Thank you so much for this thoughtful comment and for engaging so deeply with our work. We’re very interested in exactly the point you raise about detecting changes earlier than traditional ground surveys, and across a range of potential stressors. So far, our focus has been on demonstrating that this technology can reliably detect these biological signals, but now that we have that proof of concept, the next step is exactly to address questions like the ones you pose.
The contrast between intensively farmed areas and more semi-natural landscapes is where we see one of the most significant future potential use cases. Neonicotinoid use is very much on our radar (no pun intended) as a candidate driver, but we haven’t yet completed the formal analysis. If we can make that connection robust, we agree this approach could become a useful early-warning and assessment tool for agrochemical impacts, and help inform models and future land management and agri-environment schemes.
Thank you so much for this thoughtful comment and for engaging so deeply with our work. We’re very interested in exactly the point you raise about detecting changes earlier than traditional ground surveys, and across a range of potential stressors. So far, our focus has been on demonstrating that this technology can reliably detect these biological signals, but now that we have that proof of concept, the next step is exactly to address questions like the ones you pose.
The contrast between intensively farmed areas and more semi-natural landscapes is where we see one of the most significant future potential use cases. Neonicotinoid use is very much on our radar (no pun intended) as a candidate driver, but we haven’t yet completed the formal analysis. If we can make that connection robust, we agree this approach could become a useful early-warning and assessment tool for agrochemical impacts, and help inform models and future land management and agri-environment schemes.
- Dr Ryan Neely