The Sandom Lab studies palaeo, community and behavioural ecology, and applies this research to conservation biology and rewilding. Rewilding is a new and exciting field that seeks to not only halt the decline in biodiversity but reverse it. We follow a five phase process in our research:
- Identifying conservation challenges,
- Assessing dysfunctional ecological processes,
- Learning from the ecology of the past,
- Applying lessons learnt from the past to the present, and
- Innovating nature-based solutions to conservation challenges.
We explore Pleistocene, early Holocene and more recent ecological baselines to better understand how natural systems functioned prior to modern human impacts. We follow how ecosystems have changed over time to gain the necessary insights to achieve more sustainable conservation aproaches in the future. Our approach includes database creation from the primary literature, macroecology, and field research. Our primary study group is mammals.
We are also interested in linking rewilding approaches to tackling social challenges, particularly relating to the delivery of ecosystem services. We look to follow a highly interdisiplinary approach to achieve this.
We have strong ties to business and NGOs in the Rewilding sector, ensuring that research we produce has impact.
NEWS
Paper out on One hundred priority questions for landscape restoration in Europe: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0006320717321420
Paper out on making rewilding fit for policy: https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/1365-2664.13082
Paper out on identifying ambassador species for conservation marketing: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2351989417302470
Check out some video from a recent field course at the Knepp Estate rewilding project here: https://vimeo.com/222423687
Paper out on Felid diets: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/ddi.12558/full
Did the loss of prey diversity cause the extinction of the biggest felids? Find out more here: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/ecog.03303/full
Are you interested in Rewilding? Check out the Rewilding Knowledge Hub here: http://www.rewildingbritain.org.uk/assets/uploads/files/knowledge-hub/Rewilding_Knowledge_Hub_Summary_v1.0LowRes.pdf
Photos from the most recent African Zoology Field Course: Undergraduate & Masters
Zambezi National Park 2018 Field Course
Photos from the African Zoology Field Course
