Ongoing research projects using the Nature's Calendar data

If you'd like to use Nature's Calendar data for research please get in contact.

Title: Dormouse Conservation in upland forests

Name: Charlotte Armitage

Organisation: Exeter University

Research type: PhD

How the Nature's Calendar data is being used: Nature's Calendar data is being used to look at resource availability for dormice during their breeding season and how in turn this might impact upon the species success in a changing climate. 

Seasonality in the gut microbiome of wood mice is driven by host diet and food availability

Name: Kirsty Marsh

Organisation: Royal Veterinary College, University of London

Research type: PhD; the ecology of the wild mammalian gut microbiome, using wood mice as a natural mouse model

How the Nature's Calendar data is being used: The gut microbiota of wild wood mice undergoes consistent seasonal shifts in its composition, which is thought to be driven by host diet. The Nature's Calendar data will be used in conjunction with DNA metabarcoding of the gut microbial community and host diet in order to tie in seasonal patterns of these variables with food availability throughout the year, using the phenological records as a proxy.

Potential climatically induced phenological mismatch and ecological dysfunction between Aglais urticae and Hedera helix.

Name: Anna Lucy Fittock

Organisation: The University of Manchester

Research type: Undergraduate Geography Dissertation

How the Nature's Calendar data is being used: In conjunction with climate data, to investigate the potential for climatically induced phenological mismatch and ecological dysfunction between the Small Tortoiseshell Butterfly and one of its food sources, Ivy. 

Effects of temperature on flowering times of Anemone nemorosa, Hyacinthoides non-scripta and Crataegus monogyna in Northern Ireland between 1970 and 2020

Name: Sean Thompson

Organisation: Open University

Research type: BSc Environmental Science

How the Nature's Calendar data is being used: First flowering dates of wood anemone, bluebell and hawthorn from Northern Ireland in 2020 will be compared to historical data from 1970 to 2019. This is then compared against average springtime temperatures for the same years (using Met Office data), to see if temperature affects flowering times.

How does urban street tree species affect daylight glare probability and annual daylight availability in adjacent buildings?

Name: Ben Ransley

Organisation: Institute for Environmental Design and Engineering, UCL.

Research type: Master's Thesis

How the Nature's Calendar data is being used: 2001 and 2007 benchmark data will be used to assess building performance in a computer modelling comparing different tree species.

Trends in the phenology of oak across the United Kingdom from 2000-2019.

Name: Rhiannon Cliffe

Organisation/university: University of Liverpool

Research type: BSc Geography Dissertation

How the Nature’s Calendar data is being used: Pedunculate Oak (Quercus robur) observations will be used alongside data provided by the Met Office to investigate the phenology trends and changes of Oak around the United Kingdom in relation to climate change from 2000 to 2019. Climate warming has influenced the phenology of many tree species, but recent trends may result from anthropogenic warming and/or from natural climate variability caused by climatic patterns such as the North Atlantic Oscillation. This project will seek to untangle these effects, and in doing so will provide improved understanding of likely future changes in UK oak phenology as the climate continues to warm.

Does climatic variation affect the fruit ripening pattern of the deciduous trees species in the UK?

Name: Jack Daniel Huntly

Organisation/university: University of Liverpool

Research type: BSc Geography dissertation

How the Nature’s Calendar data is being used: The data will be used to investigate the phenology of fruit ripening in native deciduous tree species (oaks and beech), quantifying the spatial patterns and recent trends in the timing the first ripe fruit. Previous research has focused on leaf and flower phenology, but the phenology of fruit ripening is also important, especially for for fruit-eating animals (e.g. in their preparation for hibernation). 

Does springtime temperature influence Pedunculate Oak budburst phenology?

Name: Maz Wooding

Organisation: The Open University

Research type: BSc Natural Sciences (Earth Sciences)

How the Nature’s Calendar data is being used: Pedunculate Oak (Quercus robur) observations are being utilised for assessment work. Firstly I will look at the geographical trend in the progression of first leaf fall over a complete season and ruminate on the implications. Secondly, the quantity of budburst observations (on the 20 March of each year from 2008 onward) will be compared to the average springtime temperature (data provided by the Met Office). Analysing this will provide an indication of whether springtime temperature influences budburst phenology.

Does climatic variation affect budburst and leaf fall in deciduous tree species in Shropshire 

Name: Paul Hammond

Organisation: Harper Adams University

Research type: Dissertation. using secondary data to enable statistical analysis on climatic variants on deciduous trees species, within Shropshire.

How the Nature's Calendar data is being used: Nature's Calendar data is being used to discover if there is a relationship between climatic variants, including temperature and precipitation and how this may affect budburst and leaf fall. Statistical analysis, such as correlation is to be used to help determine if there is anything significant between the two sets of data. The climatic data being used has been sourced from Harper Adams University to enable these statistical tests to be undertaken.

Have the migration dates of the common swift (Apus apus) and house martin (Delichon urbicum) advanced in response to recent climatic changes? 

Name: Muirin O'Neill

Organisation: University of Aberdeen 

Research type: BSc Animal Behaviour

How the Nature’s Calendar data is being used: Previous studies have shown that many biological processes have advanced as a result of climate change. This project will use Nature's Calendar data alongside Met office records to investigate whether the migration patterns of the common swift and house martin has changed in the last 20 years and if these alterations are concurrent with temperature changes. The results of this project may provide insight into whether climate change is a factor influencing the population dynamics of both of these UK species and how the species may respond to climate change in the future. 

Will frog-spawning time keep pace with climate change?

Name: Anett Kiss

Organisation: University of Edinburgh

Research type: BSc Ecology

How the Nature’s Calendar data is being used: Global warming has caused many species to advance their breeding phenology. Often species are able to shift their timings flexibly in response to local conditions, but adaptation in response to selection may also contribute. I will use data on common frog (Rana temporaria) spawning date to study the mechanisms (eg. phenotypic plasticity, microevolutionary adaptation) used by frog populations to cope with environmental changes. As a result, I will be able to assess the ability of populations to persist under future projected climate change.

Has the spring emergence of pollinators moved forward over the last fifty years, and is this due to climate change?

Name: Janine Sargent

Organisation: The Open University

Research type: BSc 

How the Nature’s Calendar data is being used: Evidence from previous research suggests that the spring emergence of pollinators is moving forward. This study will use Nature’s Calendar data to investigate the pattern of emergence of seven pollinator species (6 butterfly species and the queen red-tailed bumblebee) over a 50-year period. It will also compare this data to Met Office temperature records for the same period to analyse for any correlation between seasonal temperature and emergence. The results will be compared to other studies examining the spring emergence of pollinators (such as those using data from the United Kingdom Butterfly Monitoring Scheme). 

An investigation into the effects of temperature on the emergence of yearly frog spawn.

Name: Trésai Jordine-Morgan

Organisation: Open University

Research type: Undergraduate research project

How the Nature's Calendar data is being used: Climate change is influencing UK weather and seasons, causing there to be some extremely cold or surprising warm winter/spring seasons. These temperature changes can affect when the common frog (Rana temporaria) begins to produce spawn. This project will use Nature's Calendar data to investigate whether or not the common frog spawns regardless of the climate changes, or if climate change is affecting the spawn dates, and what this means for the future of this species.

The impacts of cold early spring weather on UK phenology.

Name: Ellie Wilson

Organisation: University of Reading

Research Type: MSc (Applied Meteorology)

How the Nature’s Calendar Data is being used: Nature's Calendar data will be used alongside the Central England Temperature data provided by the Met Office to investigate how the inter-annual variability in the weather has an effect on UK phenology. Swallows will be a particular focus and the possible external effects that may impact the migration of the species. This will be compared with the resident blue tit, which will be looked at alongside the orange-tip butterfly and cuckoo flower to investigate the food chain that occurs between these. The statistical significance between the temperature during early spring and the first recording of these species will be analysed. The effects that climate change may have on this phenology in the future, particularly as the inter-annual variability of spring weather is expected to become more extreme in the future, will also be considered.

Potential climate change impacts and phenological mismatch between select plants and pollinators in a woodland ecosystem.

Name: Bradley Neal

Organisation: The Open University

Research type: BSc Environmental Science

How the Nature’s Calendar data is being used: Climate change is likely to have an impact on natural cycles, one of which could potentially be the important relationship between pollinator activity and flowering time. This has led to the hypothesis that flowers are blooming before insects have emerged, resulting in a reduced service from pollinating insects which may impact reproductive success for either mutualistic partner. Nature’s calendar data, in conjunction with observations in the field, will be used to analyse any change in first flowering time and insect first-sighting over the past 10 years, and if any change might correlate with changing temperatures and shifting seasons.

"Patches in the endless forest": the remote perception of monuments in the Early Neolithic of the British Isles.

Name: Al Oswald

Organisation: University of York

Research type: PhD

How the Nature’s Calendar data is being used: Almost 6,000 years ago, the earliest surviving monuments in North-West Europe seem mostly to have been constructed in small clearings in a largely forested landscape. It has often been assumed that these monuments were carefully sited so as to be visible from lower-lying settlements located in larger clearings, but trees standing 20 - 40m high must actually have hidden the monuments from view. The clearings themselves, however, may have been visible from considerable distances under some circumstances, for example as people herded their cattle along watercourses to and from remote summer pastures. Data from Nature's Calendar allows the likely timings of these journeys to be estimated, as well as indicating when key woodland resources would have become available.

How do microbial decomposer communities differ between ancient, mature, and newly planted woodlands?

Name: Justin Byrne

Organisation: Newcastle University

Research type: PhD

How the Nature’s Calendar data is being used: I will be collecting leaves from a number of broadleaf species as they fall. Knowing when leaf fall occurs in my area for each species is essential to planning my fieldwork.

Climate change impacts on hazel dormice in the UK.

Name: Rachel Findlay-Robinson

Organisation: University of Cumbria

Research Type: PhD

How the Nature’s Calendar data is being used: Hazel dormice cannot digest large amounts of cellulose, so their diet largely relies on a sequence of buds, flowers and fruits. The data from Nature’s Calendar will be used to find out if climate change is causing changes in the timing of the production of flowers and fruits in key hazel dormouse food plants, and if so, whether these changes are likely to be beneficial or detrimental to dormouse populations.