I have broad research interests, but with a unifying theme of environmental protection. I hope my work will help us understand how the environment is changing and inform management to mitigate those changes.

Evidence-based conservation of seabirds in the face of climate change

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Common eider Somateria mollissima. Credit: wikimedia commons
This ongoing project is exploring the links between climate change pressures and conservation action, using seabirds in the North-East Atlantic as a case study. We're creating evidence-based guidance that assesses climate change vulnerability and presents possible conservation actions. We're also interviewing seabird conservationists to understand the landscape of actors and interactions, particularly in relation to climate change, to identify gaps and opportunities to improve conservation effectiveness.

​Key publications:
  1. Häkkinen H et al. (2022) Climate Change Vulnerability and Potential Conservation Actions: Seabirds in the North-East Atlantic. ZSL Institute of Zoology, London, UK and University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
  2. Häkkinen H et al. (2022) Linking climate change vulnerability research and evidence on conservation action effectiveness to safeguard seabird populations in Western Europe. Journal of Applied Ecology​

Wetland conservation: evidence for the effectiveness of interventions

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Wetland. Credit: wikimedia commons
This project (2016-2021) involved collating actions that managers may use to conserve wetland plant communities, then finding and summarising published evidence about whether these actions really work.

This project was in collaboration with Tour du Valat (Arles, France) and Conservation Evidence (Cambridge, UK) and was funded by the MAVA Foundation.

Key publications:
  1. Taylor NG et al. (2021) Marsh and Swamp Conservation: Global Evidence for the Effects of Interventions to Conserve Marsh and Swamp Vegetation. Conservation Evidence Series Synopses. University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
  2. Taylor NG et al. (2019) A synthesis of evidence for the effects of interventions to conserve peatland vegetation: overview and critical discussion. Mires and Peat, 24, Article 18
  3. Taylor NG et al. (2018) Peatland Conservation: Global Evidence for the Effects of Interventions to Conserve Peatland Vegetation. Synopses of Conservation Evidence Series. University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.

Wetlands and people

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Boating in Stockholm. Credit: Nigel Taylor
I am interested in the interactions between wetlands and society. A better understanding of these relationships will help us to strengthen conservation arguments, and understand how we can manage wetlands to maximise the services they provide. 

I recently (2019-2021) led a project to identify key issues and important research questions for Mediterranean wetlands over the next 30 years. This involved collaborators from across the Mediterranean Basin.

I was also involved in a project (2015-2016) quantifying the relationship between water quality and recreational use - which turned out to be pretty weak. Other factors seem to influence people's choice of recreational areas, such as the presence of amenities. Or perhaps our metric of water quality (Water Framework Directive status) did not pick up aspects of water quality that people do care about e.g. litter. 

​Key publications:
  1. Taylor et al. (2021) The future for Mediterranean wetlands: 50 key issues and 50 important conservation research questions. Regional Environmental Change, 21, 33
  2. Ziv et al. (2016) Water quality is a poor predictor of recreational hotspots in England​. PLoS ONE 11(11) e0166950

Impacts of biological invasions

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Signal crayfish (Pacifastacus leniusculus). Credit: Nigel Taylor
My PhD research (2012-2016) investigated biological invasions, providing quantitative evidence for impact of invasive species as well as developing methodologies for predicting invasions. My study systems included aquatic crustacea (amphipod shrimp, crayfish and crabs) as well as protozoa in microcosms. I am a currently (2019-) a contributor to the InvaCost project, quantifying the economic costs of invasive species.

Key publications:
  1. Cuthbert RN et al. (2021) Global economic costs of aquatic invasive alien species. Science of the Total Environment, 775
  2. Taylor NG & Dunn AM (2018) Predatory impacts of alien decapod Crustacea are predicted by functional responses and explained by differences in metabolic rate. Biological Invasions 
  3. Taylor NG & Dunn AM (2017) Size matters: predation of fish eggs and larvae by native and invasive amphipods. Biological Invasions 19: 89-107
  4. Taylor NG (2016) Why are invaders invasive? Developing tools to understand the success and impact of invasive species. PhD Thesis, University of Leeds, 206 pp

EntoGEM: evidence for changes in insect biodiversity

I am currently (2019-) contributing to a systematic map of evidence relating to changes in insect biodiversity (abundance, diversity, distributions). For more info, see https://entogem.github.io/. You can track progress of the systematic map at https://sysrev.com/u/371/p/16612.

Key publications:
  1. Grames EM et al. (2022) A framework and case study to systematically identify long-term insect abundance and diversity datasets. Conservation Science and Practice

National strategies for crop wild relative conservation

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Hop (Humulus lupulus). Credit: Nigel Taylor
Crop wild relatives (CWRs; wild plants related to crop plants) could be a vital tool in maintaining food security. They contain a reservoir of genetic diversity that could be incorporated into the depauperate gene pool of crops to increase crop yields, nutritional value of crops and resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses. This useful genetic resource must be protected and conserved - rather than ignored and eroded as is currently the case.

A conservation strategy for CWRs in the Czech Republic was developed through a collaboration between The University of Birmingham, the Czech Research Institute for Crop Production, Czech Nature Conservation Agency and FAO. We used a variety of analyses in Geographic Information Systems to make holistic, systematic recommendations for the conservation of Czech CWRs.

Key publications: 
  1. Taylor NG et al. (2017) A systematic conservation strategy for crop wild relatives in the Czech Republic. Diversity and Distributions
  2. ​Iriondo J et al. (2016) National strategies for the conservation of crop wild relatives. In N. Maxted, M. Dulloo & B. Ford-Lloyd (eds.) Enhancing Crop Genepool Use CABI, pp 161-171

Prizes, grants and scholarships

NERC PhD Scholarship, University of Leeds 2012-2016
Conference scholarship: NeoBiota 2016: €300
British Ecological Society travel grant 2016: £300
Student conference grant, National Crayfish Conference 2015: £185
Water@Leeds SPRING (Supporting Postgraduate Research to Inspire the Next Generation) Grant, June 2015: £250
Environment YES Winner 2014 as part of FruitFULL Ltd., a company producing edible fruit coatings to reduce post-harvest fruit losses. 
Best Ecology, Evolution and HDD talk at Leeds FBS Postgraduate Symposium 2015
Best Ecology, Evolution and HDD Poster at Leeds FBS Postgraduate Symposium 2014
NERC Short Article writing competition, 3rd place 2015
Prize for Meritorious Work in Biology, University of Oxford, 2011
College Scholarship, Jesus College Oxford

Service

Associate editor: Wetlands Ecology and Management

Article reviews: Biological Invasions (2), Conservation Biology (2), Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution (3), Frontiers in Environmental Science (1), Global Change Biology (1), Global Ecology and Conservation (2), Science of the Total Environment (1).

​I am keen to review more manuscripts on biological invasions, conservation biology, wetland ecology, wetland conservation, and environmental evidence syntheses (reviews, systematic reviews, systematic maps).

Abstract reviews: Society of Wetland Scientists Twitter Symposium 2018; International Congress of Conservation Biology 2019
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Organizing committee: Society of Wetland Scientists Twitter Symposium 2018 (#SWSTwitterSymp2018)

Professional memberships

British Ecological Society (2012-)
Royal Society of Biology (2012-)
Society of Wetland Scientists (2018-)
​Society for Conservation Biology (2019-)

Where in the world?

I try to avoid flying as much as possible, for both work and personal travel, in order to minimize my carbon footprint.