Foot and Mouth Research

Director's Message

Professor M. Gill BA. BSc. PhD.

As Director of the Macaulay Land Use Research Institute, I would like to welcome you to this web-site. With the outbreak of Foot and Mouth Disease following closely on the heels of BSE and the negative effects of the strong pound on the agriculture and tourism sectors, it is not surprising that there is a feeling of pessimism for the future of the countryside. What role does a land use research institute have to play at such a time? The Macaulay Land Use Research Institute research programme has recognised from the start that food production is not the only form of land use and in future may not even be the predominant form of land use in Scotland, but that does not mean that farmers will not have a continuing role to play. Farmers understand the land and its needs and this knowledge is vital to successful management for a broad range of objectives. However, managing to achieve different objectives will be more effective if based on an understanding of the underlying processes and this is where I believe that the Macaulay Land Use Research Institute's research programme can help. For those of you unfamiliar with the Macaulay Land Use Research Institute's research, I describe below the types of information that we can provide, by describing our research programme in three categories.

The first category is based on the premise that environmental considerations are becoming increasingly important in relation to the management of land, particularly in a country like Scotland where the natural landscape makes such an important contribution to the attraction of visitors to our rural areas. Thus, the Macaulay Land Use Research Institute has a strong programme of environmental and ecological research, which asks questions about the interactions between microbes and the soil and between plants and soils, between plants within vegetation communities and the impacts of the grazing animal on these resources. Answers to these questions increase our understanding of the physiological and biochemical processes taking place in the natural world. By so doing, we will be able to provide information on the environmental consequences of different ways in which land can be used, to policy-makers, farmers, governmental and non-governmental agencies and indeed to the private sector.

However, decisions on how to manage land both now, and in the future, are not based solely on what is best for the environment, there are also human dimensions. These range across the social and economic viability of rural communities and the effectiveness of related rural policies to the value which the wider society places on the provision of environmental goods. It is these aspects that lie at the heart of our second category of research. In it we seek to understand the links between rural development processes and land use change, drawing heavily both on economic analysis and the use of mathematical modelling and spatial techniques to provide insight into the human dimension of land use. Our approach to this research is very much a collaborative and inclusive one, in which we work closely with social scientists at the Arkleton Centre for Rural Development Research. It also includes frequent consultation with people living in rural communities as well as with those whose decisions may influence their future.

The third category of research is addressing more immediate issues that face those managing land or water catchments. This involves measuring and monitoring processes that occur in practice and the development of methods to characterise the vegetation of fields and hillsides and the exchanges between the soil and water. This research both provides evidence for the development of policies and management tools to assist resource managers and stakeholders in decision making. Inter-disciplinary research linking economics with natural sciences is a characteristic of this category of research.

We are therefore seeking to make relevant information from the this programme of research available to inform the discussion on opportunities for Scottish rural communities, in the immediate aftermath of the outbreak of Foot and Mouth Disease.

Some of the information generated by the research programme is summarised on these pages, but please E-mail with specific requests if you would like more details.

Macaulay Land Use Research Institute Research Programme