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Forest Research home > Contact us > People
Helen Armstrong, BSc, PhD
Project Leader, Ecology DivisionHelen Armstrong joined Forest Research in 1999, where she has specialised in herbivore population dynamics and impacts on woodlands. Before this, she managed the uplands group in the Advisory Services section of Scottish Natural Heritage, modelled the impact of sheep on upland ecosystems at the Macaulay Institute and gave advice on managing herbivores in the uplands at the Nature Conservancy Council. Between 1982 and 1987 she studied the impacts of rabbits on an arid ecosystem to gain a Ph.D. from the Australian National University. In 1980 she obtained a degree in ecological science from the University of Edinburgh. Current roleProject Leader, Ecology Division
Herbivore population dynamics and impacts on woodlands: Current programmesAffiliations and achievements- Member of the British Ecological Society and the Native Woodland Discussion Group.
Research areas- Impacts of domestic stock on woodlands
- Deer population dynamics
- Impacts of wild herbivores on woodlands
PublicationsGill, R. & Armstrong, H.M. (2005). Cattle and Woodlands. In ‘Deer and Cattle in Woodlands’. Proceedings of a workshop held at Marlborough College. 17th December 2004. (J.Batten ed.). English Nature, the Deer Initiative. 10-12. Armstrong, H.M. & Bullock, D.J. (2004). Stock grazing in woodlands. In: ‘Managing woodlands and their mammals’. C.Quine, R.Shore and R.Trout (Eds). Forestry Commission, Edinburgh. 81-86. Armstrong, H.M., Gill, R.M.A., Mayle, B.A. & Trout, R.C. (2003). Protecting trees from deer: an overview of current knowledge and future work. Forest Research Annual Report, 2001-2002. The Stationary Office, Edinburgh. Clutton-Brock, T.H., Coulson, T.N., Milner-Gulland, E.J. Thomson, D. & Armstrong, H. M. (2001). Sex differences in emigration and mortality affect optimal management of deer populations. Nature, 415, 633-637. Armstrong, H.M. & Robertson, A. (2000). Energetics of free-ranging large herbivores: when should costs affect foraging behaviour? Canadian Journal of Zoology, 78 (9), 1604-1615. Bullock, D. J. & Armstrong, H.M. (2000). Grazing for environmental benefit. In: Grazing management: the principles and practice of grazing, for profit and environmental gain, within temperate grassland systems. British Grassland Society Occasional Symposium No. 34. 191-200. British Grassland Society, Reading. Andrews, J., Miller, G.R. & Armstrong, H.M. (2000). The effects of mammalian herbivores on natural regeneration of upland, native woodland. Scottish Natural Heritage Information and Advice Note No. 115. Scottish Natural Heritage, Battleby, Perthshire. Reimoser, F, Armstrong, H. & Suchant, R. (1999). Measuring forest damage of ungulates: what should be considered. Forest Ecology and Management, 120, 47-58. Hester, A., Kirby, K., Mitchell, F., Gill, R., Latham, J. & Armstrong, H. (1998). Ungulates and forest management in Great Britain and Ireland. In: Grazing as a Management Tool in European Forest Ecosystems. Eds J.Humphrey, R. Gill & J. Claridge. Forestry Commission Technical Paper 25. Forestry Commission, Edinburgh. 24-35. Milne, J.A., Birch, C.P.D., Hester, A.J., Armstrong, H.M., & Robertson, A. (1998). The impact of vertebrate herbivores on the natural heritage of the Scottish uplands - a review. SNH Review series No. 95. Scottish Natural Heritage, Battleby, Perthshire. MacDonald, A.M., Stevens, P., Armstrong, H.M, Immirzi, P. & Reynolds, P. (1998). A Guide to Upland Habitats. Surveying Land Management Impacts. Scottish Natural Heritage, Battleby. Armstrong, H.M., Gordon, I.J., Sibbald, A.R., Grant, S.A., Hutchings, N.J. & Milne, J.A. (1997). A model of the grazing of hill vegetation by sheep in the UK. I. The prediction of seasonal biomass of vegetation. J. of Applied Ecology, 34, 166-185. Armstrong, H.M., Gordon, I.J., Sibbald, A.R., Hutchings, N.J., Illius, A.W. & Milne, J.A. (1997). A model of the grazing of hill vegetation by sheep in the UK. II. The prediction of offtake by sheep. J. of Applied Ecology, 34, 186-206. Armstrong, H.M. (1996). The grazing behaviour of large herbivores in the Scottish uplands. Scottish Natural Heritage Information and Advisory Note No. 47. Scottish Natural Heritage, Battleby. Armstrong, H.M. & Milne, J.A. (1995). The effects of grazing on vegetation species composition. Proceedings of a conference on 'Heaths and moorlands; cultural landscapes', Aberdeen, June, 1993. Eds M.B. Usher, D.B.A. Thompson & A.J. Hester. HMSO, Edinburgh. 162 - 173 Milne, J.A., Armstrong, H.M., Sibbald, A.R. & Gordon, I.J. (1995). Evaluating the effect of sheep production systems on semi-natural vegetation in the U.K - the uses of a computer model. Proceedings of the International Symposium on Wild and Domenstic Ruminants in Extensive Land Use Systems. Berlin, 3-4 October 1994. Armstrong, H.M. (1993). The MLURI hill grazing model: using a computer to help set stocking rates. ENACT, 1(4), 7-9. Grant, S.A. & Armstrong, H.M. (1993). Grazing ecology and the conservation of heather moorland: the development of models as aids to management. Biodiversity and Conservation, 2, 79-94. Armstrong, H.M. & MacDonald, A.J. (1992). Tests of different methods for measuring and estimating utilization rate of heather (Calluna vulgaris) by vertebrate herbivores. Journal of Applied Ecology, 29, 285-294. Armstrong, H. & Sibbald, A. (1992). A model of pasture utilisation in the hill country of the U.K. Agricultural Systems and Information Technology Newsletter, 4, 11-13. Grant, S. & Armstrong, H. (1992). Managing grazing to sustain heather moorland. Proceedings of the National Heather Management Convention, Leeds, April 1991. (Ed. R.Brown). Joseph Nickerson Heather Improvement Foundation. Armstrong, H. (1991). Britain's declining heather moorlands. Outlook on Agriculture, 20(2), 103-107. Armstrong, H.M. (1991). The use of computer models to help design optimum management systems for heather moorland. Joseph Nickerson Reconciliation Project Annual Report 1991. Armstrong, H.M. (1990). Avoiding heather decline: the use of the MLURI grazing model to estimate acceptable stocking rates. In: Grazing research and nature conservation in the uplands: proceedings of a seminar, 1988. (Eds: D.B.A. Thompson and K.J. Kirby). Research and survey in nature conservation no.31. Nature Conservancy Council. Armstrong, H.M. (1990). Modelling the effects of vertebrate herbivore populations on heather moorland vegetation. In: Modelling heather management. A workshop report. (Eds: M. Whitby and S. Grant). Department of Agricultural Economics and Food Marketing, University of Newcastle upon Tyne. MacDonald, A. J. & Armstrong, H. (1989). Methods for monitoring heather cover. In: Research and Survey in Nature Conservation No.27. Conservation in the Uplands. Nature Conservancy Council. Unpublished reports and theses Armstrong, H. M., Poulsom, L, Connolly, T. and Peace, A. (2003). A survey of cattle-grazed woodlands in Britain (PDF-667K) . Report to the Forestry Commission. October 2003. 65 pp.
Armstrong, H. M., Poulsom, L., Simson, P., Wilson, J and Tracy D. (2003). Testing methods for monitoring beaver impacts on terrestrial vegetation in Knapdale. Scottish Natural Heritage Commissioned Report. 50 pp. Armstrong, H. M., Chesterton, C., Currie, F., Kirby, K. and Latham, J. (2002). Developing a set of field indicators of over-grazing of upland woods. Report to DEFRA. 35 pp. Armstrong, H. M. (2001). Sika management research project. Experiment Y9/219. Final report. June 2001. Report to Forest Enterprise. 69 pp. Armstrong, H. M. (2001). Sika management: four Scottish case studies. Summary report to Forest Enterprise. 19 pp. Armstrong, H. M. (2001). Forest Enterprise deer data holdings. Listings by Forest District and recommendations for data collation and future storage. Report to Forest Enterprise. September 2001. 42 pp. Armstrong, H.M. (1988). Effects of rabbits on the vegetation of an arid zone National Park. Ph.D. thesis, Australian National University.
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