Dr Alan Hopkins
Research Interests
My research interests span the environmental, agronomic and policy aspects of agricultural land management. Recent research has focused on developing measures and utilizing resources that can lead to improved sustainability in terms of farm-producer incomes as well as environmental gains and improved food quality. Examples include the use of legume-based forage systems for livestock production (and barriers to their farm-scale adoption), organic and low-input farming, and forage resource management for equines. A recent development concerns the potential for biodiverse ecosystems and regional habitats to be identified with distinctive agricultural products and non-food enterprises (and reappraisal of the value of land supporting semi-natural vegetation). Other recent studies have evaluated the adaptation needs of agriculture, farmland ecosystems and rural enterprises to climate change, and several studies for MAFF/ Defra on the impacts of climate change have been carried out. I also have an interest in the ecological and policy issues of habitat restoration, both in the context of land subjected to previous inappropriate agricultural management, and land degraded by mining or similar activities.
Selected current and recent projects
Legume forages for sustainable grazing in Europe (EU Commission: LEGGRAZE , QL K5 CT-2001-02328).
Realising the Links between Quality Food Production and Biodiversity Protection (leader: Prof Henry Buller, funded through RELU programme)
Green Futures: Practical environmental enhancements in the South West's improved grasslands (Exeter University and IGER, 2005-2006). Funded through the SW Regional Food and Farming Strategy.
Impacts of climate change on the UK agricultural industry (Defra contract CC0366).
