Björn Beckmann

Björn Beckmann

Research Ecologist

Office: Stirling
Team(s): BTO Scotland
Björn works as a Research Ecologist on the BTO Scotland science team. His current main focus is the Scottish Raptor Monitoring Scheme, helping with data management and analysis in order to improve understanding of raptor populations and support their conservation.

Interests and responsibilities

Before joining BTO, Björn worked as a Quantitative Ecologist at the Biological Records Centre within the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology on national recording scheme data, particularly of insects, contributing to a study of farmland birds and agri-environment schemes, and modelling invasive species distributions in Europe.

Previously, Björn worked in Austria, carrying out bird and plant surveys for ecological consultancies and BirdLife Austria, and he was the ringer and climber for a White-tailed Eagle conservation project and a Honey Buzzard study. For his “civilian national service” Bjorn worked on a Great Bustard head-starting project in Germany.

Björn is a member of the Scottish Raptor Study Group, helping with peregrine, goshawk, sparrowhawk, osprey, red kite and barn owl nest monitoring, including as a climber. Bjorn also co-organises the Grasshopper & related insects Recording Scheme of Britain and Ireland.

Qualifications

PhD, University of York: ‘Using citizen science data to reveal the role of ecological processes in range changes of grasshoppers and crickets in Britain’, 2017
MSc Environment and Development, University of Reading, 2002
BA/MA Classics, University of Oxford, 1999
German Bird Ringing Licence, Hiddensee Bird Ringing Station, 2005
Tree climbing training, State Forestry Department Brandenburg, 2001

Recent BTO publications

Other publications

Bourhis, Y., Milne, A.E., Shortall, C.R., Beckmann, B.C., Blumgart, D., Edwards, R., Evans, L.C., Foster, C.W., Fox, R., Botham, M.S., Rowland, C., Roberts, S., Speight, M.C.D., Hassall, C., Kunin, W.E. & Bell, J.R. 2025. Trait mediation explains decadal distributional shifts for a wide range of insect taxa. Nature Communications 16, 8131. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-63093-y.

Rabitsch, W., Kudrnovsky, H., Roy, H., Beckmann, B., Peyton, J., Purse, B., Edney, S., Scalera, R., Kenis, M., Seehausen, L., Shaw, R., Tanner, R., Zenetos, A., Karachle, P., Adriaens, T., Verreycken, H., Verzelen, Y., Lucy, F., Garland, D., Sewell, J., Wood, C., Robertson, P., Stewart, A., Galanidi, M., Tricarico, E., Murchie, A., Brundu, G., Mancinelli, G., Justine, J-L., Winsor, L. 2022. Study on invasive alien species. Development of risk assessments to tackle priority species and enhance prevention: final report (and annexes). European Commission. https://op.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/258e41dd-7f4e-11ed-9887-01aa75ed71a1


Hayhow, D.B., Eaton, M.A., Stanbury, A.J., Burns, F., Kirby, W.B., Bailey, N., Beckmann, B., Bedford, J., Boersch-Supan, P.H., Coomber, F., Dennis, E.B., Dolman, S.J., Dunn, E., Hall, J., Harrower, C., Hatfield, J.H., Hawley, J., Haysom, K., Hughes, J., Johns, D.G., Mathews, F., McQuatters-Gollop, A., Noble, D.G., Outhwaite, C.L., Pearce-Higgins, J.W., Pescott, O.L., Powney, G.D., Symes N. 2019. State of Nature 2019. State of Nature Partnership. https://stateofnature.org.uk/previous-reports

Outhwaite, C.L., Powney, G.D., August, T.A., Chandler, R.E., Rorke, S., Pescott, O.L., Harvey, M., Roy, H.E., Fox, R., Roy, D.B., Alexander, K., Ball, S., Bantock, T., Barber, A., Beckmann, B.C., Cook, T., Flanagan, J., Fowles, A., Hammond, P., Harvey, P., Hepper, D., Hubble, D., Kramer, J., Lee, P., MacAdam, C., Morris, R., Norris, A., Palmer, S., Plant, C.W., Simkin, J., Stubbs, A., Sutton, P., Telfer, M., Wallace, I., Isaac, N.J.B. 2019. Annual estimates of occupancy for bryophytes, lichens and invertebrates in the UK, 1970–2015. Nature Scientific Data, 6(1): 1-12 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-019-0269-1
 
Redhead, J.W., Hinsley, S.A., Beckmann, B.C., Broughton, R.K., Pywell, R.F. 2018. Effects of agri-environmental habitat provision on winter and breeding season abundance of farmland birds. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment, 251: 114-123 https://doi.org/10.1016/J.AGEE.2017.09.027
 
Beckmann, B. 2017. Using citizen science data to reveal the role of ecological processes in range changes of grasshoppers and crickets in Britain. PhD thesis, University of York. https://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/18904

Pearce-Higgins, J.W., Beale, C.M., Oliver, T.H., August, T.A., Carroll, M., Massimino, D., Ockendon, N., Savage, J., Wheatley, C.J., Ausden, M.A., Bradbury, R.B., Duffield, S.J., Macgregor, N.A., McClean, C.J., Morecroft, M.D., Thomas, C.D., Watts, O., Beckmann, B.C., Fox, R., Roy, H.E., Sutton, P.G., Walker, K.J., Crick, H.Q.P. 2017. A national-scale assessment of climate change impacts on species: Assessing the balance of risks and opportunities for multiple taxa. Biological Conservation, 213: 124-134 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2017.06.035

Burns, F., Eaton, M.A., Barlow, K.E., Beckmann, B.C., Brereton, T., Brooks, D.R., Brown, P.M.J., Al Fulaij, N., Gent, T., Henderson, I., Noble, D.G., Parsons, M., Powney, G.D., Roy, H.E., Stroh, P., Walker, K., Wilkinson, J.W., Wotton, S.R., Gregory, R.D. 2016. Agricultural management and climatic change are the major drivers of biodiversity change in the UK. PLoS One, 11(3): e0151595 https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0151595

Beckmann, B.C., Purse, B.V., Roy, D.B., Roy, H.E., Sutton, P.G., Thomas, C.D. 2015. Two species with an unusual combination of traits dominate responses of British grasshoppers and crickets to environmental change. PloS One, 10(6): e0130488 https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0130488
 
Roy, D.B., Oliver, T.H., Botham, M.S., Beckmann, B., Brereton, T., Dennis, R.L.H., Harrower, C., Phillimore, A.B., Thomas, J.A. 2015. Similarities in butterfly emergence dates among populations suggest local adaptation to climate. Global Change Biology, 21(9): 3313-3322 https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.12920
 
Stewart, A.J.A., Bantock, T.M., Beckmann, B.C., Botham, M.S., Hubble, D., Roy, D.B. 2015. The role of ecological interactions in determining species ranges and range changes. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 115(3): 647-663 https://doi.org/10.1111/bij.12543
 
Pocock, M.J.O., Newson, S.E., Henderson, I.G., Peyton, J., Sutherland, W.J., Noble, D.G., Ball, S.G., Beckmann, B.C., Biggs, J., Brereton, T., Bullock, D.J., Buckland, S.T., Edwards, M., Eaton, M.A., Harvey, M.C., Hill, M.O., Horlock, M., Hubble, D.S., Julian, A.J., Mackey, E.C., Mann, D.J., Marshall, M.J., Medlock, J.M., O'Mahony, E.M., Pacheco, M., Porter, K., Prentice, S., Procter, D.A., Roy, H.E., Southway, S.E., Shortall, C.R., Stewart, A.J.A., Wembridge, D.E., Wright, D.A., Roy, D.B. 2015. Developing and enhancing biodiversity monitoring programmes: a collaborative assessment of priorities. Journal of Applied Ecology, 52(3): 686-695 https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2664.12423
 
Roy, H.E., Rorke, S.L., Beckmann, B., Booy, O., Botham, M.S., Brown, P.M.J., Harrower, C., Noble, D., Sewell, J., Walker, K. 2015. The contribution of volunteer recorders to our understanding of biological invasions. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 115(3): 678-689 https://doi.org/10.1111/bij.12518
 
Roy, H.E., Bacon, J., Beckmann, B., Harrower, C.A., Hill, M.O., Isaac, N.J.B., Preston, C.D., Rathod, B., Rorke, S.L., Marchant, J.H. 2012. Non-Native Species in Great Britain: establishment, detection and reporting to inform effective decision making. Defra. https://www.ceh.ac.uk/sites/default/files/2012_-_NNSIP_Final_report.pdf
 
Botham, M.S., Brereton, T.M., Middlebrook, I., Cruickshanks, K.L., Harrower, C., Beckmann, B., Roy, D. 2010. United Kingdom Butterfly Monitoring Scheme annual report 2008, Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, Wallingford. https://ukbms.org/publications
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