Lecturer in Nature-Based Solutions
Biological and Environmental Sciences Room 4B157, Cottrell Building, University of Stirling, Stirling, FK9 4LA
My research interests revolve around freshwater environments; the most important ecosystems on our planet (in my opinion). I am particularly interested in assessing and restoring biodiversity in wetlands, ponds, lakes and rivers, whilst considering wider processes such as biogeochemical cycles and the aquatic:terrestrial interface.
Freshwaters are at the interface or linked to the majority of all ecosystems worldwide, so their quality and quantity is crucial. Yet they are suffering catastrophic biodiversity losses, mismanaged and neglect.
Developing a greater understanding of these ecosystems in a changing world is now imperative and I have the honour to play a part in this. I’m particularly interested when freshwater systems interact with community ecology, rewilding, species reintroductions and carbon cycling.
As a lecturer at Stirling I can build on my expertise in freshwater science and indulge my love of freshwater biodiversity and answer three fundamental research questions that have amazed me for as long as I can remember; i) what is that?, ii) why is it here? and iii) what does it do?
Brief biography:
•Lecturer in Ecology (2019 - current)
•Post-doctoral researcher, Univ. Stirling, NERC Hydroscape (2015-2019)
•University teacher, Univ. Glasgow (2014-2015)
•PhD, Univ. Stirling, Ecological impacts of reintroduced beavers to Scotland (2010-2014)
•Biologist, Clyde River Foundation (2009-2010)
•MRes in Ecology and Environmental Biology, Univ. Glasgow (2008-2009)
•BSci (hons) Zoology, Univ. Glasgow (2004-2008).
Copies of my publications and technical reports can be found on my personal page (https://anebulosus.wordpress.com/).
Freshwater, Ponds, Lakes, Rivers, Streams, Grazing, Beavers, Macroinvertebrates, Macrophytes, Biodiversity, Ecosystem Resilience, Climate Change, Carbon Cycle, Biogeochemistry.
Restoring Ecosystems to Stop the Threat Of (Re-)Emerging Infectious Diseases
PI: Dr Brad Duthie
Funded by: Innovate UK
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Maximising synergies of Ecological Restoration in a Landscape context: INnovation, upscaling and transformation
PI: Professor Peter Hunter
Funded by: European Commission (Horizon 2020)
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DEVELOPMENT OF AN eDNA DATA SET TO PRODUCE A WFD COMPATIBLE CLASSIFICATION TOOL FOR LAKE FISH IN SCOTLAND
PI: Professor Nigel Willby
Funded by: Scottish Environment Protection Agency
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Article
Flume experiments reveal how beaver dam characteristics influence pond depth regulation
Hart J, Law A, Westbrook C, Rubinato M & Willby N (2025) Flume experiments reveal how beaver dam characteristics influence pond depth regulation. Journal of Hydrology, 662, p. 133872. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2025.133872
Article
Clifford C, Bieroza M, Clarke SJ, Pickard A, Stratigos MJ, Hill MJ, Raheem N, Tatariw C, Wood PJ, Arismendi I, Audet J, Aviles D, Bergman JN, Brown AG & Law A (2025) Lines in the landscape. Communications Earth & Environment, 6, Art. No.: 693. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-025-02699-y
Article
Understanding the hydrological and landscape connectivity of lakes
Taylor P, Carvalho L, Chapman D, Law A, Miller C, Scott M, Siriwardena G, Thackeray SJ, Ward C, Wilkie C & Willby N (2025) Understanding the hydrological and landscape connectivity of lakes. Landscape Ecology, 40 (7). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10980-025-02153-6
Article
Wilkie C, Law A, Thackeray S, Ward C, August T, Baker A, Belmont J, Carvalho L, Chapman D, Dobel A, Miller C, Pringle H, Scott M, Siriwardena G, Taylor P & Willby N (2025) Global Ecology and Biogeography Landscape-Scale Responses of Freshwater Biodiversity to Connectivity and Stressors. Global Ecology and Biogeography, 34 (6), Art. No.: e70069. https://doi.org/10.1111/geb.70069
Article
White HL, Fellows R, Woodford L, Ormsby MJ, van Biervliet O, Law A, Quilliam RS & Willby NJ (2025) The impact of beaver dams on distribution of waterborne Escherichia coli and turbidity in an agricultural landscape. Science of The Total Environment, 968, Art. No.: 178871. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2025.178871
Article
Gould E, Fraser HS, Parker TH, Nakagawa S, Griffith SC, Vesk PA, Fidler F, Hamilton DG, Abbey-Lee RN, Abbott JK, Aguirre LA, Alcaraz C, Aloni I, Law A & Marshall BM (2025) Same data, different analysts: variation in effect sizes due to analytical decisions in ecology and evolutionary biology. BMC Biology, 23 (1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12915-024-02101-x
Article
Law A, Baker A, Sayer CD, Foster G, Gunn IDM, Macadam CR & Willby NJ (2024) Repeatable patterns in the distribution of freshwater biodiversity indicators across contrasting landscapes. Landscape Ecology, 39 (11). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10980-024-01992-z
Article
Optimising species detection probability and sampling effort in lake fish eDNA surveys
Sellers GS, Jerde CL, Harper LR, Benucci M, Di Muri C, Li J, Peirson G, Walsh K, Hatton-Ellis T, Duncan W, Duguid A, Ottewell D, Willby N, Law A & Bean CW (2024) Optimising species detection probability and sampling effort in lake fish eDNA surveys. Metabarcoding and Metagenomics, 8, Art. No.: e104655. https://doi.org/10.3897/mbmg.8.104655
Article
Invertebrate responses to rewilding: a monitoring framework for practitioners
Cook P, Law A, Pattison Z, WallisDeVries MF & Willby NJ (2024) Invertebrate responses to rewilding: a monitoring framework for practitioners. Restoration Ecology, 32 (5), Art. No.: e14195. https://doi.org/10.1111/rec.14195
Article
Wilson KA, Law A, Hester AJ, Gaywood MJ & Willby NJ (2024) Tree felling by beaver promotes regeneration in riparian woodlands whilst increasing resource availability for deer. Forest Ecology and Management, 562, Art. No.: 121910. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2024.121910
Article
Will they be back? A framework to guide rare macrophyte conservation decisions in lakes
Bennion H, Sayer C, Baker A, Bishop I, Glover A, Jones V, Law A, Madgwick G, Peglar S, Roberts C, Rose N, Turner S, Willby N & Yang H (2024) Will they be back? A framework to guide rare macrophyte conservation decisions in lakes. Restoration Ecology, 32 (1), pp. 1-16, Art. No.: e14026. https://doi.org/10.1111/rec.14026
Article
How beavers affect riverine aquatic macroinvertebrates: a review
Washko S, Willby N & Law A (2022) How beavers affect riverine aquatic macroinvertebrates: a review. PeerJ, 10, Art. No.: e13180. https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.13180
Article
Pond ecology and conservation: research priorities and knowledge gaps
Hill MJ, Greaves HM, Sayer CD, Hassall C, Milin M, Milner VS, Marazzi L, Hall R, Harper LR, Thornhill I, Walton R, Biggs J, Ewald N, Law A & Willby N (2021) Pond ecology and conservation: research priorities and knowledge gaps. Ecosphere, 12 (12), Art. No.: e03853. https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.3853
Article
Beavers: The original engineers of Britain's fresh waters
Wilson K, Law A, Gaywood M, Ramsay P & Willby N (2020) Beavers: The original engineers of Britain's fresh waters. British Wildlife, 31 (6), pp. 403-411. https://www.britishwildlife.com/article/volume-31-number-6-page-403-411
Article
Are beavers a solution to the freshwater biodiversity crisis?
Law A, Levanoni O, Foster G, Ecke F & Willby NJ (2019) Are beavers a solution to the freshwater biodiversity crisis?. Diversity and Distributions, 25 (11), pp. 1763-1772. https://doi.org/10.1111/ddi.12978
Article
Harper LR, Lawson Handley L, Carpenter AI, Ghazali M, Di Muri C, Macgregor CJ, Logan TW, Law A, Breithaupt T, Read DS, McDevitt AD & Hänfling B (2019) Environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding of pond water as a tool to survey conservation and management priority mammals. Biological Conservation, 238, Art. No.: 108225. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2019.108225
Article
The effectiveness of aquatic plants as surrogates for wider biodiversity in standing fresh waters
Law A, Baker A, Sayer C, Foster G, Gunn IDM, Taylor P, Pattison Z, Blaikie J & Willby NJ (2019) The effectiveness of aquatic plants as surrogates for wider biodiversity in standing fresh waters. Freshwater Biology, 64 (9), pp. 1664-1675. https://doi.org/10.1111/fwb.13369
Article
Willby NJ, Law A, Levanoni O, Foster G & Ecke F (2018) Rewilding wetlands: beaver as agents of within-habitat heterogeneity and the responses of contrasting biota. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 373 (1761), Art. No.: 20170444. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2017.0444
Technical Report
Bull C & Law A (2018) The collation and analysis of UK larval lamprey data to determine variance and inform monitoring strategies. Scottish Natural Heritage.
Article
Using ecosystem engineers as tools in habitat restoration and rewilding: beaver and wetlands
Law A, Gaywood MJ, Jones KC, Ramsay P & Willby NJ (2017) Using ecosystem engineers as tools in habitat restoration and rewilding: beaver and wetlands. Science of the Total Environment, 605-606, pp. 1021-1030. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.06.173
Article
Law A, McLean F & Willby N (2016) Habitat engineering by beaver benefits aquatic biodiversity and ecosystem processes in agricultural streams. Freshwater Biology, 61 (4), pp. 486-499. https://doi.org/10.1111/fwb.12721
Newspaper Article
Give beavers permanent residence - we'd be dam stupid not to
Willby N & Law A (2016) Give beavers permanent residence - we'd be dam stupid not to. The Conversation. 24.02.2016.
Technical Report
Ground-truthing the quality assessment of walkover lamprey habitat surveys
Bull C, Law A, Perfect C & Watt J (2014) Ground-truthing the quality assessment of walkover lamprey habitat surveys. Scottish Natural Heritage.
Technical Report
Bull C & Law A (2014) A survey of the aquatic habitat, fish and aquatic macroinvertebrate populations in the vicinity of three proposed conveyor bridge crossings on the River Teith and Keltie Water at Cambusmore. Direct Ecology.
Thesis
Evaluation of the ecological impacts of beaver reintroduction on aquatic systems
Law A (2014) Evaluation of the ecological impacts of beaver reintroduction on aquatic systems. Doctor of Philosophy. University of Stirling. http://hdl.handle.net/1893/20767
Article
Medium vs. short-term effects of herbivory by Eurasian beaver on aquatic vegetation
Law A, Jones K & Willby N (2014) Medium vs. short-term effects of herbivory by Eurasian beaver on aquatic vegetation. Aquatic Botany, 116, pp. 27-34. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aquabot.2014.01.004
Article
Beavers and lilies: Selective herbivory and adaptive foraging behaviour
Law A, Bunnefeld N & Willby N (2014) Beavers and lilies: Selective herbivory and adaptive foraging behaviour. Freshwater Biology, 59 (2), pp. 224-232. https://doi.org/10.1111/fwb.12259
Article
Using coralline algae to understand historic marine cloud cover
Burdett H, Kamenos NA & Law A (2011) Using coralline algae to understand historic marine cloud cover. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 302 (1-2), pp. 65-70. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2010.07.027
Article
Temperature controls on coralline algal skeletal growth
Kamenos NA & Law A (2010) Temperature controls on coralline algal skeletal growth. Journal of Phycology, 46 (2), pp. 331-335. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1529-8817.2009.00780.x
I am the Programme Director for the Outdoor Education degrees, teaching in collaboration with Phil Thompson (Ardroy Outdoor Education Centre). I coordinate and teach on all the modules within these degrees:
•EOEU1OE Navigation and mountain skills
•EOEU2OE Development and application of outdoor education
•EOEU3OE Mountain leader training
•EOEU4OE Responsibilities and safety in outdoor education
•EOEU5OE Outdoor education in practice: work placement
•EOEU6S6 Mountain leader assessment
I also coordinate and teach the 1st year module People and the Environment (GEOU1PP) and MSc field course Field Techniques (ENMPG17)
I also supervise dissertations at honours, masters and PhD levels.
