CASE STUDY 2

British Case Study

Restoration on the Forth River Catchment, Scotland, UK, an approximately 800 km2 catchment area, focuses on diversifying channel structure (much of which has been canalized) and rewetting peatland. Creation of wetlands and floodplain restoration is aimed at flood management and enhancing biodiversity and ecosystem services. Previous and ongoing restoration provide an opportunity to quantify impacts of restoration. A central goal of the research is to quantify effect of management on rodent (field vole) health and abundance of pathogens and arthropod vectors, as well as the impacts on the community of microbes in soil and water.

RESTORARION &

INTERVENTION MEASURES

Nature restoration

Restoration of aquatic-terrestrial linkages

Rewilding

owl

Public health interventions

ENVIRONMENTAL

SAMPLES

Reservoirs

rat

Vectors

mosquito

tick

Environment

water

soil/sediment

Case Study Activities

The Scottish case study focuses on the effects of floodplain and wetland restoration at Allan Water, a River Forth catchment.

The floodplain and wetland restoration is done using different nature-based solutions, such as creation of scrapes or pools, blocking ditches and breakage of agricultural drains. The work is being done by our collaborators and partners that work on the MERLIN project – the Forth Rivers Trust and the UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology.

The main goal of our research is to examine the effects of restoration on the many levels of biodiversity in the area. We use a variety of techniques to examine the diversity of:

microbes, including pathogens in the soil and water,
reservoirs (such as field voles and wood mice) and their resident microbes,
vectors, such as ticks and mosquitoes,
mammals and birds.

Furthermore, we aim to examine how restoration affects the health of the reservoir species in the area, and how these effects may translate into zoonotic disease risk for humans.