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Hill and Mountain Research Centre
Extensive hill ewe (opens in new window)
The Centre, with its team of systems-scale researchers, is based at Kirkton and Auchtertyre Farms, a 2,600 ha Highland estate near Crianlarich in the west Highlands of Scotland.
The site is set within the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park and ranges from high quality and productive grazing to high altitude (over 1,000 m.a.s.l) semi-natural habitats of high conservation value.
Our work aims to seek economically, environmentally and socially sustainable land management systems in the context of international, national and local land use policies, with an emphasis on reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Current interests focus upon:
• Options for reducing Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions from upland grazing systems
• Ecosystem services (including Carbon sequestration and biodiversity) provided by grazed upland landscapes
• Circadian rhythm as a welfare indicator in extensive grazing systems
• Bio-economic modelling of livestock in upland environments
• Significant participative research with hill farmers, environmental managers and policy-makers
Work Package Projects
The major projects of work package are:
- Circadian rhythm as a welfare indicator
- DEFRA methane
- Ecosystem services - food production, biodiversity and Carbon storage in hill systems
- EID (Electronic Identification) - can it be a useful tool for farmers?
- Kirkton - C-efficient sheep project
- Uptake of technology by farmers
- Auchtertyre Projects