Understanding the wider impacts of using livestock to control bracken
Applications are invited for a three-year research PhD studentship in land management and
sustainable intensification of livestock systems at the School of Environment, Natural
Resources & Geography, Bangor University, UK. The studentship is funded by the Knowledge
Economy Skills Scholarships (KESS II) (http://www.higherskillswales.co.uk/kess/) in
collaboration with the Land, Nature and Forestry Division of the Welsh Government. It will cover
tuition fees and an annual tax-free stipend at the standard RCUK rate (around £14,000 per
year), as well as a travel budget for workshop and conference attendance. The studentship is
available from 4th January 2016 or as soon as possible thereafter.
Applicants should hold a first or upper second-class honours degree (or equivalent) in
environmental science or management, ecology, agriculture, or a related degree. Please
submit a CV (max 2 pages) together with a covering letter to Prof Dave Chadwick at
d.chadwick@bangor.ac.uk by 17:00 on 27th November 2015.
Detailed project outline:
Invasive species such as bracken severely limit the cover of pasture species, thus restricting
livestock stocking rates. The significant encroachment of bracken has also considerable
detrimental implications for biodiversity, given that it shades the light from other flora and offers
very little suitable habitat for other flora and fauna. Bracken encroachment can also effectively
close footpaths and reduce the aesthetic value of the landscape, both of which have negative
implications for tourism.
Farmers are now spending resources on controlling bracken via cutting and use of herbicides
such as Azulam. The use of Azulam may be prohibited indefinitely, so alternative control
strategies are required if farmers want to maintain and/or improve the carrying capacity of hill
and upland for beef and sheep.
A potentially effective strategy for bracken control is to physically disturb the soil at certain
stages of its annual lifecycle, and hence expose bracken rhizomes to desiccation and frost.
This could be done with cattle through the action of their hooves.
This studentship will assess the wider implications of using beef cattle (with/without herbicide
use) to control bracken, i.e. impact on greenhouse gas emissions, runoff and sediment losses
from sloping land, impacts on soil carbon stocks and changes in above-ground biodiversity,
with the additional aim of exploring how any environmental disbenefits could be mitigated, e.g.
through appropriate buffer strips between bracken/beef areas and vulnerable watercourses,
and planting of trees for carbon sequestration and offsetting GHG emissions. The findings from
the field trial will be integrated into the Bangor University Consequential Life Cycle Assessment
(CLCA) model for livestock to determine the potential of better pasture management to lower
the environmental impacts (e.g. carbon footprint, eutrophication potential) of Welsh beef.
The research will take place on a commercial farm with its own beef cattle and at Bangor
University’s own farm (Henfaes Research Centre). This studentship will link to another KESS
II studentship, entitled “Optimised management of upland pasture for economic and
environmental benefits”, which will focus on economic- and production-based assessments of
upland cattle grazing systems. Collectively, both projects will help identify methods for
sustainable intensification of livestock systems, helping to deliver economic and environmental
benefits.
Background to the school:
The School of Environment, Natural Resources & Geography at Bangor University is
internationally renowned for its cross-disciplinary research on sustainable land use, and has a
broad expertise in the fields of environmental sciences, ecology, and agriculture. The project
will build on a number of relevant existing and forthcoming projects at Bangor on sustainable
intensification of livestock production systems. We have a wealth of staff and state-of-the-art
facilities for lab-based and field-based experiments. The project directly addresses some of the
major policy and land-use questions of our time – how a viable agriculture industry can deliver
greatest environmental benefits, as well as production of food. The student will benefit from a
strong link to policy-makers and industry, and of being part of a bigger team working on related
projects.
Knowledge
Economy Skills Scholarships (KESS) is a pan-Wales higher level skills
initiative led by Bangor University on behalf of the HE sector in Wales. It is part
funded by the Welsh Government’s European Social Fund (ESF) convergence
programme for West Wales and the Valleys.