Global Environmental Change

We study change on a range of scales from global to local. This involves macro-scale analyses of land use change, changes in specific systems like rubber, through to changes in individual places, and responses of suites of organisms.

We are integrating data from field surveys, remote sensing, GIS, spatial modelling, palynology and phenology.

Our Tanzania programme aims to enhance understanding of the patterns, drivers and impacts of unregulated logging in order to guide policy interventions.

Large scale land use change: In China and Southeast Asia we are quantifying large scale land use change and biodiversity impacts. Our work aims to manage economic and environmental risks by identifying situations where land conversions may be economically unsustainable and lead to loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services.

Fossil pollen: Using fossil pollen data from multiple sediment cores from the Hengduan Mountains, some dating back more than 20,000 years, we are interpolating past vegetation communities, likely climatic trends and human impact in this part of Southwest China.

Phenology programme: RBGE runs a phenology programme to study changes in recurring seasonal events, such as flowering and leaf fall.

Key contact: Dr Antje Ahrends (opens 3rd party email programme)