Research Groups
Research Interests
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Urban Ecology
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Hydroecology
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Biogeography
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Green roofs
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Sustainable water management
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Biodiversity conservation
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Citizen Science
Current / Recent Research
I currently work on the Big Lottery funded Open Air Laboratories (OPAL) project as a community scientist for the OPAL West Midlands region. This involves helping local community groups to better understand and appreciate the wildlife in their local green spaces. The principle method used is a citizen science approach whereby I facilitate community participation in scientific projects like the OPAL Soil, Air, Water, Biodiversity, Weather and Bugs Count surveys; or my own research on urban ecology.
In collaboration with Dr Jon Sadler, James Hale, Richard Greswell and Rae Mackay I am researching the urban ecology of various species and habitats, but in particular, bees and the ecology of green roofs. The global rate of urbanization is accelerating, resulting in the disturbance and fragmentation of habitat across larger and larger areas. Some species are able to flourish, whilst others decline in urban habitats, which in turn influence the community health and consequent provision of ecosystem services. Bees are the most important group of pollinators, so they are critical components of a healthy urban ecosystem. Understanding how they respond to the pressures of urbanization is of key importance. Green roofs are novel habitats in urban areas that can potentially provide replacement habitat lost to development, whilst reducing urban run-off and mitigating the heat island effect. My research focuses on the design of green roofs to mitigate for the loss of brownfield habitat.
My PhD research was on the ecology and conservation of specialist invertebrates of exposed riverine sediments (ERS) and I continue my interest in this field in collaboration with Dr Jon Sadler and Dr David Hannah, I am particularly interested in aquatic terrestrial interactions of ERS assemblages, their spatial organisation, and their conservation in the face of numerous threats.
Left, bee hotel at UoB. Centre, children investigating how long a water beetle can swim using one bubble of air. Right a leafcutter bee using a bee hotel (photograph Mick Massie).
Plants growing on the UoB green roof research facility plots. On the far left foreground is a cornflower (Centaurea cyanus) and on the far right are some flowering long-headed poppies (Papaver dubium) (photographs Veronique Durand).
The microspatial distribution of ERS specialist beetles
Key Publications since 2001
Journal Articles
Bates AJ, Sadler JP, Mackay R. In press. Vegetation development over four years on two green roofs in the UK. Urban Forestry & Urban Greening
Bates AJ, Sadler JP, Everett E, Grundy D, Lowe N, Davis G, Baker D, Bridge M, Clifton J, Freestone R, Gardner D, Gibson C, Hemming R, Howarth S, Orridge S, Shaw M, Tams T, Young H. In press. Assessing the value of the Garden Moth Scheme citizen science dataset: how does light trap type affect catch? Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata
Olly LM, Bates AJ, Sadler JP, Mackay R. 2011. An initial experimental assessment of the influence of substrate depth on floral assemblage for extensive green roofs. Urban Forestry & Urban Greening 10: 311-316.
Bates AJ, Sadler JP, Fairbrass AJ, Falk SJ, Hale JD, Matthews TJ. 2011. Changing bee and hoverfly pollinator assemblages along an urban-rural gradient. PLoS ONE 6: e23459 doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0023459
Henshall SE, Sadler JP, Hannah DM, Bates AJ. 2011. The role of microhabitat and food availability in determining riparian invertebrate distributions on gravel bars: a habitat manipulation experiment. Ecohydrology 4: 512-519
Bates AJ, Mackay R, Greswell RB, Sadler JP. 2009. SWITCH in Birmingham, UK: experimental investigation of the ecological and hydrological performance of extensive green roofs. Reviews in Environmental Science and Biotechnology 8: 295-300.
Bates AJ, Sadler JP, Henshall SE, Hannah DM. 2009. Ecology and conservation of arthropods of exposed riverine sediments. Terrestrial Arthropod Reviews 2: 77-98.
Bates AJ, Sadler JP, Perry JN, Fowles AP. 2007 Microspatial distribution of beetles (Coleoptera) within spatially delimited patches of exposed riverine sediments. European Journal of Entomology 104: 497-487. (free pdf available at: http://www.eje.cz/pdfarticles/1257/eje_104_3_479_Bates.pdf)
Bates AJ, Sadler JP, Fowles AP. 2007. Livestock trampling reduces the conservation value of beetle communities on high quality exposed riverine sediments. Biodiversity & Conservation, 16: 1491-1509.
Bates AJ, Sadler JP, Fowles AP. 2006. Condition-dependent dispersal of a patchily distributed riparian ground beetle in response to disturbance. Oecologia 150: 50-60.
Bates AJ, Sadler JP, Fowles AP, Butcher CR. 2005. Spatial dynamics of beetles living on exposed riverine sediments in the Upper River Severn: Method development and preliminary results. Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosytems 15: 159-174.
Book Chapters
Sadler J, Bates A, Donovan R, Bodnar S. 2011. Building for biodiversity: accommodating people and wildlife in cities. 286-297 in Niemelä J, Breuste JH, Guntenspergen G, McIntyre NE, Elmqvist T, James P (eds.). Urban Ecology. Patterns, Processes and Applications. Oxford University Press, 392pp.
Sadler J, Bates A, Hale J, James P. 2010. Bringing cities alive: the importance of urban green spaces for people and biodiversity 230-260 in Gaston KJ (ed.). Urban Ecology. Cambridge University Press, 318pp.
Sadler JP, Bates AJ. 2007. The ecohydrology of invertebrates associated with exposed riverine sediments. 37-56 in Wood PJ, Hannah DM, Sadler JP (Eds.) Hydroecology and Ecohydrology: Past, Present and Future. Wiley, 460pp.