My main interests relate to the effects of land use on biodiversity, with my research focusing on the responses of biodiversity, and the complex ecological processes underlying them, to land management interventions and land use change at different spatial scales and across taxonomic groups. Past projects have included long-term studies on the effects of arable field margin management on wildlife, landscape-scale studies of factors affecting the biodiversity of freshwater habitats, large-scale, multi-site projects on the impacts on biodiversity of set-aside and organic farming, and the impacts of agricultural and woodland management on butterflies and moths.

I led a review of threats to the welfare of wild UK vertebrates and have developed a risk assessment framework for the welfare of wild invertebrates on farmland.

Most recently I have been exploring patterns in the abundance and species richness of butterflies at local and landscape scales across England in relation to extent and type of trees outside woods. Current work includes studying the effects of regenerative farming on butterfly communities.

Two academic volumes (edited by David Macdonald and Ruth Feber) synthesize the results of the Wildlife Conservation Research Unit’s (WildCRU’s) agro-ecology studies over the last 30 years: Wildlife Conservation on Farmland two-volume book set [see here] and a practitioner’s handbook, which disseminates key results from our farmland studies in an accessible format (available here for download).