Strategic Research for SEERAD 2005-2010: Environment, Biology and Agriculture
Annex 2 - Programmes of Research and Commissioning Process
Future research should be more policy relevant and focused on the needs of the Scottish Executive and Scotland.
The new Research Programme has been developed from the findings of the RNPR. Future research should be more policy relevant and focused on the needs of the Scottish Executive and Scotland. Many areas that SEERAD is funding were confirmed as still being relevant but in addition new areas where research is needed were also identified. Three important issues of climate change, biodiversity and rural sustainability have been identified as Cross-Cutting Themes (CCTs). These key issues will be addressed by research in each of the four main Research Programmes (see Figure 1).
The Research Programmes form the main unit of research delivery. Each Research Programme has a number of objectives which provide a framework both for describing the research and identifying the work needed within the Programme. Outputs from the three CCTs will be delivered through the main Programmes. Processes will be established to generate added value within and between the Programmes to ensure coherence of research funded.
In many cases, the research undertaken will have relevance beyond Scotland. Other funders already have complementary interests and cognate Programmes of research in some of these areas. SEERAD research will be co-ordinated with these activities to ensure added value to all and the avoidance of duplication. Where appropriate, opportunities to co-fund research will be sought.
Cross-Cutting Themes
The three CCTs identified during the review highlight important issues which cut across the Research Programmes and are key to future sustainability in rural Scotland.
Cross-Cutting Theme 1: Responding to Climate Change
Aim: To generate products and knowledge that enable Scotland to respond to climate change and which help mitigate the release of greenhouse gases (GHG).
Background and Policy Drivers
Climate change is widely recognised as one of the most serious environmental threats facing our planet. Emissions of GHG from the burning of fossil fuels and from environmental sources are already making a significant impact on the world's climate through effects on global concentrations of CO 2 in the atmosphere and ozone depleting substances.
There are many unknowns in terms of possible impacts, but latest projections suggest that by the end of this century Scotland will have warmer, wetter winters, less snowfall and an increased volatility in weather patterns such as an increased risk of flooding. Consequences for Scotland's land use, environment and rural communities need to be better understood, as do the drivers for climate change, such as emissions of GHG and how they can be mitigated.
Climate change issues will be relevant across many aspects of the overall Programme. For example; crop and livestock health (Programmes 1 and 2), the development of appropriate varieties (PO1), the farming systems used (PO7), water quality (PO9) and natural habitats (PO10) may all be affected by changing climate; farming systems (PO7) and land use change may impact upon the emissions of GHGs from soils (PO8). This Theme will therefore be addressed by, and delivered through, outputs from all 4 of the Programmes.
Relevant Policy Documents
Illustrative Outputs
Outcomes that could be delivered by Programmes 1 to 4, which will address this CCT include:
Adaptation and mitigation measures for climate change impacts as part of farming systems.
Approaches to soil management which minimise loss of carbon and GHG from, and promote carbon sequestration within, Scottish soils.
New modelling methodology to predict the impacts of land use and climate change upon soils, and the consequences for soil functions.
Adaptation of water resource management in the light of changes in climate, social and economic pressures and land use patterns.
Identification of drivers of change, pressures on, resilience of, and impacts upon Scottish biodiversity (including climate change, spatial fragmentation, pollution, land use change, invasive species), and means of predicting and mitigating these impacts to develop and support conservation policies.
Identification of tools (genes, markers, bioinformatics, knowledge) to allow breeders to select crop varieties suitable for future Scottish climates.
Consideration of the impact of climate change on animal and plant health in Scotland and the identification of future animal and plant health risks.
Cross-Cutting Theme 2: Protecting Biodiversity
Aim: To generate knowledge and products that enable Scotland to protect and enhance the biodiversity found in rural areas, and consider the implications of change.
Background and Policy Drivers
Biodiversity provides us with many of the things that sustain our lives. It has economic importance through the supply of wild food sources, beneficial effects upon agriculture, natural pharmaceutical products, is a key asset for our tourist industry and provides essential environmental services, for example, carbon sequestration in peat bogs. It also enriches our lives, is part of our cultural heritage, and is a measure of the sustainability of our society.
There is global concern over the loss of biodiversity and in Scotland, as elsewhere, biodiversity is under threat from many angles including development, intensive agriculture, climate change and pollution. The SE is committed to the protection and enhancement of biodiversity and recognises that biodiversity is an issue which cuts across many sectors and interests.
Research to support this aim will be addressed and co-ordinated across the Research Programme as a whole. Research carried out on the ecology of key species and functioning of semi-natural and natural habitats (considered under PO10) will provide essential underpinning knowledge for protecting biodiversity. Other objectives dealing with issues such as water quality (PO9) and soils (PO8), and crop, livestock and farming systems (Programmes 1, 2 and PO7) also have important implications for biodiversity. In addition to conservation of wildlife, ex situ germplasm collections are valuable sources of natural genetic diversity with the potential to meet today's needs for sustainable crop varieties and livestock breeds, and to serve as an insurance for the future (PO1, PO3).
Relevant Policy Documents
This list is not comprehensive, but key documents include:
Illustrative Outputs
Outcomes that could be delivered by Programmes 1 to 3, which will address this CCT include:
Taxonomic approaches to accurately describe and define biodiversity within Scotland to inform conservation policy.
Determine the genetics, characteristics, requirements, ecology and interactions of key Scottish species, habitats and ecosystems.
Identify drivers of change, pressures on, resilience of, and impacts upon Scottish biodiversity (including climate change, spatial fragmentation, pollution, land use change, invasive species), methodologies for monitoring change and means of predicting and mitigating these impacts to develop and support conservation policy.
Effective management measures for the conservation and enhancement of existing biodiversity, for the reintroduction of species and restoration of habitats to meet biodiversity targets.
Provision of information to farming enterprises setting environmental, ecological and biodiversity issues in an economic context.
Develop protocols for identifying soil microfauna and flora, explore the function and role of soil biodiversity in wider Scottish ecosystems and develop practical recommendations on how to protect and enhance soil biodiversity.
Use of the ecosystem approach to assess ecological health (including biodiversity) and status of water and methods to assess ecological impacts of diffuse pollution.
Provide evidence and advice on best practices that will help livestock systems deliver biodiversity and environmental goals.
Identifying how environmental benefits from different farm systems might be optimised, and how these can be developed within agri-environment schemes.
Define quantitatively the biological components that confer resilience on arable systems over a range of scales.
Maintain, characterise and exploit ex situ plant genetic resources to conserve biodiversity and to ensure that future needs can be met.
Cross-Cutting Theme 3: Environmental, Social and Economic Sustainability of Rural Scotland
Aim: To produce knowledge and capability for the development of evidence based policy and practice that ensures the environmental, social and economic sustainability of rural Scotland.
Background and Policy Drivers
Rural Scotland represents 98% of the land area and 20% of the population. It supports Taxonomic approaches to accurately describe and define biodiversity within Scotland to inform conservation policy.
Determine the genetics, characteristics, requirements, ecology and interactions of key Scottish species, habitats and ecosystems.
Identify drivers of change, pressures on, resilience of, and impacts upon Scottish biodiversity (including climate change, spatial fragmentation, pollution, land use change, invasive species), methodologies for monitoring change and means of predicting and mitigating these impacts to develop and support conservation policy.
Effective management measures for the conservation and enhancement of existing biodiversity, for the reintroduction of species and restoration of habitats to meet biodiversity targets.
Provision of information to farming enterprises setting environmental, ecological and biodiversity issues in an economic context.
Develop protocols for identifying soil microfauna and flora, explore the function and role of soil biodiversity in wider Scottish ecosystems and develop practical recommendations on how to protect and enhance soil biodiversity.
Use of the ecosystem approach to assess ecological health (including biodiversity) and status of water and methods to assess ecological impacts of diffuse pollution.
Provide evidence and advice on best practices that will help livestock systems deliver biodiversity and environmental goals.
Identifying how environmental benefits from different farm systems might be optimised, and how these can be developed within agri-environment schemes.
Define quantitatively the biological components that confer resilience on arable many activities, both traditional and new, and is an essential part of Scotland's economy and quality of life. However, each activity brings to bear impacts and pressures upon the economy, the environment and rural communities, and can raise questions over sustainability and potential tensions between different users and stakeholders.
Much of the research in the main Programmes contributes to the sustainable development of land-based activities, in particular agricultural use of land. However, farming is only one element of rural development and our ability to develop and implement effective policies for a sustainable rural Scotland needs research beyond the traditional agricultural base taking account of business diversification in rural areas and of public attitudes, behaviours and perceptions. An holistic approach to the integration of economic, social and environmental considerations in land management is needed. There is a particular need to understand the physical-social and social-political interactions that affect the sustainability of rural areas and communities. This includes, for example, understanding public attitudes to and perceptions of rural Scotland and also developing an understanding of how human behaviour can affect the ability to convey, implement and deliver change. Demographic change poses a specific challenge to the sustainability of Scotland's rural areas.
The Executive has articulated the key policy priorities for rural Scotland as being:
supporting rural economic development
providing opportunity for those who are most disadvantaged
improving access to high quality services
sustaining and making the most of our natural and cultural heritage.
Research described in this strategy is focussed on contributing primarily to the delivery of the first and last of these 4 key priorities but SEERAD will continue to work with all relevant stakeholders, including other research funders, to ensure that linkages to key research issues outside the scope of this strategy are appropriately covered and co-ordinated.
Relevant Policy Documents
Illustrative Outputs
Outcomes that could be delivered by Programmes 1 to 4, that address these issues include:
Knowledge that will breakdown the barriers to diversification and uptake of technologies and opportunities in rural Scotland.
Tools to analyse and convey the social, economic and environmental implications of potential policy developments that affect rural Scotland including distributional issues.
Economics of animal and plant diseases, land use practices and the food chain.
A clear characterisation of what the public want from the countryside, biodiversity and landscapes and the relative socio-economic value and pressures that the public put on these issues.
Development of best practice for public participation in environmental decision making and land use change including understanding the constraints, conflicts and barriers that exist.
Land management strategies and decision support tools to promote biodiversity, landscape conservation and enhancement while maintaining economic, environmental and social sustainability.
Understanding the impact of demographic change on rural sustainability.
Examples of advances made from the SEERAD Research Base |
Research on Scotland's unique environment has yielded many advantages for land users and managers as well as policy makers |
Studies on water resources and catchments have led to development of models which help farmers to adopt low cost approaches to reduce pollution. Other models have been developed to predict how climate change will affect water resources to highlight catchments likely to be most seriously affected. A device for accurately measuring the moisture content of soils has been patented and is now sold world wide.
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