Natural ecosystems play a key role in supporting agricultural production systems through a range of ecosystem services, including carbon storage, soil health, hydrological function, biodiversity, and pest and pollination services. Research undertaken to date in cropping landscapes has increased our understanding of the contribution that natural ecosystems on and around farms make in providing these important services. It has identified and quantified individual services and investigated best management practises to enhance their value. However, rarely does this research focus on optimisation of multiple functions and outcomes or the management required to deliver win-win solutions (i.e. environmental and production benefits). Decision making (from farm level to policy level) in the face of projected climate variability and growing pressure on the natural resource base is also increasingly complex and subject to significant uncertainty.
This research will investigate the interactions between natural environments and crop production systems in agricultural landscapes and develop an integrated predictive ES model which will support decisions aimed at optimising both environmental and productivity gains at a range of scales from properties to landscapes under a rage of probable climate and land use/land cover futures.

• Dr Kathryn Reardon-Smith

• Institute for Agriculture and the Environment
• International Centre for Applied Climate Sciences
• School of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences

• Agriculture, Land and Farm Management
• Ecological Applications
• Ecology
• Environmental Science and Management

• Doctor of Philosophy (DPHD)