Lynn Dicks

Biography

Wild pollinator conservation

Wild pollinators are important to crop production and wild plant reproduction, and most of this pollination service is carried out by a relatively small number of common, widespread bee species. To preserve this ecological function, and optimise it for agriculture, we need landscapes that support common wild pollinators in the long term, by providing the food and nesting resources they need at the appropriate scale.

We use a combination of laboratory experiments, field ecology, genetics and remote sensing to understand how wild bees use landscapes and respond to land management. We have current projects with the Bumblebee Conservation Trust, Earlham Institute, Berry World, Hutchinson’s Ltd, Greencell Ltd and the Centre for Pollination Studies in Calcutta, India. We also work on pollinator conservation from policy and agronomic perspectives. What actions are cost-effective and feasible, to support and conserve common and declining wild pollinators? How do these actions fit within a program of ecological intensification, to enhance or maintain intensive production within a thriving agricultural ecosystem? How can growers using managed pollinators minimise impacts on wild pollinator populations?

Farm management for biodiversity

I work on how farmers can benefit from ecosystem services and reduce impacts on wildlife in realistic commercial contexts. I lead a Newton-funded project on sustainable fruit faming in northeast Brazil, measuring biodiversity and ecosystem service responses to farm management (www.sufica.org). Members of my team have projects focused on managing landscapes for wild pollinators in UK arable and soft fruit farms.

Evidence-based conservation

I have developed methods to compile and synthesize ecological evidence and make it useful for decision-making. I am a member of the Conservation Evidence core team and chair the Methods Expert Group for the Eklipse science-policy mechanism on biodiversity and ecosystem services. I use rigorous approaches to gather expert judgement, for rapid, transparent assessment of evidence, and build user-friendly models to support farm management decisions (see for example, the Cool Farm Biodiversity Tool). I work with organisations that manage the environment, in Government, the charitable sector and the food and farming industry.