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Headlines from week beginning 13 March 2017 |
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A round up of the top countryside, conservation, wildlife and forestry stories as chosen by the CJS Team.
Air pollution is having a devastating impact on plant diversity
- Plantlife
Atmospheric nitrogen deposition is silently ravaging our plant
communities and the precious habitats they underpin, says Plantlife,
Europe's largest charity dedicated to wild flowers and other flora, in
We Need to Talk About Nitrogen, a report launched today. The report, which is backed by the National Trust, the Woodland
Trust, RSPB, the Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland, the British
Bryological Society, the British Lichen Society, Flora Locale, SEI, and
Chester Zoo, spells out how tackling the destructive impact of
atmospheric nitrogen deposition on plants and ecosystems is one of the
greatest challenges faced in nature conservation. Nitrogen deposition takes place when nitrogen emissions from
transport, power stations, farming and industry – mainly emitted as
nitrogen oxides and ammonia - are deposited back into the natural
environment directly from the air or in rain. The report highlights that 90% of all nitrogen-sensitive habitats in
England and Wales – such as heathlands, acid grasslands and sand dunes -
are receiving deposition at higher levels than they can tolerate. Across
the whole of the UK, the figure stands at 63%. As a result, low nitrogen
plants are declining. Over a third (37%) of our flowering plants prefer
low nutrient conditions and are therefore at threat.
Download the We Need to Talk About Nitrogen report (PDF)
The NFU has responded to a new report that claims air pollution is
having a devastating effect on Britain’s wildlife. The report from Plant Link UK, backed by organisations such as
Plantlife, the National Trust and RSPB, found that 90% of heathlands,
acid grasslands and sensitive habitats were suffering due to nitrogen
emissions from fossil fuel and fertilisers. But the NFU has hit back with NFU Vice President Guy Smith saying
that farmers are working hard to reduce nitrogen emissions. Mr Smith said: “Farmers have made some real improvements to our
wildlife, environment and our landscapes, particularly in the past 25-30
years. We see an improving picture, the indications are positive and we
need to continue to build on this.
Splashing the cash: £10.1million to help widen heritage talent pool
– Heritage Lottery Fund National Lottery investment to address critical shortages in heritage
skills. The National Lottery is investing £10.1million in 18 projects across
the UK to help train a new and more diverse generation of heritage
craftspeople, digital specialists and entrepreneurs. A strong focus will be placed on people who may never have considered
a career in heritage. There will be opportunities for ex-servicemen
training as dry stone wallers, young novices working on historic ships,
women training as steam boiler engineers and people from areas of high
unemployment working in museums and visitor attractions. Among the success projects were: Dry Stone Walling Association (UK-wide reach)
– £183,800 Eight people will train over two years as dry stone wallers to
address an ongoing skills shortage. Trainees with no previous experience
will be targeted including ex-servicemen and ex-offenders. Ulster Wildlife Trust, Northern Ireland - £403,700 Ulster Wildlife Trust will train 21 people over a three-year
programme in natural conservation skills, both marine and land based.
Recruitment will prioritise under-24s, those from a minority ethnic
background and people with disabilities. The Trust will work in
partnership with a number of other organisations, including the National
Trust and Butterfly Conservation. While Skills for the Future is not a job creation programme, past
projects have had an impressively high success rate with 75% of trainees
securing a job in heritage following their training.
Scottish nature charity Trees for Life has won £376,800 of highly
sought after funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund’s (HLF) ‘Skills for
the Future’ programme. The funding will enable Trees for Life to train
15 people over a three-year period in wild forest restoration skills. Steve Micklewright, CEO of Trees for Life, said: “There is a shortage
of people who are able to manage estates to bring back natural forests
and wildlife to the Highlands. This funding will help us train people in
these skills, bringing new employment opportunities to local people and
to fill the skills gap.” Trees for Life will recruit five trainees each year for three years,
starting in 2018. Over the course of a year, the trainees will have the
opportunity to learn and develop the essential skills needed to save the
Caledonian Forest – a type of woodland found only in the Highlands of
Scotland. They will receive practical training in specialist tree
propagation, deer management for nature conservation, native forest
management techniques, wildlife monitoring and community engagement.
Trainees will also learn how to interpret landscapes through innovative
sources of information such as Gaelic place names, which often describe
which trees and other wildlife once thrived in an area. The training will be based at Trees for Life’s flagship Dundreggan
Conservation Estate and will be accredited by the University of the
Highlands and Islands.
Now is the time to build a brighter future for our seas
– RSPB on behalf of a coalition of eight
conservation organisations
Conservationists are today calling on the UK and developed
governments to work together as we prepare to leave the European Union
to develop new fisheries law that will allow fish stocks to recover
while putting our traditional fishing industries and coastal communities
on a sustainable footing. As an island nation our coastal communities and connection to the sea
hold a special place in our cultural identity. Our seas are also home to
or visited by an amazing variety of wildlife such as puffins, Minke
whale, lesser sandeel and basking shark. Over the last 10 years progress has been made on reducing overfishing
in the northeast Atlantic and adjacent waters. In this period the number
of assessed stocks being overfished dropped by over a quarter. However,
the latest official information confirms that 47% of assessed stocks are
still being overfished, which doesn’t just impact on the profitability
of our fisheries but also the food supplies and habitats that support
other marine life. As control of waters around the UK are repatriated, conservationists
are calling on the governments to ensure our precious marine life and
important fishing industries both have a long-term future. The principles unveiled by ClientEarth, Greenpeace, Marine
Conservation Society, New Economics Foundation, The Pew Trusts, RSPB,
The Wildlife Trusts and WWF-UK set out how governments can build a
brighter future for our seas. They highlight the need for:
For more information visit
www.wwf.org.uk/green-alliance (pdf download)
Physical activity “may tail off by age seven in boys and girls” Physical activity levels may start tailing off as early as the age of
seven, rather than during adolescence as is widely believed, according
to new research led at the University of Strathclyde. And there is no evidence to indicate that the decline is greater
among girls than boys, the findings show. The long-term study states that the prevailing view among policy
makers and health professionals is that physical activity levels during
childhood are adequate, but fall sharply during adolescence – with the
decline is significantly greater among girls. But the research has discovered there is actually very little firm
evidence to back this up and what research has been carried out in this
area has mostly been done before the impact of new technologies would
have been felt. The study, with Newcastle University, has been published in the
British Journal of Sports Medicine. Professor John Reilly, of Strathclyde’s School of Psychological
Sciences and Health, led the study. He said: “Our study has found that
all the boys and girls we assessed were taking paths which were
inconsistent with the orthodox view that physical activity begins to
decline at adolescence, declines much more rapidly at adolescence or
declines much more rapidly in adolescent girls than boys.
Research endorses National Park tree-planting strategy
– Yorkshire Dales NPA Research has suggested that the trees planted in the Yorkshire Dales
National Park during the past 20 years will help woodland species adapt
to global warming. It says a strategy of planting in upland gills has added to the
potential for wildlife populations to shift their natural range. Much of the Dales may be inaccessible to species which can move only
short distances to colonise other woodland patches, such as the dormouse
and many flowers, ferns and trees. But the research suggests that habitat connectivity will increase by
up to 25% when recently planted woods become mature. It has also identified areas in the Dales where future planting could
be most effective in supporting long-term species range shifts. The research has been carried out by Askham Bryan College ecology
lecturer, Micah Duckworth, working with conservationists at the
Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority (YDNPA) and the National
Trust. It formed part of a University of Leeds Master’s degree. Mr Duckworth said: “The climate is warming and some species may need
to colonise more northerly areas to survive. The question is, how ready
is the Yorkshire Dales to help threatened woodland species? The answer
is encouraging.” The research project digitally mapped native woodland habitats across
the National Park. It used a new modelling tool called Condatis,
developed by scientists at the University of Liverpool.
Flies and bees act like plant cultivators -
University of Zurich Pollinator insects accelerate plant evolution, but a plant changes in
different ways depending on the pollinator. After only nine generations,
the same plant is larger and more fragrant if pollinated by bumblebees
rather than flies, as a study conducted by evolutionary biologists from
the University of Zurich reveals. For their experiment UZH professor Florian Schiestl and doctoral
student Daniel Gervasi used field mustard. The researchers allowed one
plant group to be pollinated solely by bumblebees for nine generations,
another only by hoverflies and a third by hand. Afterwards they analyzed
the plants, “which differed greatly,” as Florian Schiestl explains. The
plants pollinated by bumblebees were larger and had more fragrant
flowers with a greater UV colour component, which bees and their
relatives see. The plants pollinated by hoverflies, on the other hand,
were smaller, their flowers were less fragrant and they self-pollinated
considerably more.
The fact that the plants change so significantly already after nine
generations came as a surprise to the researchers: “The traditional
assumption is that evolution is a slow process,” explains Schiestl. The
evolutionary biologist from UZH draws the following conclusion from his
results: “A change in the composition of pollinator insects in natural
habitats can trigger a rapid evolutionary transformation in plants.”
This is particularly interesting as certain pollinator insects such as
bees have been vastly decimated by the extensive use of pesticides and
the depletion of the landscape in recent decades. According to Schiestl,
it would thus be conceivable for plants to increasingly rely on flies as
pollinators, which would result in the evolution of weaker flower
fragrances and more self-pollination. In the longer term, this would
reduce a plant population’s genetic variability and the plants would
become more susceptible to disease. Access the paper: Daniel Gervasi,
Florian Schiestl.
Real-time divergent evolution in plants driven by pollinators.
Nature Communications. March 14, 2017. DOI: 10.1038/NCOMMS14691
Action on climate change, protecting peatlands
- Scottish Government An £8 million investment will restore peatlands and help reduce
carbon emissions, Climate Change Secretary Roseanna Cunningham has
revealed as she opened the funding for applications. Communities and land managers can apply for the Peatlands Action Fund
which will help the Scottish Government deliver on its proposals to
restore 250,000 hectares of peatlands by 2032. Around 1.7 million
hectares of Scotland is covered in peatlands and keeping them
well-maintained mitigates against climate change by locking in carbon.
If left in a degraded condition they produce greenhouse gas emissions
rather than act as a sink for soaking up carbon. SNH will deliver the fund on behalf of the Scottish Government.
Andrew McBride, SNH Peatland Action Manager said: ‘This is wonderful
news for our peatlands and our wildlife, as well as for tourism and
rural jobs. The extra investment will almost double the amount of
peatlands we can restore, and also get more people aware and involved in
taking care of this valuable natural resource. Peatland Action is one of
our key projects in the delivery of the 2020 Challenge for Scotland’s
Biodiversity Peatland Action has worked closely with a wide range of
land managers and communities."
Apply for the Peatlands Action Fund now. 150 projects restored
10,000 hectares of peatlands since 2013.
Response:
Scottish Government sets peatlands on route to recovery
- IUCN UK Peatland Programme The IUCN UK Peatland Programme has welcomed today’s (15 March 2017)
announcement by the Scottish Government of £8 million funding to support
peatland restoration over the next year. Clifton Bain, IUCN UK Peatland Programme Director, said: “The
announcement of new funding for Peatland Action is fantastic news. The
Scottish Government has provided a master class in providing the
leadership, direction and tools for tackling one of our most urgent
environmental challenges. “We now have a national peatland plan, clear policies and a
commitment to funding. On top of this Peatland Action has shown that we
have the skills and techniques, and more importantly the support of
people to ensure our peatlands are brought into a healthy condition,
helping avoid the costly consequences of leaving them in a degraded
state.”
Heritage Lottery Fund award to help save puffins
- RSPB Scotland An RSPB Scotland project to aid conservation efforts for puffins has
been awarded £49,800 by the Heritage Lottery Fund.
Puffins are one our most recognisable and much loved seabirds with
their colourful bills and eye markings. However, in recent years their
numbers across the UK and Europe have plummeted leading to the species
being declared vulnerable to global extinction, with further declines of
between 50-79 percent estimated by 2065. Warming seas, caused by climate
change, affecting puffins’ food sources are thought to be one of the
main threats to their numbers. Now thanks to this HLF grant an
innovative project to help these threatened seabirds will take place
this year. Project Puffin (UK) combines the latest technology with
citizen science to tackle three of the biggest challenges hampering
conservation efforts for these charismatic birds; discovering more about
what puffins feed their chicks, where they go to find food and how their
numbers are changing. As over 80 percent of the British and Irish population of puffins is
found in Scotland much of the project’s work will focus here. Counts
will take place at a number of puffin colonies, many of which have seen
an alarming reduction in size. The counts are urgently required to
accurately measure the extent of this decline and assess how puffins are
currently faring. GPS trackers will be carefully fitted to puffins at two sites in
Scotland. During the summer these 31 tags will provide information on
where parent puffins go to fish to feed their chick. This will then be
combined to generate maps of their offshore feeding areas during the
tracking, and also detail what conditions they need to feed.
Further information on the diet of puffins will be gathered through the
citizen science aspect of the project taking place while puffins are
feeding their chicks during June and July. Visitors to puffin colonies
across the UK and Ireland are asked to take photographs of the birds
with fish in their bills. The project will provide clear guidelines for
this to ensure puffins, which are very sensitive to human presence
around their burrows, and other wildlife are not disturbed, and so that
the photographs provide the most useful data possible. An online portal
will be set up to submit the photographs to; these will build a picture
of what the chicks are being fed.
Flower-rich habitats increase survival of bumblebee families
- Centre for Hydrology and Ecology New research led by the UK’s Centre for Ecology & Hydrology has
revealed for the first time that flower-rich habitats are key to
enhancing the survival of bumblebee families between years. The results, which come from the largest ever study of its kind on
wild bumblebee populations, will help farmers and policy makers manage
the countryside more effectively to provide for these vital but
declining pollinators. The new study, published in the journal Nature, used DNA technology
and remote sensing to identify, map and track mother, daughter and
sister bumblebees over two years to reveal that access to a range of
pollen and nectar-rich flowers is vital to the survival of their
populations. Lead author Dr Claire Carvell, a Senior Ecologist at the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, said, "By decoding the clues hidden within the DNA of bumblebee queens and workers, and combining these with detailed landscape surveys, our research demonstrates that the survival of bumblebee families between years is positively linked with habitat quality at a landscape scale." The results provide strong support for environmentally-friendly
management of farmland to provide more flowers in hedgerows, meadows and
along the edges of arable fields. They will also help farmers and land
managers decide where best to plant flowers in the landscape.r research
demonstrates that the survival of bumblebee families between years is
positively linked with habitat quality at a landscape scale." Senior author Dr Matthew Heard, a Principal Ecologist at the Centre
for Ecology & Hydrology, said, "While there is an urgent need for more
robust data on the patterns and causes of pollinator population decline,
our study strongly suggests that conservation interventions can have a
lasting, positive impact on wild pollinators in agricultural
landscapes." Access the paper: Claire Carvell,
Andrew F G Bourke, Stephanie Dreier, Stephen N Freeman, Sarah Hulmes,
William C Jordan, John W Redhead, Seirian Sumner, Jinliang Wang &
Matthew S Heard, 'Bumblebee
family lineage survival is enhanced in high quality landscapes',
Nature, DOI: 10.1038/nature21709 Co-author John Redhead wrote a blog about the research for
Nature's Behind the Paper series: Family trees for bumblebees
Osprey Excitement! - Scottish Wildlife Trust
First Lowes osprey of 2017 © Scottish Wildlife Trust It remained on the nest for several minutes allowing us to get a good
look at its features, markings and colours in the beautiful sunlight
before it left the nest for a nearby lochside perch. From here, we were
able to get a great view of the bird from our scopes and it appeared to
be a young male however it seemed to lack the characteristics of our
returning male LM12.
‘Sticking and flicking’ is no better than littering
- Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust Poo bags hanging from branches are a distressingly common blight on
our local countryside, but the recent campaign to abandon bags in favour
of the ‘stick and flick’ approach is not the answer. Dog mess isn’t just
unsightly to look at, it can contain parasites and diseases which if
left on the ground or flicked into vegetation can pose a real threat to
people and wildlife.
Dog fouling is hazardous to the health of children and education
groups trying to learn more about our wonderful natural world, not to
mention the health of Wildlife Trust staff that care for our nature
reserves. It doesn’t take much to imagine how nasty the task of
brush-cutting scrub can get if the undergrowth is full of dog poo! It
also costs valuable charity funds to clear up the mess. More fundamentally, dog mess changes the chemical make-up of our
soils. It adds extra nutrients and upsets the balance, promoting the
growth of unwanted nettles and brambles. You wouldn’t throw artificial
fertilisers over our iconic wildflower meadows - but leaving dog mess is
not so different. Dog faeces can also contain the parasite
Neospora caninum which can cause spontaneous abortion in livestock. This
is a serious risk on many of our nature reserves and farms where grazing
is an essential management tool. The Wildlife Trust’s British White
cattle have been impacted by Neospora, with the infection causing the
loss of valuable calves from our grazing herd. Debbie Tann, CEO at Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust
commented, “We believe it’s irresponsible to give out conflicting
messages to dog owners as this ‘stick and flick’ campaign is doing.
We’ve always been very clear about the importance of responsible dog
walking on our nature reserves and in the wider countryside. We ask
visitors to pick up their dog mess and put it in a bin or take it home
with them. The majority of dog walkers who like to enjoy nature
understand the need to act respectfully when on a wildlife site or in
the countryside.” Arran Red
Admiral arrives early - National Trust for
Scotland The National Trust for Scotland is reporting its first butterfly
sighting of the year, and it is an unusual one - a Red Admiral was
spotted in the gardens at Brodick Castle on Arran a few days ago.
Gardener George Inglis made the discovery on 9 March and managed to
catch a photograph last week while at work at the historic estate which
has been in the care of the charity that conserves and promotes
Scotland’s heritage since 1958. Although Red Admirals are common across the UK, they are not usually
seen so early in spring, usually migrating from Europe and North Africa
once temperatures here start to rise. Brodick senior ranger Kate Sampson said: “It is quite unusual to see
a Red Admiral as our first butterfly of the year. This could suggest
that it over-wintered here, rather than migrating. Let’s hope this
heralds a big year for butterflies at Brodick.” The National Trust for Scotland collects information about wildlife
sightings on its land, which it then feeds into the National
Biodiversity Network, providing comprehensive information on Scotland’s
amazing wildlife.
Launch of essential guide for outdoor access design
- Paths for All
The Guide gives consistent and clear advice on the selection and
design of outdoor access furniture and structures, such as gates, fences
and boardwalks. It is aimed at land managers, access professionals,
rangers, planners, surveyors, and community and interest groups involved
in the development and management of outdoor access in Scotland. The refreshed Outdoor Access Design Guide brings together widely
sourced designs, which are tried, tested, and regularly used throughout
Scotland to manage multiuse outdoor access. The Guide is divided into six design sections. Each section includes:
an overview of content; key design considerations to help you to make
the most appropriate choice; and design sheets with drawings, a
materials list and installation instructions. Download the
Outdoor Access Design Guide (7.69 MB) Read SNH blog about the code.
Helping us get outdoors with good design -
Scotland's Nature
'From hill to grill' venison lesson for north west school pupils
- John Muir Trust John Muir Trust staff in the north west of Scotland support a
pioneering new food education initiative
Along with Highland Council Rangers Andy Summers and Jenny Grant, and
John Venters from the Assynt Foundation, they took a group from Ullapool
High School out onto the hills. The aim was to teach the second year
students how to navigate; track and follow red deer over rough terrain;
and get up close without alerting the animals. They then showed the pupils some of the techniques involved in
butchering carcasses, both out on the hill and in the deer larder at
Glencanisp Lodge, where they enjoyed some barbecued venison. This was
followed by a cooking session in the school, where pupils made venison
meatballs, chilli and cottage pie. The ‘From Hill to Grill’ programme is part of the Outdoor and
Woodland Learning Project, one of the 28 projects that form part of the
Coigach & Assynt Living Landscape Partnership
Scientific publications Walker, R. H. et al (2017)
Bird ringing and nest recording in Britain and Ireland in 2015 –
Ringing & Migration http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03078698.2016.1298316
Ke-Tsung Han,
The Effect of Nature and Physical Activity on Emotions and Attention
while Engaging in Green Exercise, Urban Forestry & Urban Greening,
ISSN 1618-8667, DOI: 10.1016/j.ufug.2017.03.012.
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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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Important
report published by our 
Bumblebee
pollinating field mustard (Picture: UZH)
Puffin
in breeding plumage, (Image: Dr Charles Tyler, RSPB)
We
are all absolutely delighted to see our first osprey touch down at Loch
of the Lowes earlier this afternoon. At a little after 3pm the osprey
managed to land on our nest despite the blustery conditions.
Dog
walker on St Catherine's Hill © Matt Doggett
Red
Admiral at Brodick Castle (image: NTS)
The
new Outdoor Access Design Guide 2017 was launched by Paths for All and
Scottish Natural Heritage today (17 March) at the annual gathering of
Local Access Fora from across Scotland and the National Access Forum at
Battleby.The design guidelines aim to ensure that our outdoor places are
accessible to everyone. Access to quality paths and greenspaces are
vital if Scotland is to become a more active, healthier nation.
Trust
staff Don O’Driscoll and Romany Garnett have been involved in a ground
breaking project – ‘From Hill to Grill’ – to provide young people with a
deeper understanding of the entire process of getting venison onto the
dinner plate, from stalking to cooking.
