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<H1 id=news-article-heading>£1.3m research on urban insects begins in Bristol
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<P class=news-article-date-effective id=news-article-date><STRONG>Press
release</STRONG> issued 27 May 2011</P><!--Lead in-->
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<P>The gardens of Westbury-on-Trym will play a key part in a new £1.3 million
research project led by the University of Bristol into how urbanization is
affecting bees, flies and other pollinating insects across the UK.</P></DIV><!--Start content-->
<P>Over the next few months, teams of ecologists will be sampling plants,
pollinators and their interactions within a 1km-square area of Bristol which
encompasses three habitat types: city, farmland and nature reserve. As
part of the project they will visit 100 front gardens in Westbury-on-Trym to
study the plants and insects there.</P>
<P>This fieldwork – the first stage in a three-year project – aims to discover
where pollinators are found in the UK. Rather than just counting species,
the researchers will study the network of interactions between plants and their
pollinators as these interactions have a profound impact on a community’s
response to species loss, stress and ecological restoration. This initial
stage of the research will cover twelve cities across the UK, starting with
Bristol, Reading, Leeds and Edinburgh.</P>
<P><A href="http://www.bristol.ac.uk/biology/person/?personKey=dBWst3jWFcZ89MpxMdxzbqkK4PcoJd"><FONT color=#052ca7>Professor Jane Memmott</FONT></A> of Bristol’s <A href="http://www.bristol.ac.uk/biology/"><FONT color=#052ca7>School of
Biological Sciences</FONT></A> who is leading the project, said: “There are two
schools of thought concerning the effect of urbanization on pollinating
insects. On one hand, urbanization is considered to be one of the major
causes of insect decline, in particular through the alteration of ecological
features important to pollinators, such as food and nesting sites.</P>
<P>“On the other hand, some urban habitats are remarkably good for pollinators:
35 per cent of hoverfly species known from the UK were recorded in a single
garden in Leicester, honey bees produce more honey in urban Birmingham than in
the surrounding countryside, and data gathered over the last decade in and
around Bristol suggest there is no difference in the richness of pollinator
species inside and outside the city.</P>
<P>“Our fieldwork will provide exact data on where pollinators can be found in
the UK which will ultimately help to bring about more effective conservation
management of these important insects. By using our data to better
understand the urban habitat mosaic, local authorities will be able to integrate
pollinator conservation into the 9 per cent of land that comprises urban areas
in the UK.”</P>
<P>The second stage of the project will look in detail at pollinators in four UK
cities (Bristol, Reading, Leeds and Edinburgh), with the aim of quantifying the
value for pollinators of various city habitats including industrial estates,
school grounds, allotments and graveyards. The final stage will ask
whether conditions for urban pollinators can be improved. </P>
<P>The <A href="http://www.bbsrc.ac.uk/PA/grants/AwardDetails.aspx?FundingReference=BB%2fI00047X%2f1"><FONT color=#052ca7>research</FONT></A> is funded by the Pollinator Initiative
(Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, NERC, Defra, The
Welcome Trust and the Scottish Government).</P></DIV></FONT></BODY></HTML>