Long Mead’s Research Project brings together scholars from a wide range of academic disciplines, experts and professionals from NGO organisations, as well as the farming community whose long-term practical knowledge of the land is sometimes undervalued in the environmental debate. Long Mead Biodiversity Research Project is intended to be a long-term engagement with a threatened environment at a time of rapid change.
These ancient floodplain wildflower meadows are acknowledged hotspots of botanic biodiversity, and the prime objective of the Long Mead Research Project is to advance scientific knowledge of these ancient meadows and their ecotones. The relatively small size of Long Mead makes it feasible to embark on a long-term program of fine-grained spatial and continuous temporal sampling, and to apply these methods to meadows under restoration.
We have formed collaborations with experts from a wide range of disciplines to contribute to acquiring and interpreting the data obtained, which includes botanical, entomological, hydrology, water quality, and soil analyses of carbon. These research projects will contribute to basic knowledge of these rare meadows and allow us to develop principled methods to preserve and restore these important and critically-endangered habitats. It is evident that the natural capital and associated ecosystem services of floodplain wildflower meadows are considerable, e.g. maintaining and increasing biodiversity, food production, carbon capture, flood mitigation, improving water quality – and of course providing delight for society.
These ancient floodplain wildflower meadows are acknowledged hotspots of botanic biodiversity, and the prime objective of the Long Mead Research Project is to advance scientific knowledge of these ancient meadows and their ecotones. The relatively small size of Long Mead makes it feasible to embark on a long-term program of fine-grained spatial and continuous temporal sampling, and to apply these methods to meadows under restoration.
We have formed collaborations with experts from a wide range of disciplines to contribute to acquiring and interpreting the data obtained, which includes botanical, entomological, hydrology, water quality, and soil analyses of carbon. These research projects will contribute to basic knowledge of these rare meadows and allow us to develop principled methods to preserve and restore these important and critically-endangered habitats. It is evident that the natural capital and associated ecosystem services of floodplain wildflower meadows are considerable, e.g. maintaining and increasing biodiversity, food production, carbon capture, flood mitigation, improving water quality – and of course providing delight for society.
Dr Matthew Bulbert (Oxford Brookes University - Co-ordinator for MSc Conservation Ecology) describes Long Mead's Bottom-Up Community-led Participation Model:
| dr_matthew_bulbert.pdf |