LJMU Biodiversity and Conservation Group
What we do within LJMU Biodiversity and Conservation
We are a group of researchers inspired by the Earth’s biodiversity. We are committed to understanding this diversity, as well as the Earth's functioning and dynamics – with the aim of helping to conserve and manage living resources and the ecosystem functions and services that they provide, for generations to come.
We investigate life on Earth at all levels of biological organisation – from genomes and individuals to populations and ecosystems, exploring virtually every habitat, from the densest tropical rain forests, through the newest rural and urban ecosystems – all the way to the most remote regions at the bottom of the oceans. We employ a wide range of experimental and observational approaches to examine how animals and plants respond to environmental variation and anthropogenic impacts. This in turn allows us to identify strategies that we can put in action to avert biodiversity loss and meet sustainable development goals.
Our studies are aimed at assessing biodiversity patterns across the globe, understanding species interactions, protecting and restoring vulnerable habitats and endangered species, and devising management plans for sustainable resource use.
We have numerous research collaborations with universities, research institutes, governmental agencies and NGOs across all continents. We regularly engage with regional stakeholders with the aim of translating research outcomes into practical, real-world applications – striving to effectively communicate with the general public to generate awareness about the challenges and solutions that we are facing along the path to a healthy future.
You can follow our updates by taking a look at our publications at the bottom of the page, as well as checking our staff pages to learn more about our current research activities and collaboration opportunities.
You can also take a look at some of our recent projects and case studies below to get an idea of the things we work on:
- Developing automated detection and monitoring of peat fires in Indonesia with thermal infrared sensors under drones (main funder: STFC)
- SpongeDNA – Bolstering marine biodiversity exploration and monitoring through natural environmental DNA samplers (main funder: NERC)
- Astro-ecology: the solution from the skies to save Earth's biodiversity (main funder: STFC)
- SEATRACES – Smart Traceability and Labeling ToolBox for a Sustainable Seafood Production (main funder: EU Atlantic Area Programme)
- Applied Ecology Resources – a platform for storing and sharing ecological research with practice and policy relevance (platform created and run by the British Ecological Society)
- Whole-genome deep sequencing for high-resolution analysis of genetic variation in Anopheles gambiae, the main vector of Plasmodium falciparum malaria in Africa (main funder: Wellcome).
- Bird conservation through a flagship urban environmental indicator species (main funder: RSPB)
