Biodiversity responses to regenerative agriculture

Driven by concerns over soil health, food security, climate resilience and environmental goals, Regenerative Agriculture is gaining prominence in the UK. To assess its biodiversity impacts in a UK-specific context, we reviewed 162 peer-reviewed studies examining 13 regenerative farming practices. There was considerable heterogeneity in terms of focal taxa (e.g. 1 study on bats, 48 on plants and 76 on birds), Regenerative Agriculture practices studied, and the response variables reported.

Qualitative assessment suggests diversified crop rotations, overwinter cover crops, and reduced pesticide use can increase bird densities in arable systems, while stock diversification and mob grazing show the strongest effects on birds in livestock systems. We now need to extend this analysis to other taxa, employing quantitative methods.

The student will extract species-by-Regenerative-Agriculture-practice data from the papers in our evidence review database and conduct formal quantitative analyses of the UK evidence for Regenerative Agriculture biodiversity responses across all taxa in comparison with conventional agriculture. This will culminate in a draft manuscript for publication.