How did we get here… by Holly Smith
My name is Holly Smith and I’m a third year Environmental Science undergraduate student, and Sustainability Architect within Sustainability Services at The University of Leeds. In simple terms, I am the project manager running the University’s ‘Campus Biodiversity Monitoring Project’.
I actually started as a Campus Ambassador on this project back in April 2019 during my first year. Originally, the project was called ‘Campus Pollinators’, and focused on bees, wasps and other insect pollinators but evolution of the Pollinator Monitoring Project has led to a much wider objective. Now called The University of Leeds Urban Biodiversity Monitoring Programme, it focuses on Biodiversity monitoring as a whole and was developed to address the need for more reliable campus habitat and species data. The other ambassadors and I originally created a methodology for monitoring pollinators in 2019 and we have more recently adapted this framework for a wider range of species. This framework uses 1km transects placed at specific points along routes across campus combined with stopping points to enable more in-depth surveying.
This biodiversity monitoring project and an accompanying living lab project promote collaboration between students, academic staff and operational staff to create sustainable solutions. This is done through targeted projects that tackle global problems at a local scale, using the University as a test bed.
This project evaluates the potential of the University of Leeds campus to contribute to the improvement of urban biodiversity by assessing the overall population health and foraging opportunities of pollinators and other species across the University campus. The outcomes of this study will allow the mapping of pollinator “hot-” and “cold-spots”, informing the university’s Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP) on increasing habitat suitability and connectivity to support these populations.
Below is a timeline illustrating how the project was I created:
Once we reached the initial stages of designing the surveying methodology, we met as an entire cohort, bringing together our different levels of experience and our unique perspectives. From this we chose 3 sites across campus for 1km transects, ensuring they passed through quieter and busier spots as well as areas with different and more complex habitat structures around campus. We did walk-throughs of these sites in order to tweak the routes prior to finalisation. For pollinators along these sites, we chose up to 5 locations for FIT counts using high nectar flowers, giving a further layer of data collection coverage for these sites. We chose these sites based on where along the transects we had high insect counts and flower species listed as target flowers in the FIT count guide.
While surveying along a transect, we now aim to have 2 “spotters” who look around and identify pollinators as they walk, including those landing on flowers or just flying by. A third person maps the route and records time and location of species sightings. The transects are traced using Strava, which is freely available to use and maps and saves the exact route that we walk, including the time taken to walk it. When a pollinator is spotted, the location is marked down as a “way-point” and the exact GPS coordinates are found using google maps and saved.
The FIT Counts are carried out in warm, dry weather between April – September, using the UK wide method which is part of the Pollinator Monitoring Scheme.
Upon realisation of the need for wider species monitoring, we simply adapted …the sites and methods that were previously set up. We changed the spotting sites for birds, began using footprint tunnels for hedgehogs and decided not to use stopping points when surveying bats.
The programme is a replicable monitoring model that can be shared to improve local and global biodiversity, with an international collaboration initiative already in its’ early stages facilitating the sharing of this framework. This initiative also facilitates the mutual sharing of ideas and scientific information globally and enables transboundary discussion and connection. The programme is managed by students with support from academic and operational staff and brings people together to improve biodiversity, as well as improving wellbeing and health and contributing to sustainable improvements. The interdisciplinary nature of the project allows for free-flowing ideas and this adaptability has ensured continued success throughout the Covid-19 pandemic by continual engagement with people during the lockdown. In addition, we have provided lectures, webinars, and drop-in sessions for a variety of people, from local schoolchildren to academic researchers. The interdisciplinary research approach has led to the exponential growth of this group and project and elevated it to a stage of international recognition. We have a lot of exciting future plans to move forward within the University and globally.
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