Neil Reid

Neil Reid
Queen's University Belfast | QUB · Institute for Global Food Security, School of Biological Sciences

BSc (Hons), PhD

About

146
Publications
50,289
Reads
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2,615
Citations
Introduction
Reader in Conservation Biology, Queen's University Belfast. Background in biodiversity focusing on the ecology of farmland and invasive species, policy-relevant evaluation of conservation strategies, developing statistical advances in abundance estimation techniques for National conservation assessments and more generally applied ecology specialising in mammals but with experience of a wide range of taxa and environments
Additional affiliations
September 2014 - May 2016
Queen's University Belfast
Position
  • Lecturer
June 2008 - September 2014
Queen's University Belfast
Position
  • Quercus Centre Manager

Publications

Publications (146)
Article
AIM: It is widely acknowledged that species distributions result from a variety of biotic and abiotic factors operating at different spatial scales. Here, we aimed to (1) determine the extent to which global climate niche models (CNMs) can be improved by the addition of fine-scale regional data; (2) examine climatic and environmental factors influe...
Article
Understanding how invasive species spread is of particular concern in the current era of globalisation and rapid environmental change. The occurrence of super-diffusive movements within the context of Levy flights has been discussed with respect to particle physics, human movements, microzooplankton, disease spread in global epidemiology and animal...
Article
The development and implementation of a population supplementation and restoration plan for any endangered species should involve an understanding of the species' habitat requirements prior to the release of any captive bred individuals. The freshwater pearl mussel, Margaritifera margaritifera, has undergone dramatic declines over the last century...
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Empirical support for 'invasional melt-down', where the presence of one invading species facilitates another and compounds negative impacts on indigenous species, is equivocal with few convinc-ing studies. In Ireland, the bank vole was introduced 80 years ago and now occupies a third of the island. The greater white-toothed shrew arrived more recen...
Article
1. Agri-environment schemes (AESs) are designed to create landscape-scale improvements in biodiversity. While the specific aims of AESs do not always include the enhancement of species of conservation concern, associated conservation strategies, such as the UK Biodiversity Action Plan, often rest on the assumption that AESs enhance environmental co...
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The direct effects of hunting on hunted individuals and populations have been well known for a long time. However, recently there has also been an increased focus on the indirect, non‐lethal effects of hunting. When approached by a possible threat such as a predator, the prey releases various stress hormones into the bloodstream. Cortisol is one of...
Chapter
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Farm hedgerows supply diverse benefits to agriculture including pollination, pest control and improved production related to biodiversity. They also provide additional ecosystem services including carbon sequestration, shelter for crops and livestock, human well-being, and a bucolic aesthetic. Hedgerows combine with semi-natural habitats and conser...
Chapter
Farm hedgerows supply diverse benefits to agriculture including pollination, pest control and improved production related to biodiversity. They also provide additional ecosystem services including carbon sequestration, shelter for crops and livestock, human well-being, and a bucolic aesthetic. This chapter explores the impact and management of hedg...
Article
Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs) are outbreaks of aquatic toxic microalgae emerging as a global problem driven by nutrient enrichment, global climate change and invasive species. We uniquely describe a HAB of unprecedented duration, extent and magnitude during 2023 in Lough Neagh; the UK and Ireland’s largest freshwater lake, using an unparalleled combi...
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We investigated the association between wild canid predators reported near sheep farms throughout Greece and somatic cell counts in bulk-tank milk as a reflection of milk quality. The study included 325 dairy sheep flocks, where bulk-tank milk somatic cell counts and total bacterial counts were measured and staphylococci were isolated. Farms were d...
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The European badger, Meles meles, is an important wildlife host for Mycobacterium bovis and contributes to the epidemiology of bovine tuberculosis (bTB) in cattle in several countries. The control of zoonotic diseases, such as bTB, is a central component of global One-Health strategies. Such strategies are complicated by human-wildlife conflicts, p...
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Small mammals in farmland hedgerows feed on soil surface invertebrates with non-native invasive species potentially affecting prey species and populations. We investigated terrestrial invertebrates using pitfall traps and leaf litter samples across four zones of invasion in Ireland: (1) native species only (wood mouse Apodemus sylvaticus and pygmy...
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Understanding the processes that drive interpopulation differences in demography and population dynamics is central to metapopulation ecology. In colonial species, populations are limited by local resource availability. However, individuals from larger colonies will travel greater distances to overcome density‐dependent competition. Consequently, t...
Preprint
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European badgers are a wildlife reservoir of infection for Mycobacterium bovis on the island of Ireland. Understanding how exposure risk and badger population management is related to bovine tuberculosis epidemiology in cattle herds has led to a rich body of research. Here we review progress that has been made in the understanding of the eco-epidem...
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Hare coursing is the pursuit of a hare by dogs for sport. In recent years in Ireland, between 2,900 to 3,700 hares have been caught from the wild (under Government license) and held in captivity for up to 8 weeks. Hares are given a head start and coursed in an enclosed arena by two muzzled greyhounds where the object is not to kill the hare, but ju...
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Habitat fragmentation and loss reduce population size and connectivity, which imperils populations. Functional connectivity is key for species persistence in human-modified landscapes. To inform species conservation management, we investigated spatial genetic structure, gene flow and inferred dispersal between twelve breeding sites of the Natterjac...
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Wildfires are an increasing concern due to rising temperatures and incidence of droughts associated with changing climate, poor land management, and direct human interference. Most studies of the impact of fire on temperate heathland and bog examined the consequences of controlled or prescribed burning. Less is known about the impacts of uncontroll...
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Puffinosis is a disease of a range of seabirds characterised by dorsal and ventral blistering of their webbed feet, conjunctivitis, dry necrosis, leg spasticity, head shaking, loss of balance, tremors, and death. It is associated with Manx shearwaters (Puffinus puffinus), frequently affecting chicks within their underground nesting burrows. The aet...
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Introduced non-native species can threaten native species through interspecific hybridisation and genetic introgression. We assessed the prevalence of hybridisation and introgression between introduced European brown hare, Lepus europaeus , and the endemic Irish hare, L. timidus hibernicus . Roadkill hares ( n = 56) were sequenced for a 379bp secti...
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Biological invasions, especially invasive alien aquatic plants, are a major and growing ecological and socioeconomic problem worldwide. Freshwater systems are particularly vulnerable to invasion, where impacts of invasive alien species can damage ecological structure and function. Identifying abiotic and biotic factors that mediate successful invas...
Article
Invasive species managers utilise species records to inform management. These data can also be used in Species Distribution Models (SDM) to predict future spread or potential invasion of new areas. However, issues with non-equilibrium (also called disequilibrium) can cause difficulties in modelling invasive species that have not fully colonised the...
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A recent Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust (GWCT) report (Hesford & MacLeod 2022) suggested densities of mountain hares (Lepus timidus) may reach 52 - 125/km2 in parts of the Peak District, England. These are notably higher than previous and current estimates of 5 - 33 hares/km2 (Matthews et al. 2018; Bedson et al. 2022). We review Hesford & Mac...
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Molecular methods can play a crucial role in species management and conservation. Despite the usefulness of genetic approaches, they are often not explicitly included as part of species recovery plans and conservation practises. The Natterjack toad ( Epidalea calamita ) is regionally Red-Listed as Endangered in Ireland. The species is declining and...
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Over the last 20 years, ecological restoration of degraded habitats has become common in conservation practice. Mountain hares (Lepus timidus scoticus) were surveyed during 2017-2021 using 830 km of line transects in the Peak District National Park, England. Historically degraded bog areas were previously reported having low hare numbers. Following...
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Invasive, submerged macrophytes negatively alter aquatic ecosystems and biodiversity through disruption of ecological structure and functioning. These plants are especially challenging and costly to control, with relatively few successful eradications. We examine the efficacy of dye treatments to control three invasive, submerged macrophyte species...
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Rabbit haemorrhagic disease virus 2 (RHDV2; GI.2) is a pathogenic lagovirus that emerged in 2010, and which now has a global distribution. Outbreaks have been associated with local population declines in several lagomorph species, due to rabbit haemorrhagic disease (RHD)-associated mortality raising concerns for its potential negative impact on thr...
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Agri-environment schemes are a key mechanism by which agricultural sustainability is encouraged by subsidising farmers to adopt environmentally friendly management (e.g. reduction of inputs) to maintain and enhance the delivery of biodiversity-associated ecosystem services. Studies testing the efficacy of agri-environment schemes have yielded varyi...
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Ongoing recovery of native predators has the potential to alter species interactions , with community and ecosystem wide implications. We estimated the co-occurrence of three species of conservation and management interest from a multi-species citizen science camera trap survey. We demonstrate fundamental differences in novel and coevolved predator...
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Understanding the evolution of local adaptations is a central aim of evolutionary biology and key for the identification of unique populations and lineages of conservation relevance. By combining RAD sequencing and whole-genome sequencing, we identify genetic signatures of local adaptation in mountain hares (Lepus timidus) from isolated and distinc...
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Background Rabbit haemorrhagic disease virus (RHDV) is a Lagovirus , a subgroup of the family Caliciviridae . RHDV2 is a variant first described in France in 2010, and has since spread globally. It has been reported in several Lagomorph species (rabbits, hares, and their relatives) as well as other mammals including voles and shrews. The disease ha...
Article
Landscape-scale agricultural intensification is a major driver of biodiversity loss. Highly mobile species, such as aerial invertebrates may be disproportionately affected by land cover at large spatial scales due to their ability to disperse. Assessing the efficacy of environmentally friendly farming, such as Agri-Environment Schemes (AES), theref...
Preprint
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Understanding the evolution of local adaptations is a central aim of evolutionary biology and key for the identification of unique populations and lineages of conservation relevance. By combining RAD sequencing and whole-genome sequencing, we identify genetic signatures of local adaptation in mountain hares ( Lepus timidus ) from isolated and disti...
Article
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The Natterjack toad ( Epidalea calamita ) is the rarest amphibian species in Ireland, regionally Red-Listed as Endangered. We applied an eDNA approach to detect species presence in breeding pond water samples. We developed a species-specific qPCR assay targeting the cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI). The assay was tested in silico, in vitro (DNA...
Article
Cloud forests are amongst the most biologically unique, yet threatened, ecosystems in Mesoamerica. We summarize the ecological value and conservation status of a well-studied cloud forest site: Cusuco National Park (CNP), a 23,440 ha protected area in the Merendón mountains, northwest Honduras. We show cnp to have exceptional biodiversity; of 966 t...
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Terrestrial mammals are important ecosystem engineers in rainforest but threatened by deforestation and hunting even in areas with the highest level of designated protection e.g. National Parks. Species Distribution Models (sdMs) can be used to identify priority areas for vulnerable species informing the spatial allocation of conservation resources...
Article
Amphibian declines are of major conservation concern worldwide. The Natterjack toad (Epidalea calamita) is the rarest amphibian in Ireland, regionally Red-listed as Endangered. The species is at the northwestern edge of its European range in Ireland and is subject to substantial conservation efforts, including regular monitoring and surveillance, a...
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Surveying cryptic, nocturnal animals is logistically challenging. Consequently, density estimates may be imprecise and uncertain. Survey innovations mitigate ecological and observational difficulties contributing to estimation variance. Thus, comparisons of survey techniques are critical to evaluate estimates of abundance. We simultaneously compare...
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The congeneric lagomorphs Lepus timidus and L. europaeus share allopatric distributions in many areas of Europe characterised by competitive exclusion and hybridisation. We investigated prospects for these species under climate change in northern England uplands. We created ensemble models predicting niche realisation for these species, influenced...
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Agricultural intensification is a major driver of biodiversity loss, with the implementation of Agri‐Environment Schemes (AESs) being a widespread policy designed to prevent further loss, and to maintain or restore ecosystem health. Upland grassland soils are disproportionately impacted by intensification including drainage, artificial fertiliser u...
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Species Distribution Models (SDMs) are a cornerstone of climate change conservation research but temporal extrapolations into future climate scenarios cannot be verified until later this century. One way of assessing the robustness of projections is to compare their consistency between different modelling approaches, placing more confidence on cons...
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Animal populations at northern latitudes may have cyclical dynamics that are degraded by climate change leading to trophic cascade. Hare populations at more southerly latitudes are characterized by dramatic declines in abundance associated with agricultural intensification. We focus on the impact of historical climatic and agricultural change on a...
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The global amphibian crisis is driven by a range of stressors including disease, habitat loss, and environmental contamination. The role of climate change remains poorly studied and is likely to influence environmental suitability, ranges, reproduction, and phenology. This study aimed to characterize the bioclimatic-habitat niche space of the Natte...
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In aquatic systems, invasive submerged macrophytes considerably alter the structure and functioning of communities, thus potentially compromising ecosystem services. The prolific spread of invasive macrophytes is often aided by vegetative fragment propagation, yet the contributions of various commonly occurring invertebrates to such fragmentation a...
Article
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The Natterjack toad (Epidalea calamita) has a wide distribution throughout Europe, ranging from the Iberian Peninsula to the Baltic coast with several isolated populations in Great Britain and Ireland. Despite its widespread distribution, the conservation status for this species has been assessed as ‘unfavourable’ throughout most European populatio...
Article
There are a paucity of data quantifying on-farm management practices such as the frequency of intraherd cattle movements, use of consolidated or spatially fragmented grazing pastures, and duration of time cattle spend at grass with respect to biosecurity and disease transmission. Such movement dynamics are important when attempting to understand th...
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Hedge density, structure, and function vary with primary production and slope gradient and are subject to other diverse factors. Hedgerows are emerging ecosystems with both above- and belowground components. Functions of hedges can be categorized as provisioning, regulating, cultural, and supporting ecosystem services; these functions include food...
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According to the IUCN Red List 41% of the world's amphibian species are threatened with extinction, making them more threatened than any other vertebrate group nowadays. Given the global amphibian crisis, comprehensive understanding of demographics and population trends of declining and threatened species is essential for effective management and c...
Article
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Bovine tuberculosis (bTB) can be spread between and among cattle and wildlife hosts e.g. European badger (Meles meles). The majority of cattle in the UK and Ireland are grazed during the summer, potentially exposing them to Mycobacterium bovis. 18 farms were surveyed (39% dairy, 61% beef; fields n = 697) for one grazing season (May-November 2016, n...
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Landscapes occupied by recovering carnivore populations in Europe are highly modified by human activity. It is unclear how recovering predators will adapt and sustain populations in highly altered landscapes, with most existing research focused on large carnivores. To address this we contrast population demographics and denning behaviour of a small...
Article
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Farmland ponds are a highly threatened freshwater habitat which has undergone dramatic losses during the last 200 years due to land drainage schemes and agricultural intensification. Agri‐environment schemes (AES) incentivize farmers to adopt farming methods to benefit biodiversity, yet there are a paucity of data evaluating the success of artifici...
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Accurately quantifying species’ area requirements is a prerequisite for effective area‐based conservation. This typically involves collecting tracking data on species of interest and then conducting home‐range analyses. Problematically, autocorrelation in tracking data can result in space needs being severely underestimated. Based on the previous w...
Article
Macroecological analyses capture the widespread nature of wild mammal range contractions and population declines globally, with Neotropical rainforests particularly vulnerable. Yet there is a paucity of basic population biology data capturing local empirically observed population changes. We generated species-specific and aggregated temporal trends...
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Invasive alien species continue to arrive in new locations with no abatement in rate, and thus greater predictive powers surrounding their ecological impacts are required. In particular, we need improved means of quantifying the ecological impacts of new invasive species under different contexts. Here, we develop a suite of metrics based upon the n...
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Ireland, being an island situated on Europe’s western seaboard, has a fewer number of native species than mainland European Union Member States (MS). Increased numbers of vectors and pathways have reduced the island’s biotic isolation, increasing the risk of new introductions and their associated impacts on native biodiversity. It is likely that th...
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Increasing rates of invasions in ecosystems worldwide necessitate experiments to determine the role of biotic interactions in the success and impact of multiple alien species. Here, we examined competitive and facilitative interactions among various combinations of three widespread and often co‐occurring invaders: the zebra mussel Dreissena polymor...
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Background Despite rigorous controls placed on herds which disclose ante-mortem test positive cattle to bovine tuberculosis, caused by the infection of Mycobacterium bovis , many herds in Northern Ireland (NI) experience prolonged breakdowns. These herds represent a considerable administrative and financial burden to the State and farming community...
Article
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Hares (genus Lepus) provide clear examples of repeated and often massive introgressive hybridization and striking local adaptations. Genomic studies on this group have so far relied on comparisons to the European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) reference genome. Here, we report the first de novo draft reference genome for a hare species, the mountai...
Preprint
Full-text available
Background. Despite rigorous controls placed on herds which disclose antemortem test positive cattle to bovine tuberculosis, caused by the infection of Mycobacterium bovis, many herds in Northern Ireland (NI) experience prolonged breakdowns. These herds represent a considerable administrative and financial burden to the State and farming community....
Preprint
Background. Despite rigorous controls placed on herds which disclose antemortem test positive cattle to bovine tuberculosis, caused by the infection of Mycobacterium bovis, many herds in Northern Ireland (NI) experience prolonged breakdowns. These herds represent a considerable administrative and financial burden to the State and farming community....
Article
Full-text available
In Great Britain and Ireland, badgers (Meles meles) are a wildlife reservoir of Mycobacterium bovis and implicated in bovine tuberculosis transmission to domestic cattle. The route of disease transmission is unknown with direct, so‐called “nose‐to‐nose,” contact between hosts being extremely rare. Camera traps were deployed for 64,464 hr on 34 farm...
Article
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Endogenous circadian and seasonal activity patterns are adapted to facilitate effective utilisation of environmental resources. Activity patterns are shaped by physiological constraints, evolutionary history, circadian and seasonal changes and may be influenced by other factors, including ecological competition and interspecific interactions. Remot...
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Neotropical cloud forests are one of the most biodiverse yet threatened ecosystems with deforestation and hunting creating major problems. We report a non-volant mammal species inventory for Cusuco National Park, Honduras, spanning 2006-2016. Data were collected using 4 methods: tracks and signs, camera trapping, direct sightings and live trapping....
Conference Paper
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Models of landscape carbon sequestration focus primarily on changes in land use and give little indication of modifications to carbon flux due to differing land management practice within the same category. In the agricultural category, for example, reseeding and ploughing practices vary. Ploughing modifies flux rates in agricultural grasslands by...