Professional summary

Lucy specialises in spatial modelling and analyses to answer a wide range of ecological questions focusing on sustainable land use. Her research at UKCEH involves examining long-term changes in land cover and semi-natural habitats, as well as understanding and mitigating the drivers of vegetation change and exploring opportunities for habitat restoration. Lucy collates, handles and analyses a variety of spatial datasets including historical data, aerial photography and data derived from earth observation including satellite imagery and drones. She also incorporates data that she has collected on the ground through running field experiments and conducting vegetation surveys.

Lucy has a BSc in Environmental Science from the University of Birmingham (2012) and an MSc in Applied Ecology and Conservation from the University of East Anglia (2013). She started her research career at UKCEH in 2014 as a research associate, until 2017 where she was made a permanent Spatial Ecologist. During this time, she completed a PhD with Bournemouth University on understanding drivers of long-term change in semi-natural habitats (2021).

Selected publications

Ridding Lucy E. et al. , (2023), Do plant traits influence primary succession patterns for bryophytes and vascular plants? Evidence from a 33‐year chronosequence on bare chalk. Journal of Ecology, http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1365-2745.14219

Ridding Lucy E. et al. , (2023), Historical data reveal contrasting habitat amount relationships with plant biodiversity. Ecography, 2023, https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/ecog.06301

Ridding Lucy E. et al. , (2021), Inconsistent detection of extinction debts using different methods. Ecography, 44, 33-43, https://doi.org/10.1111/ecog.05344

Ridding Lucy E. et al. , (2021), Responses of calcareous grassland plant communities to changed seasonal grazing management: results of a 31 year study. Journal for Nature Conservation, 62, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jnc.2021.126026

Ridding Lucy E. et al. , (2020), Ongoing, but slowing, habitat loss in a rural landscape over 85 years. Landscape Ecology, 35, 257-273, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10980-019-00944-2

Ridding Lucy E. et al. , (2020), Long-term change in calcareous grassland vegetation and drivers over three time periods between 1970 and 2016. Plant Ecology, 221, 377-394, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11258-020-01016-1

Ridding Lucy E. et al. , (2020), Modelling historical landscape changes. Landscape Ecology, http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10980-020-01059-9

Rust Niki A. et al. , (2020), How to transition to reduced-meat diets that benefit people and the planet. Science of the Total Environment, 718, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.137208

Ridding Lucy E. et al. , (2018), The importance of landscape characteristics for the delivery of cultural ecosystem services. Journal of Environmental Management, 206, 1145-1154, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2017.11.066

Ridding Lucy E. et al. , (2015), Fate of semi-natural grassland in England between 1960 and 2013: a test of national conservation policy. 4, 516-525, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.gecco.2015.10.004