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Headlines from week beginning 21 September 2015 |
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A round up of the top countryside, conservation, wildlife and forestry stories as chosen by the CJS Team.
Keep it Clean campaign launched to keep trees healthy – Forestry
Commission Scotland Everyone who works in or visits Scotland’s forests can help the
ongoing effort to keep our forests and trees healthy, says Forestry
Commission Scotland. The simple message behind the Commission’s new ‘Keep It Clean’
campaign is that arriving at woodlands with clean boots, tyres and kit,
such as tools or walking poles, can help slow the spread of tree pests
and diseases. Environment Minister, Dr Aileen McLeod, said; “This is a very simple
idea that could have a very big impact on tree health. Our forests are a
vital environmental, economic, social and cultural resource and we
should all willingly play our part in doing what we can to protect them.
Keeping it clean is a fundamental message that we should all support -
the people who visit and work in woodlands are key to protecting our
trees.” The simple advice to ‘Keep It Clean’ asks people to take a few
minutes before visiting a woodland to clean dirt and mud off boots,
tyres, kit and pets - and to make this a habit before every woodland
visit.
Scottish wildcats threatened by feline form of HIV, study finds –
Scottish Wildcat Action The endangered Scottish wildcat could be further threatened by a
deadly virus that is known to cause the cat version of Aids, a study has
found. Experts involved in Scottish Wildcat Action have isolated two cases
of Feline Immunodeficiency Virus (FIV) from cats with a mixed
domestic-wildcat ancestry. One of the cases was detected in an area that has been identified as
a priority zone for wildcat conservation. Although FIV is common in feral cats, these are the first known cases
of the virus affecting hybrid cats in a wildcat priority area. Wildlife experts from the University of Edinburgh’s Royal (Dick)
School of Veterinary Studies and National Museums Scotland made the
discovery after carrying out post mortem examinations on 23 feral and
hybrid cats from around Scotland. A long-haired tabby found dead in a barn in Morvern in the Western
Highlands was one of the animals to test positive for the virus. Morvern
is one of six places identified by Scottish Wildcat Action last year as
a priority area for wildcat conservation. There is currently no vaccine for FIV. The infection is transmitted
mainly when adult male cats fight and experts say neutering is key to
tackling the disease. Professor Anna Meredith, of the Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary
Studies, said: “This recent find confirms that pet owners must be
encouraged to vaccinate and neuter their cats, particularly if they live
in a wildcat priority area. Cats are susceptible to other illnesses,
such as cat flu and feline leukemia virus, and these can be common in
feral cats too. That means the importance of vaccinating and
neutering cats is at an all-time high as we continue to work together to
save our Scottish wildcat.”
School children dig in for science - BTO School children across the country are getting ready to dig up their
school playing fields in the name of science.
As part of a national citizen science project, schools will make
their first digs in October to investigate the animal life living
beneath their school grounds. By examining and reporting what they find,
all of the schools taking part in ‘What’s Under Your Feet?’ will be
helping scientists at the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) to
discover what lives in the soil they sample. The project, a UK-wide collaboration between BTO and EDF Energy, will
map the creatures that are living under our feet for the first time.
Many of these largely unseen invertebrates form an important source of
food for Britain’s birds but little is known about how many there are,
where they are or how their presence changes across the UK. These are
just a few of the gaps in our knowledge that the school children will be
helping to fill, there are many more. More than 900 schools and seven
local authorities have signed up already, promising to make this one of
the biggest school citizen scientist projects ever undertaken. Dr Blaise Martay, Research Ecologist at the BTO and project lead,
said: “Soil invertebrates are such an important part of our ecosystem
and yet we know so little about them. It is really exciting to think
that over the coming months, children all over the country will be
collecting the data needed to map differences in numbers and types of
soil invertebrates. This project will make great strides in increasing
our understanding of soil invertebrates and how bird numbers are
affected by them, something we couldn’t do without the help of citizen
scientists.”
Top trunks do battle
for nations’ votes in Tree of the Year contest - Woodland Trust
Image: Woodland Trust The charity, thanks to support from players of People’s Postcode
Lottery, is now inviting the public to vote for their favourite tree in
England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland before October 12, with
the winning tree in each country going forward to the European Tree of
the Year competition in early 2016. The Trust, with expert help, has whittled down over 200 public
nominations to create shortlists of trees in all four nations of the UK;
10 in England, seven in Wales and six in both Scotland and Northern
Ireland. Beccy Speight, Woodland Trust Chief Executive, said: “This contest
reminds us how trees have been an integral part of this country’s
history and play an important role in our lives today. We still need
better protection for individual trees across the UK and we hope
everyone who votes will also support our campaign to create a register
for all our Trees of National Special Interest.”
Can nature help reduce the impacts of climate change? - European
Environment Agency Building and managing a well-planned network of natural areas might
provide an effective and, in many cases, cheaper solution for coping
with natural disasters such as floods or landslides. A new report
published today (Monday 21 September) by the European Environment Agency
(EEA) explores how ‘green infrastructure’ can help Europe prepare for
and reduce the loss from weather- and climate-related hazards.
Weather- and climate-related hazards, including extreme
precipitation, floods, wet mass movement (e.g. avalanches and
landslides) and storm surges are among the costliest and deadliest
natural hazards in Europe and globally. The EEA’s new report ‘Exploring
nature-based solutions: the role of green infrastructure in mitigating
the impacts of weather- and climate change-related natural hazards’
focuses on certain types of extreme events and hazards in Europe that
are likely to be amplified by ongoing climate change. As mentioned in the Green Infrastructure Strategy, the European
Commission defines green infrastructure as a strategically planned
network of high-quality green spaces. In this study, green
infrastructure is defined by its capacity to provide a relevant number
of ecosystem services. The maps presented in this study provide an
overview of where specific weather- and climate-related natural hazards
are likely to occur, where well-functioning ecosystem services exist
which can support disaster risk reduction and climate adaptation so as
to lessen the impacts of natural hazards (e.g. floods and landslides),
and where the provision of ecosystem services may be improved.
Citizen scientists needed to map 3D scans to solve puzzle of bird bill
evolution – University of Sheffield University of Sheffield team is working to scan the bills of every
living species of bird in the world Information will be used to learn more about why birds’ bills are so
diverse New website launched so citizen scientists can help map images to
create the most comprehensive data set of bird bills ever attempted Citizen scientists from across the globe are needed to help a team of
University of Sheffield researchers map 3D scans of the bills of every
living species of bird in the world.
Dr Gavin Thomas, of the University’s Department of Animal and Plant
Sciences, and his research group have embarked on the task of scanning
the bills of 10,000 species to build the most comprehensive data set of
bird bills ever attempted. So far they have scanned 4,000 species – hoping to reach their 10,000
target in the next 12 months - but to turn the scans into data that can
be analysed, they need to be ‘landmarked’. The team has today (Monday 21 September 2015) launched a website
where citizen scientists can help with that task by looking at the
images and identifying features that are common to each species. The data will help scientists learn more about birds and what bill
evolution can tell us about the origin of species.
Natural Capital Committee’s third state of natural capital report:
government response - defra Our response to the Natural Capital Committee’s third state of
natural capital report, published in January 2015. This response sets out how we will act on the recommendations in the
Natural Capital Committee’s third State of Natural Capital report.
This includes working with others to develop a strategy and 25 year plan
for protecting and improving the benefits we get from our natural
resources. We have also committed to extend the life of the Committee until at
least the end of this Parliament. We will draw on NCC’s advice when
developing policy and particularly in the development and delivery of
the 25 year plan.
Access the full response paper here (PDF)
Reaction:
Natural Capital Committee response welcomed - CPRE Tuesday’s (22/9) Government response to the Natural Capital
Committee’s (NCC) third report sets out its plans to take forward advice
on how to safeguard England’s natural capital. This includes elements of
the natural environment that provide valuable goods and services to
people, such as clean air, clean water, food and recreation. The NCC report recommended that Government should develop a 25-year
plan to meet the Government’s commitment to protect and improve the
environment within a generation. It also set out key investments
in natural capital that would deliver significant value for money and
generate large economic returns, for example, investing in urban
greenspaces benefits millions of people and offers significant potential
for improvements in physical and mental health, and increased woodland
planting. Emma Marrington, Senior Rural Policy Campaigner, said: “We welcome
the Government response to the NCC report and its commitment to develop
a 25-year plan for a ‘healthy natural economy’, which is vital for
future investment in England’s natural capital. We particularly agree
that the plan should help give more people the opportunity to use, enjoy
and engage with the natural environment, as well as focus policies on
delivering better environmental outcomes."
Towards a 25 year plan? Government responds to Natural Capital Committee
recommendations - British Ecological Society
Rural communities back grouse shooting as key to their future
- Scottish Land & Estates Communities in key rural areas of Scotland have voiced strong support
for grouse shooting which they believe makes a major social and economic
contribution to the lives of local people. The importance of grouse shooting and moorland management in
supporting fragile rural communities is highlighted in a new report
published today (23/9)by Scotland’s Rural College and the University of
the Highlands and Islands’ Centre for Mountain Studies at Perth
College. The report examines community perceptions and the socio-economic
impacts of grouse shooting and moorland management in Scotland. The
findings are also supported by the release today of ‘The Untold Story:
Driven Grouse Shooting’ – a feature film made by gamekeepers from the
Angus Glens Moorland Group demonstrating the impact on local
communities. The report focused on two areas of Scotland - the Angus Glens and the
Monadhliaths
Speaking at the launch of the report in Edinburgh today, Fergus
Ewing, Minister for Business, Energy and Tourism, said: “The Scottish
Government is committed to maximising tourism growth and to supporting
field sports. Scotland offers the complete package of sport, a warm
welcome, good food & drink and unrivalled landscapes and shooting makes
a valuable contribution to the rural economy, including in the winter
months. I am very pleased to be able to extend support to all of those
who make a success of field sports in a professional and responsible
fashion. Their efforts bring to Scotland a number of visitors who are
very welcome and make a significant financial contribution to the
sector.” Dr Ros Bryce, from the Centre of Mountain Studies (UHI), said: “The
research broadly demonstrated a high level of support for grouse
shooting with a majority in both areas supportive of the continuation or
expansion of grouse shooting. While awareness of estate management
within local communities was generally good, a proportion of the
community lacked awareness. Our report identified specific opportunities
for enhancing estate-community engagement and awareness-raising around
sporting land management, including estates engaging with local primary
and secondary schools through school visits by gamekeepers and school
visits to estates, establishing estate ‘demonstration days’, increased
estate engagement with local community councils and increased emphasis
on recruitment of beaters and loaders from local communities.” You can read
Grouse Shooting Moorland Management and Local Communities report
here (pdf) SNH Commissioned Report 874:
Assessing the effectiveness of early warning systems for the detection
of marine invasive non-native species in Scottish waters Invasive non-native species (INNS) are considered to be one of the
greatest threats to biodiversity. The eradication of INNS is often
costly, labour-intensive and difficult. Detecting INNS at the earliest
possible stage, when only small populations are present, provides the
best opportunity for a rapid response to their management. The ability
to detect INNS introductions, particularly in the marine environment, is
poorly developed and often relies on chance sightings. This report aims
to directly address this issue by assessing the effectiveness of five
sampling techniques in detecting marine non-native species. Download the publication here (PDF)
Trees for Life project creates conservation opportunities for young
people Trees for Life is running a new project to develop high-quality
conservation volunteering opportunities for young people, thanks to a
grant of £20,000 from the ScottishPower Foundation. Those benefitting from the initiative include students from
Peterborough Open Awards Centre, Aberdeen University, Glasgow University
and Leicestershire’s Brooksby Melton College. “This generous grant from ScottishPower Foundation is excellent news
for the Caledonian Forest and its rare species, and for dozens of young
people who will be able to study and carry out practical hands-on
conservation work – including the establishment of native woodlands and
managing land for wildlife,” said Alan Watson Featherstone, Trees for
Life’s Executive Director, "young people involved will gain
practical skills that will support their career ambitions, as well as
valuable life skills." He added The project will benefit 70 young people aged 18-25 years old during
2015. Through both week-long courses and long-term volunteering
placements, the young people will be able to develop new skills and
strengthen their employability. Activities will include the planting of native trees and plants to expand woodland habitat, collecting and propagating seeds in a specialised tree nursery at Trees for Life’s acclaimed Dundreggan Conservation Estate near Loch Ness, and carrying out biodiversity surveys.
Feeding garden birds shown to affect their evolution
- BTO New research by the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) has revealed
that bird food provided in British gardens has helped Blackcaps to
rapidly evolve a successful new migration route. This is the first time
that garden bird feeding has been shown to affect large-scale bird
distributions.
Blackcaps are migratory warblers that historically only came to
Britain in summer. Over the last 60 years there have been surprising
changes in Blackcap migration behaviour, with birds from central Europe
visiting British gardens in winter, rather than heading to their usual
wintering grounds in southern Spain. The reasons why Britain has
become great for Blackcaps were previously unclear, but now scientists
have been able to uncover some answers, using the extensive data on
garden birds and feeders collected by thousands of volunteer
birdwatchers for the BTO’s weekly Garden BirdWatch survey. The new study, published in the international journal Global Change
Biology, has revealed that Blackcaps are becoming increasingly
associated with garden bird feeding over time, and that supplementary
foods, particularly fats and sunflower hearts, are affecting their
national distribution in winter. The findings also indicate that
changes in the British winter climate have been important in shaping the
evolution of this new migration behaviour. Dr Kate Plummer, BTO Research Ecologist and lead author of the paper,
said: "This is the first scientific evidence that supplementary foods
provided in gardens can influence the evolution of wild birds, so the
findings are extremely important.” She continued, “It’s been suspected for a long time that Blackcaps
started coming to Britain in winter to take advantage of the bird food
being provided in gardens. However, it’s only now that we have
actually found concrete evidence to support this, thanks to the efforts
of citizen scientists.” As the global environment rapidly changes due to human activities, it is becoming increasingly important that we understand if, and how, species are able to respond. These findings indicate that some species, like the Blackcap, may be more resilient to environmental change than we previously assumed. Read the paper: Plummer, K. E., Siriwardena, G. M., Conway, G. J., Risely, K. and Toms, M. P. (2015), Is supplementary feeding in gardens a driver of evolutionary change in a migratory bird species?. Global Change Biology. doi: 10.1111/gcb.13070
Otter returns to upper Rother River - South
Downs National Park Authority The first confirmed evidence of an otter on the upper Rother River in
Hampshire since 2001 has been captured on film as part of work to boost
local wildlife in the South Downs National Park. Otter on camera trap footage (South Downs NPA) A camera trap, set up on the river was put in place to monitor
whether invasive species American mink, which threatens our native
wildlife, was at large in the area. But instead it’s recorded a young
otter visiting the site on two separate occasions since the start of
September. Chris Gurney, Apprentice Ranger for the South Downs National Park,
said: “It’s been fourteen years since the last confirmed sighting
of an otter here – probably because the river hasn’t been healthy enough
to support the fish they eat. There’s been a real community effort to
improve the habitat with local fishing groups, landowners and volunteers
all working together to restore the river and encourage more sympathetic
land management, this hard work is starting to pay off. "
Click through for video footage from the camera trap
Barnacle geese cull – WWT takes action Until recently, a long-running Local Goose Management Scheme on the
Hebridean island of Islay was based largely on management payments and
goose scaring, with a small amount of lethal control for the purposes of
scaring large numbers of birds. This appears to have been effective and
widely accepted. However recent proposals by the Scottish authorities to alter the
scheme and instead cull more than a quarter of the barnacle geese on
Islay have led to a joint complaint by the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust
(WWT) and RSPB Scotland to Brussels.
While the flocks are a great sight for nature tourists, the geese can
cause significant damage to grass crops. This can threaten the
livelihoods of landowners who need to protect their produce in order to
support their families as well as the local economy. Historically WWT and RSPB Scotland have been closely involved in
trying to come up with solutions on Islay, and these appeared to work.
However, there has recently been a move on the part of the Scottish
authorities to look at other ways of dealing with this issue and
instead of working with us to research the effectiveness of bird
scaring, or resourcing farmers to look after this wildlife, in this case
they have drawn up a plan to begin widespread culling in November 2015. Our complaint to the European Commission in Brussels is based on our
opinion that the Scottish authorities have not met all the necessary
conditions, nor have a sufficient evidence base, in order to justify
this large cull of a European protected species.
Saving the small things that manage our water Buglife are launching a strategy for freshwater invertebrates. The
charity has long championed the small things that run the planet but are
now turning the focus on the often forgotten invertebrates that live in
our freshwaters. “Freshwater teems with wildlife and is vital to life on Earth,
including human life. Rivers, streams, ditches, springs, seepages, ponds
and lakes are all extremely important, but with the development of
agriculture, human settlements and industry, they are being lost,
damaged or polluted. There is a great need to preserve what we have,
restore what we have lost and create new freshwater habitats.” Commented
Craig Macadam, Buglife’s Director of Conservation. Over 3,800 invertebrate species in the UK spend at least part of
their lifecycle in freshwater. They play a vital role in maintaining
clean water; they help to break down and filter organic matter and
provide a food source for fish, birds and mammals. Their presence is the
standard indicator of the health of the habitat they live in. The strategy highlights eight principles required to save and sustain
freshwater invertebrates and their habitats: The use of peat in horticulture destroys wildlife, it is a disgrace
and must halt Aquatic invertebrates should be more widely understood, cherished and
properly valued for the services they provide Reducing pollution and improving the cleanliness of water is
essential to healthy aquatic ecosystems Biosecurity, eradication and mitigation measures must be improved
because of the extreme vulnerability of freshwater species and habitats
to damage from invasive non-native species Climate change is an urgent threat to aquatic ecosystems and actions
to make them more resilient must be implemented now Efforts to conserve aquatic habitats have focussed on rivers and
lakes, but most invertebrate biodiversity lives in small, marginal and
dynamic water bodies, these are much more fragile and require improved
protection from damage Freshwater invertebrate populations tell us how healthy our
environment is and they must be properly monitored and understood Some freshwater species are now so vulnerable that specific, targeted
conservation action and legislative changes are required to save them
from extinction
Download the strategy report (PDF) Scientific papers Harrison, P. J. et al. (2015)
Quantifying turnover in biodiversity of British breeding birds.
Journal of Applied Ecology. DOI: 10.1111/1365-2664.12539 Andrews, C. et al. (2015)
Early life adversity increases foraging and information gathering in
European starlings, Sturnus vulgaris. Animal Behaviour.
doi:10.1016/j.anbehav.2015.08.009
De Palma, A., Kuhlmann, M., Roberts, S. P.M., Potts, S. G., Börger,
L., Hudson, L. N., Lysenko, I., Newbold, T., Purvis, A. (2015),
Ecological traits affect the sensitivity of bees to land-use pressures
in European agricultural landscapes. Journal of Applied Ecology.
doi: 10.1111/1365-2664.12524
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CJS is not responsible for content of external sites. Details believed correct but given without prejudice. Disclaimer: the views expressed in these news pages do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of CJS. |
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Image:
BTO
A
tree with links to Joseph of Arimathea, one of Game of Thrones’ most
iconic locations and a tree said to have been visited by William Wallace
are among the contenders shortlisted in the Woodland Trust’s Tree of the
Year contest.
Image
© G.Karadeniz/EEA 
A
3D scan of a robin bill. Copyright: Natural History Museum
Blackcap
by Mark R Taylor
At
least a quarter of Islay’s barnies are due to be shot
