Library

Below are a selection of publications, videos and podcasts featuring *4pop models, grouped by theme.

Woodland creation: taking a landscape-level perspective – this article about our research was published in the Woodland Trust’s Wood Wise magazine.

Pollinator population size and pollination ecosystem service responses to enhancing floral and nesting resources – this study first presents the version of the poll4pop model that was subsequently adapted for use in Great Britain.

First published outputs from what would become the poll4pop model (Häussler et al. 2017)

Consequences of intraspecific competition for floral resources in heterogeneous landscapes for eusocial bees – recent advancements beyond poll4pop exploring the effects of competition for floral resources on bumblebee colonies.

Walters et al. 2024

Reliably predicting pollinator abundance: Challenges of calibrating process-based ecological models – this study presents the first parameterisation of the poll4pop model for use in Great Britain and compares its predictions to observed wild bee abundances.

Gardner et al. 2020

A family of process-based models to simulate landscape use by multiple taxa – this study presents the adaptation of the *4pop model framework to birds, bat, reptiles and amphibians and compares the models’ predictions to observed species abundances.

Gardner et al. 2024

Does agri-environment scheme participation in England increase pollinator populations and crop pollination services? – this first study modelled the impact of England’s previous agri-environment schemes on wild bee populations and the pollination services they provide.

Image et al. 2022a

Which interventions contribute most to the net effect of England’s agri-environment schemes on pollination services? – this second study delved deeper into the simulation results to identify which agri-environment interventions are expected to have contributed most to the schemes’ overall effect on wild bee populations and the pollination services they provide.

Image et al. 2022b

Co-benefits from tree planting in a typical English agricultural landscape: Comparing the relative effectiveness of hedgerows, agroforestry and woodland creation for improving crop pollination services – this study modelled the impact of different farmland tree-planting scenarios on bumblebee populations and the crop pollination services they provide.

Image et al. 2023

Field boundary features can stabilise bee populations and the pollination of mass-flowering crops in rotational systems – this study showed how field boundary features not only help to increase bee populations on farmland but can also help keep bee numbers and crop visitation rates more stable from year to year.

Gardner et al. 2021

Adapting genetic algorithms for multifunctional landscape decisions: A theoretical case study on wild bees and farmers in the UK – this study explored what farmed landscapes might look like if bees could design them according to their preferences compared to the preferences of farmers or a compromise between everyone’s needs.

Knight et al. 2024

How do we take the needs of other species into account when we make landscape changes – this video explains why and how we co-create *4pop models to support biodiversity-inclusive landscape decision-making.

Video made in collaboration with ARG UK and Tale Production, with funding from NERC through the Landscape Decisions Programme and the LUNZ Hub, and with thanks to the Earth Trust for a fantastic filming location.

Using a multi-lens framework for landscape decisions – this study explored how different perspectives (‘lenses’) offer different evidence and solutions for landscape decision-making and how we can combine information from multiple lenses, including the more-than-human ‘ecocentric lens’.

Cole et al. 2023

Solar park management and design to boost bumble bee populations – this study explored how the size, shape and management of a solar park is expected to affect bumblebee densities inside the park itself and in adjacent land around the park.

Blaydes et al. 2022

Solar Farms as Potential Future Refuges for Bumblebees – this study explored whether solar parks still have the potential to support bumblebee populations in the context of different future landscape changes around the parks.

Blaydes et al. 2025

Why biodiversity net gain requires an ecological permission system – this article explored the extent to which England’s current Biodiversity Net Gain approach provides representation for different species’ needs within the English planning system and how this could be strengthened.

Gardner, Sheppard & Bullock 2022

The Parliamentary Office for Science and Technology published a research briefing on Biodiversity net gain, which cited our work, including our recommendation for the creation of a new Ecological Permissions System to sit alongside the existing planning system and ensure more ecologically sensitive decision-making.

Planning healthy habitats – this video shares our work exploring multispecies placemaking with Adam Sheppard (University of Birmingham).

Video made in collaboration with the Royal Town Planning Institute and Content with Purpose, with funding from NERC through the Landscape Decisions Programme, and with thanks to the University of Leicester for hosting us.

Nature’s vote – we joined Adam Calo in this episode of his Landscapes podcast to discuss land access from a more-than-human point of view, people-nature relationships, habitats and multispecies communities.