Berrycroft Hub is an educational research centre, and alongside the workshops and lectures we run, we also have exciting student research projects happening throughout the year.
We welcome and encourage research projects offering ideas, support and a variety of diverse sites. Alongside a selection of shorter time scale projects, the Hub is also running an indefinite project of its own based on a large calcareous grassland site. Research into related fields such as agriculture, entomology, botany and zoology is particularly encouraged utilizing this site. Accommodation is available for students as is the use of a fully equipped laboratory and teaching classroom.
We welcome and encourage research projects offering ideas, support and a variety of diverse sites. Alongside a selection of shorter time scale projects, the Hub is also running an indefinite project of its own based on a large calcareous grassland site. Research into related fields such as agriculture, entomology, botany and zoology is particularly encouraged utilizing this site. Accommodation is available for students as is the use of a fully equipped laboratory and teaching classroom.
The Downland and dung beetles project
Lowland calcareous grassland has been selected as a key habitat under the UK Biodiversity Programme. Nationally 95% of chalk downland has been lost in the last 50 years. This highlights an urgent need to conserve those areas which remain, and to enhance or restore other areas of suitable habitat. The enormous loss of habitat has been accompanied by severe fragmentation. Moreover, much of the remaining resource is not in a favorable nature conservation condition due to a range of historic management conditions.
Dung beetles are vital to healthy soil systems where livestock are present. They perform a variety of ecosystem services, and are in turn, a food source for other other invertebrates, reptiles, birds and mammals. Research has now shown that only a quarter of all UK dung beetle species remain in a state of 'least concern' with the rest considered regionally extinct or threatened. We have already lost species of dung beetles entirely due to extinction in the UK. A previously well established dung beetle to this area, Onthophagus joannae, was noted to be now regionally rare to regionally extinct. One very small extremely vulnerable population was found to be remaining on the calcareous grassland bank near Berrycroft Hub. The continued surveying over a period of years confirmed the area that this species was inhabiting was considerably less than half an acre in size.
The Research Project Objectives:
The overall aim of this project is to conserve the population of threatened species of dung beetle, study their ecology and effects on the calcareous grassland. To gain a greater understanding of livestock management that will enhance the biodiversity of the site. To be able to make a potential profit from conservation grazing whilst increasing the soil health, flora and fauna diversity and reduce carbon and methane emissions.
Years 1 to 8
Introduction of native livestock breeds with selective breeding, implemented bio-security precautions, parasite study and recording. List all possible fauna and flora species to gain baseline data. Start the implementation of a pasture management plan focusing on reducing the effects of artificial fertilizers and invasive plants. Start research into soil temperature fluctuations, dung beetle flight patterns, invertebrate fauna/prey relationships, grazing to gain biodiversity, dung decomposition, dung beetle interactions with other species, soil changes and grazing quality etc.
Years 8 to 15
Greater in-depth data recording of species on the site looking for an increase in species and establishment. Continued detailed study of dung beetles and associated dung fauna, soil, pasture and livestock. Introduction of a selected breed of sheep and cattle to increase potential profitability. Study the financial effects of positive marketing an end product (traceability, sustainability, creating a story etc.) alongside the losses such as low stocking density and high labor input of conservation grazing. Introduce more cattle but continue with the low stocking density plan. Focus on livestock returns in relationship to the decreasing grazing quality. Continue with a medication application on individual bases only, removing any treated stock off site for 4 weeks, and factor in to a greater detail livestock management time taken. To host other projects utilizing the site such a chalk hill blue butterfly introductions etc.
Year 15 onward
A continued study into downland and associated livestock management plans, dung beetle based ecosystem services, parasite suppression, changes in the biodiversity, soil and pasture. Continue to build a database on all species present and research as more students access the site for individual projects. Maintain and increase a potential profit margin for the livestock. Continue to reduce the effects of artificial fertilizers to increase the area of nutrient poor soils available to native downland flora recolonization. To continue to reduce carbon and methane emissions, to study in-depth the biology of and to conserve the population of Othophagus joannae.
Dung beetles are vital to healthy soil systems where livestock are present. They perform a variety of ecosystem services, and are in turn, a food source for other other invertebrates, reptiles, birds and mammals. Research has now shown that only a quarter of all UK dung beetle species remain in a state of 'least concern' with the rest considered regionally extinct or threatened. We have already lost species of dung beetles entirely due to extinction in the UK. A previously well established dung beetle to this area, Onthophagus joannae, was noted to be now regionally rare to regionally extinct. One very small extremely vulnerable population was found to be remaining on the calcareous grassland bank near Berrycroft Hub. The continued surveying over a period of years confirmed the area that this species was inhabiting was considerably less than half an acre in size.
The Research Project Objectives:
The overall aim of this project is to conserve the population of threatened species of dung beetle, study their ecology and effects on the calcareous grassland. To gain a greater understanding of livestock management that will enhance the biodiversity of the site. To be able to make a potential profit from conservation grazing whilst increasing the soil health, flora and fauna diversity and reduce carbon and methane emissions.
Years 1 to 8
Introduction of native livestock breeds with selective breeding, implemented bio-security precautions, parasite study and recording. List all possible fauna and flora species to gain baseline data. Start the implementation of a pasture management plan focusing on reducing the effects of artificial fertilizers and invasive plants. Start research into soil temperature fluctuations, dung beetle flight patterns, invertebrate fauna/prey relationships, grazing to gain biodiversity, dung decomposition, dung beetle interactions with other species, soil changes and grazing quality etc.
Years 8 to 15
Greater in-depth data recording of species on the site looking for an increase in species and establishment. Continued detailed study of dung beetles and associated dung fauna, soil, pasture and livestock. Introduction of a selected breed of sheep and cattle to increase potential profitability. Study the financial effects of positive marketing an end product (traceability, sustainability, creating a story etc.) alongside the losses such as low stocking density and high labor input of conservation grazing. Introduce more cattle but continue with the low stocking density plan. Focus on livestock returns in relationship to the decreasing grazing quality. Continue with a medication application on individual bases only, removing any treated stock off site for 4 weeks, and factor in to a greater detail livestock management time taken. To host other projects utilizing the site such a chalk hill blue butterfly introductions etc.
Year 15 onward
A continued study into downland and associated livestock management plans, dung beetle based ecosystem services, parasite suppression, changes in the biodiversity, soil and pasture. Continue to build a database on all species present and research as more students access the site for individual projects. Maintain and increase a potential profit margin for the livestock. Continue to reduce the effects of artificial fertilizers to increase the area of nutrient poor soils available to native downland flora recolonization. To continue to reduce carbon and methane emissions, to study in-depth the biology of and to conserve the population of Othophagus joannae.
The farmland bird project
We are delighted to be working with and hosting the West Oxfordshire Farmland Bird Project at Berrycroft Hub. This exciting conservation work is being headed by Exeter University MSc student Noah Walker in collaboration with Dr Oliver Fox and Ian Sherriffs
Project aims:
• To increase the farmland bird population in West Oxfordshire through working closely with farmers and landowners at a local and landscape level, with key species including Tree Sparrow (Passer montanus), Corn Bunting (Emberiza calandra), Skylark (Alauda arvensis) and Yellowhammer (Emberiza citrinella).
• To help the Tree Sparrow population in West Oxfordshire to recover over the next decade after a severe decline in recent years. This is being achieved by improving adult and 1st-year winter survival with supplementary feeding, improving breeding productivity with the installation of nest boxes and providing a rich food source in late summer and autumn through the planting of elder copses. Winter feeding also provides vital support for many other species, including those mentioned above, so that a greater proportion survive through the winter.
• To monitor farmland bird populations at key locations within the project boundaries and assess the status of their recovery. Standardised bird ringing is carried out and nest recording (both of open nests and closed nest boxes) as part of the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) ringing and nest record schemes. This will give us information about how the birds are doing and identify the areas in which they are struggling (e.g. nestling survival)
• To support Barn Owl (Tyto alba) populations in West Oxfordshire by providing suitable nesting sites through the use of nest boxes. Barn Owl numbers have suffered a dramatic decline in the UK in recent decades, mainly due to the loss of nest sites with so many old barns being converted to dwellings.
Project aims:
• To increase the farmland bird population in West Oxfordshire through working closely with farmers and landowners at a local and landscape level, with key species including Tree Sparrow (Passer montanus), Corn Bunting (Emberiza calandra), Skylark (Alauda arvensis) and Yellowhammer (Emberiza citrinella).
• To help the Tree Sparrow population in West Oxfordshire to recover over the next decade after a severe decline in recent years. This is being achieved by improving adult and 1st-year winter survival with supplementary feeding, improving breeding productivity with the installation of nest boxes and providing a rich food source in late summer and autumn through the planting of elder copses. Winter feeding also provides vital support for many other species, including those mentioned above, so that a greater proportion survive through the winter.
• To monitor farmland bird populations at key locations within the project boundaries and assess the status of their recovery. Standardised bird ringing is carried out and nest recording (both of open nests and closed nest boxes) as part of the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) ringing and nest record schemes. This will give us information about how the birds are doing and identify the areas in which they are struggling (e.g. nestling survival)
• To support Barn Owl (Tyto alba) populations in West Oxfordshire by providing suitable nesting sites through the use of nest boxes. Barn Owl numbers have suffered a dramatic decline in the UK in recent decades, mainly due to the loss of nest sites with so many old barns being converted to dwellings.
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Vetiver Grass as a viable cost-effective solution for Diffuse Water Pollution
We are now delighted to welcome our latest PhD research student who will be running a project with us for the next three years. Sue Rogers from Reading University is researching if Vetiver (Chrysopogon zizanioides) a tropical grass can be a viable cost-effective solution for Diffuse Water Pollution in the UK. This project will consider whether Vetiver a non-invasive, tropical grass can be grown and used in the UK to phyto-remediate the environmentally damaging impact of diffuse water pollution.
Diffuse Water Pollution is a significant cause of water pollution in England and Wales, and is now recognised as a major reason why over 75% of UK water bodies are not meeting the EU Water Framework Directive requirements. It is estimated that the cumulative cost of water pollution in England and Wales is £1.3billion per annum. Phytoremediation is the direct use of living green plants for in situ, or in place, removal, degradation, or containment of contaminants in soils, sludges, sediments, surface water and groundwater.
Vetiver has been used world-wide for the treatment of polluted water and contaminated land; it has the capacity to absorb high levels of Nitrogen and Phosphorus and has been shown to reduce N by < 99% and P by < 85%. Recent Research had shown that Vetiver can survive in much colder climates than previously thought and it is this research that has prompted the need to conduct studies in the UK. Sue’s project will use field trials to assess whether Vetiver is able to reduce the amount of N&P reaching water-courses meaningfully.
It is unlikely that Vetiver will absorb similar levels to those in the tropics, but any reduction will contribute to enhancing water quality, improving legislative compliance and reducing environmental costs. Her research is being supervised by Berrycroft Hub’s Sally-Ann Spence and Dr Alastair Culham. The Vetiver plants being used in this experiment are certified sterile so in no way invasive to the local environment.
Diffuse Water Pollution is a significant cause of water pollution in England and Wales, and is now recognised as a major reason why over 75% of UK water bodies are not meeting the EU Water Framework Directive requirements. It is estimated that the cumulative cost of water pollution in England and Wales is £1.3billion per annum. Phytoremediation is the direct use of living green plants for in situ, or in place, removal, degradation, or containment of contaminants in soils, sludges, sediments, surface water and groundwater.
Vetiver has been used world-wide for the treatment of polluted water and contaminated land; it has the capacity to absorb high levels of Nitrogen and Phosphorus and has been shown to reduce N by < 99% and P by < 85%. Recent Research had shown that Vetiver can survive in much colder climates than previously thought and it is this research that has prompted the need to conduct studies in the UK. Sue’s project will use field trials to assess whether Vetiver is able to reduce the amount of N&P reaching water-courses meaningfully.
It is unlikely that Vetiver will absorb similar levels to those in the tropics, but any reduction will contribute to enhancing water quality, improving legislative compliance and reducing environmental costs. Her research is being supervised by Berrycroft Hub’s Sally-Ann Spence and Dr Alastair Culham. The Vetiver plants being used in this experiment are certified sterile so in no way invasive to the local environment.
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The Chalk Hill Blue Project
Floral species counts continue to increase on our calcareous grassland site and the presence of Horseshoe Vetch (Hippocrepis comosa) on our list is particularly exciting. This vetch is the sole foodplant of the Chalk Hill Blue (Polyommatus coridon) butterfly’s caterpillar.
The distribution of this butterfly naturally follows the distribution of this plant which, in turn, follows the distribution of chalk and limestone grassland as that is the only habitat in which it grows.
The Chalk Hill Blue is therefore confined to fragmented areas of calcareous grassland in southern England and has declined in many of these areas during recent decades. The weather patterns over the last decade or so have also not been favourable to the butterfly and there is a worrying decline in distribution resulting in the Chalk Hill Blue becoming a butterfly of conservation concern.
We are therefore delighted to have the Horseshoe Vetch on our species list and even more excited to now be part of a collaborative project with Nick Bowles of Butterfly Conservation, Root and Branch (a local mental health charity) and ourselves focusing on the Chalk Hill Blue. Horseshoe Vetch seeds are being collected, grown into plug plants and will be planted out on warm, sheltered areas on our calcareous grassland site.
The project also includes identification and monitoring workshops both to the Root and Branch participants and also to the wider community.
We are proud to be working with both these fantastic charities and hope to see the calcareous grassland site once again shimmering with clouds of this beautiful blue butterfly.
The distribution of this butterfly naturally follows the distribution of this plant which, in turn, follows the distribution of chalk and limestone grassland as that is the only habitat in which it grows.
The Chalk Hill Blue is therefore confined to fragmented areas of calcareous grassland in southern England and has declined in many of these areas during recent decades. The weather patterns over the last decade or so have also not been favourable to the butterfly and there is a worrying decline in distribution resulting in the Chalk Hill Blue becoming a butterfly of conservation concern.
We are therefore delighted to have the Horseshoe Vetch on our species list and even more excited to now be part of a collaborative project with Nick Bowles of Butterfly Conservation, Root and Branch (a local mental health charity) and ourselves focusing on the Chalk Hill Blue. Horseshoe Vetch seeds are being collected, grown into plug plants and will be planted out on warm, sheltered areas on our calcareous grassland site.
The project also includes identification and monitoring workshops both to the Root and Branch participants and also to the wider community.
We are proud to be working with both these fantastic charities and hope to see the calcareous grassland site once again shimmering with clouds of this beautiful blue butterfly.
Photo by Guy Padfield
The solitary bee project |
There are more than 250 species of solitary bees living in Britain, named solitary bees because they do not live in colonies like the honeybees and bumblebees do. Bees are responsible for pollinating around a third of all crops and solitary bees are the biggest contributor towards this.
Solitary bee populations are facing massive decline. One of the biggest contributors to this decline is habitat loss. The State of Nature 2013 report showed the extent of insect declines in the UK - more than half of the bee, butterfly and moth species studied have declined in the past 50 years. In recent decades, 3 bumblebee species have become extinct and 52% of solitary bees have declined.
We have now begun a project to install and monitor specific solitary bee nesting habitats throughout the farmland landscape at Berrycroft Hub. These sites will provide habitat for both mining and cavity nesting species and enable an in-depth study into the species present and their capacity to tolerate a range of environmental conditions.
Solitary bee populations are facing massive decline. One of the biggest contributors to this decline is habitat loss. The State of Nature 2013 report showed the extent of insect declines in the UK - more than half of the bee, butterfly and moth species studied have declined in the past 50 years. In recent decades, 3 bumblebee species have become extinct and 52% of solitary bees have declined.
We have now begun a project to install and monitor specific solitary bee nesting habitats throughout the farmland landscape at Berrycroft Hub. These sites will provide habitat for both mining and cavity nesting species and enable an in-depth study into the species present and their capacity to tolerate a range of environmental conditions.
Growing the earliest cereal crops
Southampton University PhD student and experimental archaeologist James Dilley is heading up a trial plot of einkorn wheat which will be cultivated, harvested and processed using prehistoric methods.
Einkorn was one of the first plants to be domesticated and cultivated. The earliest clear evidence of the domestication of einkorn dates from 10,600 to 9,900 years before present (8650 BCE to 7950 BCE) from Çayönü and Cafer Höyük, two Early Pre-Pottery Neolithic B archaeological sites in southern Turkey dated to 3100 BCE.
The seed James is using for his trial plot is from a domesticated (cultivated) variety and the difference between wild einkorn and cultivated einkorn is the method of seed dispersal. In the wild variety the seed head usually shatters and drops the kernels (seeds) of wheat onto the ground. This facilitates a new crop of wheat. In the domestic variety, the seed head remains intact.
This suggests the first Neolithic farmers would have been picking seed as it ripened on an individual plant basis rather than harvesting a whole field at once. Gathering in a foraging capacity, as with any wild plant seed, would have been time consuming. For this reason alone they must have selectively bred seed withholding for block harvesting.
Einkorn is actually resistant to a large amount of diseases and fungus that affect our modern varieties. Its roots are huge in comparison too spreading out much further than our modern varieties and it does not require artificial fertilisers.
Einkorn was one of the first plants to be domesticated and cultivated. The earliest clear evidence of the domestication of einkorn dates from 10,600 to 9,900 years before present (8650 BCE to 7950 BCE) from Çayönü and Cafer Höyük, two Early Pre-Pottery Neolithic B archaeological sites in southern Turkey dated to 3100 BCE.
The seed James is using for his trial plot is from a domesticated (cultivated) variety and the difference between wild einkorn and cultivated einkorn is the method of seed dispersal. In the wild variety the seed head usually shatters and drops the kernels (seeds) of wheat onto the ground. This facilitates a new crop of wheat. In the domestic variety, the seed head remains intact.
This suggests the first Neolithic farmers would have been picking seed as it ripened on an individual plant basis rather than harvesting a whole field at once. Gathering in a foraging capacity, as with any wild plant seed, would have been time consuming. For this reason alone they must have selectively bred seed withholding for block harvesting.
Einkorn is actually resistant to a large amount of diseases and fungus that affect our modern varieties. Its roots are huge in comparison too spreading out much further than our modern varieties and it does not require artificial fertilisers.
Previous research by Dr James Dilley at Berrycroft Hub:
- Testing British Neolithic ground axes
- Butchery and bone modification in Middle Pleistocene Europe
- Smelting copper ore from Bronze Age Britain
- Manufacturing dugout canoes using prehistoric tools
More research and projects
A majority of the active research going on at Berrycroft Hub is based around dung (might be something to do with Sally-Ann’s own research and the fact that she co-founded both the Dung beetle UK Mapping Project and Dung Beetles for Farmers.
www.dungbeetlesforfarmers.com
Some of the 60 individual Dexter cow dung pat mesocosms set up at Berrycroft Hub by Tanja Milotić from Ghent University in Belgium as part of her research into dung removal and secondary seed dispersal by different dung beetle assemblages along a biogeographic and climatological gradient.
Agricultural student Marieke Jelsma from Van Hall Larenstein University of Applied Science in Denmark spent time at Berrycroft Hub researching the effects of endectocides in animal treatments on dung beetles and diversity of species in the soil directly related to dung removal. She had to plan, set up and run a series of experiments to test her theories as part of her research.
Victoria Kempt (a PhD student in tropical ecology from the School of Biological and Chemical Sciences Queen Mary, University of London) came to stay at Berrycroft Hub to see if her theory of using Stable Isotope Analysis to track carbon in terrestrial food webs would work - before she replicated her experiments in Borneo with the S.A.F.E project in Sabah. She was keen to find out if dung beetles increased nutrient/carbon cycling and delighted our Dexters by feeding them maize silage for a week. (She quickly gained an adoring bovine fan base).
Not content with just dung beetles, Alex Dye a Field Entomologist at Rothamsted Research, came to Berrycroft Hub in search of flies that breed in dung. He spent a couple of days hunting down maggots in cow pats. His biggest interest group was hoverflies that breed in dung and he was measuring growth rates to food availability and species diversity.