Robert A. Briers

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• PhD
• Professor at Edinburgh Napier University

Aim The urgency for remote, reliable and scalable biodiversity monitoring amidst mounting human pressures on ecosystems has sparked worldwide interest in Passive Acoustic Monitoring (PAM), which can track life underwater and on land. However, we lack a unified methodology to report this sampling effort and a comprehensive overview of PAM coverage t...

Aim The urgency for remote, reliable and scalable biodiversity monitoring amidst mounting human pressures on ecosystems has sparked worldwide interest in Passive Acoustic Monitoring (PAM), which can track life underwater and on land. However, we lack a unified methodology to report this sampling effort and a comprehensive overview of PAM coverage t...

Under the current global biodiversity crisis, there is a need for automated and non-invasive monitoring techniques that are able to gather large amounts of information cost-effectively at large scales. One such technique is passive acoustic monitoring, which is commonly coupled with automatic identification of animal species based on their sound. A...

Conservation of elusive species affected by habitat degradation, population fragmentation and poaching is challenging. The remaining wild populations of a desert-adapted ungulate, Nubian ibex (Capra nubiana), within Oman are small and fragmented. The appropriateness of captive insurance populations for reinforcing existing, or establishing new, wil...

In response to the combined impacts of the climate and biodiversity crises, as well as for timber security and increased recreational access to green spaces, there is a global drive to increase tree cover. In the UK, an estimated 1.5 million ha of afforestation are required to meet its carbon net-zero emissions targets (Committee on Climate Change,...

Seagrass ecosystems are crucial for supporting biodiversity and serve as vital fishing grounds. Unfortunately, their cover is declining globally. In Kenya, seagrass cover is falling by ~ 1.6% annually but the causes are unknown. This study investigated the possible anthropogenic drivers of seagrass decline along the Kenyan coastline. Satellite and...

In relation to new woodland creation in England, the Forestry Commission (FC) may require breeding bird surveys of proposed sites to assess suitability for planting or natural colonisation. Previous protocols required six visits, but we wanted to test the impact of reducing the number of visits to save resources without substantial loss of informa...

The need for remote, reliable, and scalable monitoring of plummeting biodiversity amidst mounting human pressures on ecosystems and changing climate has sparked enormous interest in Passive Acoustic Monitoring (PAM) over multiple disciplines and ecosystems. Even though PAM could support UN Sustainable Development Goals and the Global Biodiversity I...

The recognition of the benefits that seagrasses contribute has enhanced the research interest in these marine ecosystems. Seagrasses provide critical goods and services and support the livelihoods of millions of people. Despite this, they are declining around the globe. To conserve these ecosystems, it is necessary to understand their extent and th...

Mammals' resting sites (dens) are important features of their ecology. Eurasian otter Lutra lutra resting sites are strictly protected by UK and European legislation and are ostensibly identified from associated field‐signs. This legislation is difficult to apply given the poor understanding of resting sites coupled with the lack of evidence suppor...

There is an urgent need to understand how organisms respond to multiple, potentially interacting drivers in today's world. The effects of the pollutants anthropogenic sound (pile driving sound playbacks) and waterborne cadmium were investigated across multiple levels of biology in larval and juvenile Norway lobster, Nephrops norvegicus under contro...

Plastic pollution is threatening aquatic ecosystems and wildlife. Understanding the characteristics and extent of plastic pollution is the first step towards improving management and therefore the environmental impacts. Pre-production pellets are used in the manufacture of a range of consumer items. The Avon–Heathcote Estuary/Ihutai in Aotearoa–New...

Ponds are among the most biodiverse and ecologically important freshwater habitats globally and may provide a significant opportunity to mitigate anthropogenic pressures and reverse the decline of aquatic biodiversity. Ponds also provide important contributions to society through the provision of ecosystem services. Despite the ecological and socie...

Selecting the correct methods to answer one's chosen question is key to conducting rigorous, evidence-based science. A disciplines’ chosen methods are constantly evolving to encompass new insights and developments. Analysing these changes can be a useful tool for identifying knowledge gaps and guiding future studies. Research on the impact of anthr...

Capsule Our multi-scale habitat selection and spatial analysis of a threatened population of Taiga Bean Geese Anser fabalis highlights the importance of monitoring and review programmes to determine whether species conservation measures are being implemented at the correct spatio-temporal scales. Aims To undertake a habitat selection and spatial a...

In this crowdsourced initiative, independent analysts used the same dataset to test two hypotheses regarding the effects of scientists' gender and professional status on verbosity during group meetings. Not only the analytic approach but also the operationalizations of key variables were left unconstrained and up to individual analysts. For instanc...

The Nubian ibex ( Capra nubiana ) is patchily distributed across parts of Africa and Arabia. In Oman, it is one of the few free-ranging wild mammals found in the central and southern regions. Its population is declining due to habitat degradation, human expansion, poaching and fragmentation. Here, we investigated the population's genetic diversity...

Aim An understanding of how biotic communities are spatially organized is necessary to identify and prioritize habitats within landscape‐scale biodiversity conservation. Local contribution to beta diversity (LCBD) identifies individual habitats that make a significant contribution to beta diversity and may have important practical implications, par...

Camera-trap studies in the wild record true-positive data, but data loss from false-negatives (i.e. an animal is present but not recorded) is likely to vary and widely impact data quality. Detection probability is defined as the probability of recording an animal if present in the study area. We propose a framework of sequential processes within de...

Background: Red Vent Syndrome (RVS), a haemorrhagic inflammation of the vent region in Atlantic salmon, is associated with high abundance of Anisakis simplex (s.s.) third-stage larvae (L3) in the vent region. Despite evidence suggesting that increasing A. simplex (s.s.) intensity is a causative factor in RVS aetiology, the definitive cause remains...

Nutrient enrichment is a significant cause of ecosystem change in coastal habitats worldwide. This study focuses on the change in a benthic macroinvertebrate community and environmental quality as assessed through different biotic indices following the construction of a sewage outfall pipe in the west of Scotland, from first implementation to seven...

Responses of marine invertebrates to anthropogenic noise are insufficiently known, impeding our understanding of ecosystemic impacts of noise and the development of mitigation strategies. We show that the blue mussel, Mytilus edulis, is negatively affected by ship-noise playbacks across different levels of biological organization. We take a novel m...

Knowledge of seagrass distribution is limited to a few well-studied sites and poor where resources are scant (e.g. Africa), hence global estimates of seagrass carbon storage are inaccurate. Here, we analysed freely available Sentinel-2 and Landsat imagery to quantify contemporary coverage and change in seagrass between 1986 and 2016 on Kenya's coas...

There is growing recognition of the essential services provided to humanity by functionally intact ecosystems. Freshwater ecosystems are found throughout agricultural and urban landscapes and provide a wide range of ecosystem services, but globally they are also amongst the most vulnerable. In particular, ponds (lentic waters typically less than 2h...

PurposeUrbanisation is a leading cause of biotic homogenisation in urban ecosystems. However, there has been little research examining the effect of urbanisation and biotic homogenisation on aquatic communities, and few studies have compared findings across different urban landscapes. We assessed the processes that structure aquatic macroinvertebra...

The study of nocturnal mammals relies on indirect evidence or invasive methods involving capture and tagging of individuals. Indirect methods are prone to error, while capture and tagging mammals have logistical and ethical considerations. Off-the-shelf camera traps are perceived as an accessible, non-intrusive method for direct data gathering, hav...

Urbanization is a global process contributing to the loss and fragmentation of natural habitats. Many studies have focused on the biological response of terrestrial taxa and habitats to urbanization. However, little is known regarding the consequences of urbanization on freshwater habitats, especially small lentic systems. In this study, we examine...

Despite covering only approximately 138,000 km2, mangroves are globally important carbon sinks with carbon density values 3-4 times that of terrestrial forests. A key challenge in evaluating the carbon benefits from mangrove forest conservation is the lack of rigorous spatially resolved estimates of mangrove sediment carbon stocks; most mangrove ca...

In carnivores, securing suitable den sites with associated early maternal home ranges is important for successful reproduction, and understanding natal den site selection is essential to ensure that these habitats are protected from human disturbance. This study investigated Eurasian lynx Lynx lynx natal den site selection across multiple use lands...

Mangrove forests are under global pressure. Habitat destruction and degradation persist despite longstanding recognition of the important ecological functions of mangroves. Hence new approaches are needed to help stakeholders and policy-makers achieve sound management that is informed by the best science. Here we explore how the new policy concept...

Marine Spatial Planning attempts to develop integrated planning frameworks for the management of activities within marine ecosystems and support sustainable development. This study demonstrates the application and testing of an existing multiple-use zoning scheme within Scottish territorial waters. The zoning scheme developed is based on integratin...

Reliable ecosystem quality assessment of marine environments is increasingly important due to mounting pressures attributable to human activities. Biotic indices are widely used in studies to describe communities and indicate the ecological state of systems. This study focuses on benthic macroinvertebrate-based biotic indices for the assessment of...

Increasing use is being made of constructed wetlands to store and treat urban drainage prior to release into watercourses. Known as sustainable urban drainage systems (SUDS) in the UK these have potential to support and enhance freshwater biodiversity in urban areas, but the diversity and value of communities present in these ponds is not well esta...

Deforestation of mangroves is of global concern given their importance for carbon storage, biogeochemical cycling and the provision of other ecosystem services, but the links between rates of loss and potential drivers or risk factors are rarely evaluated. Here we identified key drivers of mangrove loss in Kenya and compared two different approache...

Trout (Salmo trutta) exhibit anadromous and non-anadromous forms which are commonly sympatric. Offspring of the two forms can be separated by differences in characteristics such as stable isotope ratios and carotenoid pigments, which differ due to the influence of maternal resources. The rate of change in different characteristics due to freshwater...

Mangroves in Kenya provide a wide range of valuable services to coastal communities despite their relatively small total area. Studies at single sites show reductions in extent and quality caused by extraction for fuel wood and timber and clearance for alternative land use including saltpans, aquaculture, and tourism. Such studies suggest that Keny...

Climatic variation associated with the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) influences terrestrial and marine ecosystems, but its effects on river and stream ecosystems are less well known. The influence of the NAO on the growth of stream insects was examined using long-term empirical data on the sizes of mayfly and stonefly nymphs and on water tempera...

Insects are a diverse, numerous and important group in aquatic habitats, occupying key functional and ecological roles. This edited volume brings together acknowledged experts in often disparate fields ranging from physiology through ecology to evolution to consider in a unified manner the challenges facing insect populations in aquatic environment...

Given the importance placed on protected areas, determining their effectiveness in representing and maintaining biodiversity is a core issue in conservation biology. Nonetheless, frameworks identifying the breadth of issues associated with this effectiveness, and case studies of how well these are understood in particular regions, remain lacking. I...

Spatial considerations are important in conservation reserve design. A particularly important spatial requirement is the connectivity of selected sites. Direct connections between reserve sites increase the likelihood of species persistence by allowing dispersal and colonization of other areas within the network without species having to leave the...

The shore crab (Carcinus maenas) exhibits a range of carapace pattern polymorphisms, but little is known regarding their function or maintenance. If patterns represent some form of crypsis, then associations between carapace colouration and substrate are expected; to determine whether such relationships exist, frequency of crab morphs and quantity...

1.The nature and extent of spatial pattern in communities has important implications for their dynamics and conservation. Previous studies of pond ecosystems, over relatively small spatial scales, have found little evidence of spatial autocorrelation of community composition. Patterns in community composition over greater spatial distances have not...

In the biological conservation literature, the optimum reserve site selection problem has often been addressed by using the prototype set covering and maximal covering formulations, assuming that representation of species is the only criterion in site selection. This approach usually results in a small but highly fragmented reserve, which is not us...

Adult aquatic insects emerging from streams can subsidize riparian food webs, but little is known of the spatial extent of these subsidies. Stable isotope (15N) enrichment of aquatic insects, principally a species of stonefly (Plecoptera: Leuctridae), emerging from an upland stream was used to trace the subsidy from the stream ecosystem to riparian...

Contrasting patterns of pigmentation, such as those associated with crypsis and aposematism, are common in many taxa. In order to determine why patterning varies among individuals or populations, it is important to quantify how these patches of pigment are arranged. Here we present a simple technique for measuring areas of pigmentation as well as t...

Climatic variation associated with the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) influences terrestrial and marine ecosystems, but its effects on river and stream ecosystems are less well known. The influence of the NAO on the growth of stream insects was examined using long-term empirical data on the sizes of mayfly and stonefly nymphs and on water tempera...

The relationship between the prevalence and abundance (infection intensity) of trematode parasites infecting Lymnaea stagnalis L. was investigated based on collections of snails from 12 sites in central UK. Five species of trematode were recorded from the snails. There was a significant positive relationship between the prevalence and abundance (in...

The impacts of coniferous plantation forestry on the biology of upland streams in the UK are firmly established. Whilst benthic communities have been well studied, very little research has considered the impacts of riparian forestry management on adult stream insects, yet the essentially terrestrial adult (reproductive) phase may be important in de...

1. Dispersal of adult stream insects may be of considerable importance in regional population dynamics and colonisation of new sites, but quantifying the rate and extent of dispersal is difficult. 2. We used stable isotope (15N) enrichment to mark more than 1.5 million larval stoneflies (Leuctra inermis) before they emerged from an upland stream in...

Geographical range limits are thought to be set by species' physiological or ecological adaptation to abiotic factors, but the importance of biotic factors such as parasitism in determining range limits has not been well explored. In this study the prevalence of trematode parasitism in populations of a freshwater gastropod snail, Lymnaea stagnalis,...

In the conservation literature, heuristic procedures have been employed to incorporate spatial considerations in reserve network selection with the presumption that computationally convenient optimization models would be too difficult or impossible to formulate. This paper extends the standard set-covering formulation to incorporate a particular sp...

Ponds are a valuable resource for the conservation of freshwater biodiversity, but are often extremely numerous in a given area, making assessment of the conservation value of individual sites potentially time consuming. The use of indicator taxa, the species richness of which is representative of total site species richness, may provide one way to...

1. Dispersal of adult aquatic insects between streams may have important consequences for local and regional population dynamics, but little is known about how dispersal is affected by weather conditions. 2. The influence of meteorological variables on flight activity of adult stoneflies (Plecoptera: Leuctridae, Nemouridae, and Chloroperlidae) was...

Calcium is an essential requirement for the successful growth and development of gastropod molluscs. Data for British freshwater gastropods were used to examine the relationship between environmental calcium requirements and British and European range sizes. At both spatial scales calciphile species, which require a high level of environmental calc...

Considering the spatial location of sites that are to be selected for inclusion in a protected reserve network may be necessary to facilitate dispersal and long-term persistence of species in the selected sites. This paper presents an integer programming (IP) approach to the reserve network selection problem where spatial considerations based on in...

Populations of benthic invertebrates in neighbouring streams are isolated from each other by intervening terrestrial habitat. The adult stages of stream insects that are capable of flight may disperse between streams, although little is known of the extent of inter-stream dispersal, or the degree to which movement is influenced by riparian vegetati...

Methods for selecting sites to be included in reserve networks generally neglect the spatial location of sites, often resulting in highly fragmented networks. This restricts the possibility of dispersal between sites, which for many species may be essential for long-term persistence. Here I describe iterative reserve selection algorithms which inco...

Populations of benthic invertebrates in neighbouring streams are isolated from each other by intervening terrestrial habitat. The adult stages of stream insects that are capable of flight may disperse between streams, although little is known of the extent of inter-stream dispersal, or the degree to which movement is influenced by riparian vegetati...

Simple metapopulation models assume that local populations occur in patches of uniform quality habitat separated by non-habitat. However field metapopulations tend to show considerable spatial and temporal variation in patch quality, and hence probability of occupancy. This may have implications for the adequacy of simple metapopulation models in d...

1. Two species of freshwater invertebrate predator, Notonecta maculata and N. obliqua, showed a negative association in a series of small, man-made ponds in the Peak National Park, Derbyshire, U.K. The present study examines the potential role of interspecific interactions among nymphs on this regional distribution pattern. 2. The survival, develop...