviation.

3. Seed dispersal. We are using experiments, modelling and meta-analysis to quantify plant dispersal, its variation among species and to address the vexed question of just how far seeds might move. We are combining dispersal kernels and demography in simulation and mathematical models to project plant spread over fragmented landscapes and under climate change.

4. Spread and control of invasives: We are using analytical and simulation models to assess the potential for spread of invasive species in current and future climates. We are also carrying out analyses of impacts on ecosystem services. A European project has assessed the spread of the non-native ragweed, its impacts on human health and livelihoods and possibilities for its control.

5. Restoration of ecosystems: We are looking at the links between restoration of biodiversity and enhancement of ecosystem services. We are testing the ability of agri-environment management to deliver services including pollination, water quality and carbon sequestration, and looking at how landscape management such as corridors may also enhance services.

Spatial population ecology and dispersal
Landscape dynamics of plants: metapopulation ecology and extinctionsAgricultural ecology, particularly agri-environment schemes
Restoration of biodiversity and ecosystem services
Risk assessment of invasive species
Conservation ecology: large-scale, re-wilding, policy