Andrew Hill

Research project

The historic emergence of human-associated woodland biodiversity and its recent demise

Supervisors: Prof. Jonathan Finch (Archaeology) and Prof. Chris Thomas (Biology)

Funding: Leverhulme Trust, via the Leverhulme Centre for Anthropocene Biodiversity 

My research focuses upon British woodland historical ecology over the Holocene. I am addressing the question of how historical woodland management has affected woodland biodiversity in Britain. This study intersects and draws upon archaeology, history, natural history and ecology, and operates at both national and local scales. I will synthesise secondary resources with primary data from archival research, stakeholder consultations and field surveys using diachronic GIS, statistics and qualitative analyses. Ultimately, the results are intended to guide improvements to woodland conservation techniques by increasing understanding of and adapting them for their historical context.

During my first year, my research specifically focuses on comparing the reduction in woodland tree cover caused by humans and beavers, past and present. The loss of tree canopy has numerous biodiversity impacts within the woodland environment as more light and heat can reach below, causing wide-ranging changes. Humans have traditionally reduced canopy through coppicing, a practice which had intensified since at least the Neolithic but which substantially declined and transformed over the twentieth century. Beavers once reduced riparian tree cover through felling and inundation, but this declined over time until their extinction in Britain, before recent reintroduction schemes particularly over the last decade. This study, therefore, aims to compare between the past and contemporary impacts of humans and beavers. It emphasises spatial extents through statistics and mapping, and uses modelling to extrapolate from single landscapes to predict wider impacts. The study should therefore inform how conservation schemes like beaver reintroductions align with historical biodiversity trends, and therefore how they might be adapted to enhance their conservation impact.