Mr Patrick Cook

About me

I am a PhD student at the University of Stirling and Senior Ecologist at Butterfly Conservation. I enjoy having a foot in both the academic camp but also in the conservation world, making a difference for wildlife through science. I am passionate about all types of wildlife but in particular butterflies and moths. My main research interest is to use my entomological knowledge to evaluate responses to land management and habitat change including in beaver wetlands, woodland management and restoration/rewilding projects.

PhD Project

My PhD is investigating how plants and terrestrial invertebrates respond to the rewilding projects but also how invertebrates interact across the aquatic-terrestrial boundary in beaver wetlands. This will provide much need evidence and information to ongoing development of rewilding as a nature recovery method, and I can’t wait to see what the results are! The study site for my research is at Bamff Wildland, in Perthshire, Scotland. The estate is a leading example of rewilding in Scotland with beavers present since 2002 and a low-density grazing regime with cattle, ponies and pigs which started in 2020.

The PhD project has three clear objectives.

(1) Examine change over time for plants and invertebrates in fields that were agricultural fields between 2022-2026. This includes plants, ground beetles, spiders, bees, butterflies, hoverflies and moths.

(2) Determine differences in pollinator communities and plant-pollinator networks between the edges of beaver wetlands and human created ponds.

(3) Determine differences in beetle and spider communities but also energy flows around beaver wetlands and human created ponds. In 2024 we published the first paper from my PhD project in the Journal of Restoration Ecology. The paper shows why we need more monitoring and research on invertebrates in rewilding projects and what steps practitioners can take to achieve this on the ground.

My supervisors are Nigel Willby, Alan Law and Zarah Pattison

Employment Biography

Senior Ecologist- Butterfly Conservation (2025-present)

Ecologist- Butterfly Conservation (2021-2025)

Conservation Officer/GIS Support Officer- Butterfly Conservation (2017-2021)

Assistant Warden (North Shetland and Loch of Strathbeg)- RSPB (2016-2017)

Internship at Insh Marshes- RSPB (2015-2016)

Intern- Torc Ecology (2013)

Education

PhD- University of Stirling (2021-present)

BSc (Hons) Natural Sciences- University of East Anglia (2012-2015)

Publications

2025

Cook, P., Hordley, L., Powell, K., Painting, A. and Rao, S., 2025. Landscape‐scale native woodland habitat restoration using natural tree regeneration provides a biodiversity boost for moths in the uplands. Ecological Solutions and Evidence, 6(4), p.e70136.https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/2688-8319.70136

2024

Cook, P., Hordley, L., Alder, D., Powell, K. and Pengelly, D., 2024. Moths respond to key habitat structures in conifer plantations managed as irregular high forest. Forest Ecology and Management, 569, p.122218. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378112724005309?casa_token=LZft-nIGkv0AAAAA:1BZ-qZqk2LnsQccpsJa4JXRNpvP1KI5filNVUHnBJZiWLY5kHOwW-fcYfFWPen-YZthU2LIj3cU

Cook, P., Law, A., Pattison, Z., WallisDeVries, M.F. and Willby, N.J., 2024. Invertebrate responses to rewilding: a monitoring framework for practitioners. Restoration Ecology, 32(5), p.e14195. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/rec.14195

2023

Cook, P., Alder, D., Hordley, L., Newson, S.E. and Pengelly, D., 2023. Seeing the wood for the trees, irregular silviculture supports bat populations in conifer plantations. Forest Ecology and Management, 544, p.121214. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378112723004486?casa_token=pfu4WnTxkSIAAAAA:OBWl_bhCJlu7S_Fsi0RhFA1U81AHDIjMl9sY4JGcutfg1nHJ8H7hZ0fqveUQKwSLnsnVIgzFBOw

2022

Cook, P., Hawes, J.E., Campos-Silva, J.V. and Peres, C.A., 2022. Human-wildlife conflicts with crocodilians, cetaceans and otters in the tropics and subtropics. PeerJ, 10, p.e12688. https://peerj.com/articles/12688/

Cook, P.M., Tordoff, G.M., Davis, T.M., Parsons, M.S., Dennis, E.B., Fox, R., Botham, M.S. and Bourn, N.A., 2022. Traits data for the butterflies and macro‐moths of Great Britain and Ireland. https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/ecy.3670

Tordoff, G.M., Dennis, E.B., Fox, R., Cook, P.M., Davis, T.M., Blumgart, D. and Bourn, N.A., 2022. Inconsistent results from trait-based analyses of moth trends point to complex drivers of change. Biodiversity and Conservation, 31(12), pp.2999-3018. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10531-022-02469-8

Skills

Surveys and monitoring techniques- plant quadrats, pitfall trapping, pan traps, transects, timed counts, light trapping, breeding bird surveys, winter bird surveys, reptile surveys, bat dawn and dusk surveys.

Taxonomic identification- microscopic skills and using dichotomous keys

Laboratory- microscope and sample preparation for stable isotopes

Writing- literature reviews, technical reports, scientific papers

Data analysis- linear modelling, community analysis such as ordinations and indicator species, plant-pollinator network analysis, stable isotope analysis

GIS- Teaching- developed and taught GIS beginner to intermediate skills

Communication- working with volunteers, working with landowners

Funding

My PhD research is funded by NERC through the Iapetus doctoral training partnership