NatureMetrics, AgriSound and Forestry England are collecting eDNA samples of soil, water and air across some of the 1,500 forests and woodlands in their care, along with innovative bio-acoustic listening devices (in four wild areas in the nation’s forests) to track the presence of winged insects.
The NatureMetrics platform aids the conversion of the raw eDNA data into actionable biodiversity metrics, to enable Forestry England to shift towards a data-driven approach to nature recovery. Traditional surveying methods have proved inadequate to date, for capturing the full spectrum of biodiversity, particularly for hard-to-survey groups like fungi and soil invertebrates – which underpin many crucial ecosystem services.
The eDNA analysis has already revealed high levels of biodiversity. Across 21 forests, 656 eDNA soil samples taken over four months, revealed more than 5,000 unique species of fungi – more than previously recorded in these forests. Additionally, more than 1,000 invertebrate species were identified, providing an unprecedented view of the forest’s microscopic life and ecosystem functions. The data showed distinctions in biodiversity profiles between different forest types and management approaches. This allows Forestry England to compare the effectiveness of various restoration strategies and identify gaps in ecosystem services, such as missing ectomycorrhizal fungi in some newly created woodland sites. Notably, restored open habitat areas demonstrated over double the number of rare species compared to control sites, showing a 112% biodiversity uplift and providing concrete evidence of restoration success.
As well as gathering data through eDNA, Forestry England is working with agriculture technology company, AgriSound, which has developed specific algorithms that track and report on pollinator activity via its bio-acoustic monitoring device, known as ‘Polly’. The Polly monitoring devices, produce real-time data on the presence of the common bumblebee in four wild areas in the nation’s forests. AgriSound’s Polly monitoring devices’ algorithms enable them to track bees’ flight by recognising wingbeat sounds and vibration, showing when they are present and their activity levels. The acoustic sensors are also being used to detect the presence and behaviour of bats across the wild areas, with 87 installed over the last two years in a survey partnership with the Bat Conservation Trust.
Andrew Stringer, Forestry England Head of Environment and Nature Recovery said: “The data we now have about the fungi and invertebrate species present in the nation’s forests is mind-blowing and these new techniques are a step-change in how we monitor biodiversity. Until now, directly monitoring species has been extremely difficult and time-consuming and like others working to restore nature, we’ve had to rely on proxies such as the condition of a habitat, or the presence of deadwood in a forest landscape to infer the presence of specific species. With eDNA and bioacoustics, the guesswork and knowledge gaps are gone. We now know exactly which fungi and invertebrates are there in the nation’s forests which cover more than 250,000 hectares of land. And crucially, we know which of the many ecological functions they are performing, and which are absent. We have a baseline which will guide all our nature restoration work and the future data will show what is working and what we need to change.”
Using the new data, Forestry England is taking a new, landscape-scale nature restoration approach to forestry. Landscape management changes may include bringing in naturalistic grazing with low density cattle herds to improve soil health, rewiggling streams to create larger wetland habitats, and changing the tree species diversity and structure in woodland areas.