Researchers from the University of Plymouth have played an important part in a major new report highlighting the scale of nature loss across the UK.
The State of Nature 2023 report provides a detailed picture of how nature is faring across towns, cities, the countryside and seas.
It shows that the abundance of land and freshwater species has on average fallen by almost a third (32%) since 1970 and, overall, the UK is one of the most nature-depleted countries globally due to human activity, with less than half of its biodiversity remaining.
The report has been compiled by leading professionals from over 60 research and conservation organisations, and contains the best available data on the UK's biodiversity.
Among the scientists involved are Dr Abigail McQuatters-Gollop and Dr Matt Holland, from the Plankton and Policy Research team at the University of Plymouth.
They wrote the section on plankton that is featured within the report and highlights the importance of plankton to both the marine food web and to other wildlife, such as seabirds.
They also demonstrated how climate change is driving complex and varied changes in the UK's plankton, with some zooplankton types showing long-term abundance increases in some areas of the North Sea, with strong declines in phytoplankton abundance offshore over the last six decades.
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