Funding incentives have been used in agriculture and forestry to deliver policy objectives, including the support of biodiversity conservation. Understanding the effectiveness of such approaches requires the collection of baseline monitoring data, both from participating sites and those not in the scheme.

Almost everywhere nature is under pressure. Thus, the need to monitor the state of nature and identify the many pressures affecting biodiversity has never been greater. However, the current range of biodiversity monitoring activities is varied and complex, ranging from collecting environmental DNA (eDNA) samples to structured monitoring schemes and opportunistic recording. Model-based data integration is a statistical tool to combine these different sources of data to produce robust biodiversity assessments based on more of the available evidence.

BTO research, funded by the Curlew Appeal, investigated the factors affecting wintering Curlew abundance on estuaries in England and Wales. The findings suggest that short and long term trends in these local populations are not heavily influenced by local winter conditions on and around estuaries, indicating that the current declines are driven by factors that impact summer breeding success.

The establishment and spread of invasive species are cited as some of the key threats to biodiversity, through impacts such as disease transmission, increased competition or predation, and parasitism. Monitoring and managing invasive species is therefore an important element of biodiversity conservation.

As demand for new energy infrastructure is growing, international collaborative research involving BTO has identified areas in Europe and North Africa where the construction of new wind turbines or power lines could pose a risk to migrating birds.

Researchers used ringing data collected from over 300 sites across Europe to assess variation in the breeding productivity and survival of 26 passerine species across space and time. The results suggest that targeting factors affecting breeding site productivity will result in more effective conservation outcomes than attempts to address variation in annual survival rates.

The first quantitative global assessment of biodiversity conservation interventions for climate change adaptation has been undertaken, led by BTO researchers.