Lydia Cole

Researcher Associate of the Department of Zoology; Environmental Scientist, Rezatec Ltd., University of Oxford

Having completed her DPhil thesis in Spring 2013, Lydia worked for a year as a post doctoral researcher, continuing her work in the Department of Zoology, and doing projects with members of the University of Oxford’s School of Geography and Plant Sciences Department. She also taught undergraduate Biological Sciences in her role as Stipendiary Lecturer at St Hugh’s College, from October 2012 to 2013. In 2008, she completed an MSc in Biodiversity, Conservation and Management at the School of Geography and the Environment. To support the Masters’ research project, which investigated human-wildlife conflict around Kaziranga National Park in Assam, northeast India, she was awarded a grant by the Tropical Agriculture Award Fund (TAAF), administered by the Tropical Agriculture Association. Prior to this she obtained a BA in Natural Sciences, graduating from the Plant Sciences Department at the University of Cambridge in 2006, where she received a Senior Scholarship at Trinity College, Cambridge.

Lydia is fluent in English and also speaks Spanish and Swahili, and is a “Beginner” in Malay.

Current Research

Long-term ecology, recovery dynamics and resilience of tropical forests, with a focus on tropical peat swamp forests

Tropical peatswamp forests are rich in biodiversity, as well as an important store of carbon and source of ecosystem services for stakeholders, both locally and globally. Yet they are being logged and converted at rapid rates as plantation agriculture, predominantly oil palm, settlements and infrastructural developments expand to meet the requirements of the growing human population. How much disturbance these peatswamp forests have experienced in the past and how much they can tolerate before ecosystem function is permanently destroyed are important questions that need to be addressed if these habitats are to be managed for sustainable resource provision. In order to provide answers, a palaeoecological investigation of the coastal peatswamp forests of northern Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo, was carried out. Core samples from three peatland locations were analysed for their fossil pollen and charcoal content, in order to reconstruct the past vegetation and fire disturbance history of these areas. In addition, key informant interviews were performed to gather information on past and contemporary peatland use and attitudes towards its conservation. Overall, this research aimed to assess the past vegetation dynamics and past and present human use of these peatlands, in order to provide guidance on how this ecosystem should be managed into the future, with the long-term provision of ecosystem services and biodiversity at the core.

Specific research objectives were as follows:

To investigate the impact of past disturbances on forest communities across the different tropical zones of the world, using published palaeoecological records. (See Cole et al., 2014, for results of this meta-analysis.)
To determine the disturbance history (i.e. fire, climatic change and human impacts) of tropical coastal peatswamp forests in Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo, and the response of the vegetation to such events, with a focus on the resilience of the ecosystem, using fossil pollen and charcoal data.

To investigate the patterns of vegetation response to different disturbances and ecosystem dynamics in the past, providing information on the long-term ecology of this ecosystem, useful for restoration efforts.

To document past and current human use patterns in these coastal peatswamp forests, and knowledge of and attitudes towards their conservation, in order to develop more appropriate management strategies to enable the different stakeholders to use this ecosystem in a sustainable way.
Lydia’s research interests include: biodiversity conservation; tropical ecology; palaeoecology; reconciliation ecology; tropical agriculture; paludiculture; sustainable livelihoods and integrated landscape management; payments for ecosystem services; and human-wildlife conflict.

Funding for this Doctoral research came from the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC).

Sustainable peatland management

Currently, Lydia is also working with Rezatec Ltd. on the development of a landscape intelligence tool, focusing on mapping, measuring and monitoring peatland extent and carbon content, with funding from the European Space Agency. More information on this project can be found here.