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Headlines from week beginning 14 August 2017 |
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A round up of the top countryside, conservation, wildlife and forestry stories as chosen by the CJS Team.
Rural crime costs up 20% despite 'fortress farms'
- NFU The cost of rural theft has risen sharply in the first half of 2017,
despite some businesses ‘turning their farmyards into fortresses’. New figures from NFU Mutual show a 20% increase, prompting fears of a
new wave of targeted crime in the countryside. The insurer’s Rural Crime
Report tracked a 4% decrease in costs nationally during 2016, with
successful joint initiatives involving several police forces and
improved on-farm security playing important roles. But the Ł39.2 million
claims total for 2016 will be outstripped by a substantial margin if the
trend for January to June 2017 continues. Being ‘staked out’ is the biggest worry for country people, followed
closely by longer police response times in rural areas, according to the
leading rural insurer. Criminals continue to target Land Rovers, quad
bikes, tractors, tools and livestock. “While the fall in rural theft in 2016 is welcome news, the sharp
rise in the first half of 2017 is deeply worrying,” said Tim Price, NFU
Mutual rural affairs specialist. “Countryside criminals are becoming
more brazen and farmers are now having to continually increase security
and adopt new ways of protecting their equipment. In some parts of
the country, farmers are having to turn their farmyards into fortresses
to protect themselves from repeated thieves who are targeting quads,
tractors and power tools. They are using tracking devices on tractors,
video and infra-red surveillance in their farmyards and even DNA markers
to protect sheep from rustlers. The threat of becoming a victim of rural
crime, and regular reports of suspicious characters watching farms is
causing high levels of anxiety amongst farmers who know their rural
location makes them vulnerable to attacks.” Download the
Rural Crime Report
(PDF)
‘Ratty’ has returned to Meon valley - South
Downs National Park Water voles, which were once extinct in the Meon Valley in Hampshire,
are now thriving again on the river and its tributaries following a
five-year project to reintroduce the animal which inspired the character
Ratty in Wind in the Willows.
The first water voles were released at Titchfield Haven, managed by
Hampshire County Council, in 2013 as part of an ambitious project to
reintroduce them to the river. Five years and 2,548 water voles later
there are clear signs that the animals are thriving on early release
sites and breeding on all eleven release sites as well as five
additional self-colonised sites. The final water voles will be
released this August at new sites at Frogmore, East Meon and Riplington,
with additional animals also released at a self-populated colony at
Meonstoke. Once a common sight in the Meon Valley, water voles are thought to
have become locally-extinct by 2008. The plan to bring them back, all
the way from the mouth of the river on the south coast to the its
source, has been the largest-scale water vole release ever attempted in
the country. Adam Cave, a Biodiversity Technical Specialist at the Environment
Agency, said: “This has been a fantastic project to work on. We have
been delighted to provide funding and share conservation knowledge for
this iconic wetland species. It is great when people tell me that they
have seen a water vole on the Meon, or heard the classic “plop” of one
entering the water. This has been a real team effort and I’m grateful
for the dedication and commitment of all the other partners.”
Giving something back earns prestigious award for Lakes volunteer
- Lake District National Park After nearly four decades in aerospace and defence industry
management roles Barry Capp turned his attention to help sort out
deteriorating Lake District fell paths.
Lake District lengthsman hero Barry Capp. (image:
LDNPA) While the Ulverston champion says it is very much a team effort, Fix
the Fells ranger, Richard Fox, described Barry’s contributions as
exceptional. He said: “In giving Barry the Bryan Stilling Award
for significant and outstanding services to the Lake District National
Park, we have also recognised his excellent leadership skills,
pin-sharp, organised mind and amazing computer skills. He has constantly
looked at ways to improve the programme and was instrumental in forming
the Fix the Fells management group. It’s fitting Barry has been given
this award during the lengthsman scheme’s 10th anniversary. Barry decided to join up after hearing a radio piece saying
volunteers were needed to help with fell path maintenance. He
explained: “I’d taken early retirement and in retrospect some of my
background experience has helped in supporting the development of Fix
the Fells systems. For me, it was giving something back. The
award is an honour and privilege. However, the biggest achievement for
me is what we have collectively done. It’s a total team effort, with a
great sense of camaraderie.”
And the bad news for bees just keeps coming…
Bumblebees risking extinction from neonicotinoid pesticides
– Royal Holloway University of London Bumblebees are less able to start colonies when exposed to a common
neonicotinoid pesticide, which could lead to collapses in wild bee
populations, according to new
research published today (Monday 14 Aug) in Nature Ecology &
Evolution.
A bee forages on Royal Holloway's campus (credit, Dr Emily
Bailes) Building on field studies, the researchers used mathematical models
of bumblebee populations which showed that thiamethoxam exposure
significantly increases the likelihood that wild bee populations could
become extinct. “Queens exposed to the pesticide were 26% less likely to lay eggs to
start a colony,” said Dr
Gemma Baron, from the School
of Biological Sciences at Royal Holloway. “Creating new bee colonies
is vital for the survival of bumblebees – if queens don’t produce eggs
or start new colonies it is possible that bumblebees could die out
completely.”
New survey: Hedgehog Housing census launches today!
– Hedgehog Street Today (Tuesday 15 Aug), the first ever national Hedgehog
Housing Census has been launched by Hedgehog Street, a nationwide
Image: Steve Kidgell Between now and the 31st October 2017, the Hedgehog
Housing Census will dig a little deeper into the world of hedgehogs,
and aims to answer several questions about how they live and in
particular, hedgehog houses, which, until now, have not been previously
studied, despite thousands of people having one in their garden. The
information will be gathered via an online survey, and the data then
analysed by scientists at the University of Reading. It is hoped the
results will help the Hedgehog Street team find out what the best type
of hedgehog house is and how they can be used to support the
conservation of these animals, and enable wildlife enthusiasts across
the UK to further help their spikey garden residents.
Gardens and Health Week – National Gardens
Scheme August 12th – 20th marks our first ever Gardens & Health Week,
dedicated to promoting the positive impact gardens have on people’s
health and wellbeing. Image: National Gardens Scheme All of the gardens taking part will open free of charge for a visit
by a small group of people organised by local and national charities.
This important new venture follows on from the publication by The King’s
Fund in May 2016 of the ground-breaking report, Gardens and Health:
Implications for Policy and Practice, commissioned by the National
Garden Scheme. The new initiative run by the National Garden Scheme has been created
in partnership with its beneficiary charities. In 2016 the National
Garden Scheme donated Ł3 million to its beneficiaries, all of which are
nursing charities. They include Marie Curie, Hospice UK, Queen’s Nursing
Institute, Parkinson’s UK and Carers Trust. Each of these charities have
invited groups to take part in Gardens and Health Week, other visiting
groups have been organised locally or by a variety of other nursing and
healthcare charities such as Maggie’s and the Alzheimer’s Society.
Frogs that adapt to pesticides are more vulnerable to parasites
- Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Wood frogs that develop pesticide tolerance become more susceptible
to dangerous virus Amphibians can evolve increased tolerance to pesticides, but the
adaptation can make them more susceptible to parasites, according to a
team that includes researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. The
research, led by Binghamton University, showed that wood frogs that
evolved increased tolerance to pesticides showed greater susceptibility
to a dangerous virus, although they also demonstrated reduced
susceptibility to a parasitic worm. “We have only recently begun to understand that amphibians can
rapidly evolve tolerance to chemicals like pesticides, which on the
surface is good news,” said Rick Relyea, a professor of biological
sciences and director of the Darrin Fresh Water Institute at Rensselaer.
“But now comes the bad news: with that tolerance there is a tradeoff,
which is that they become more susceptible to parasites that, in the
case of ranavirus, can wipe out entire amphibian populations.” The results showed that amphibian susceptibility to parasites was
related to their proximity to agriculture and their evolutionary
responses to pesticide. For the trematode, wood frogs living closer to
agriculture with high baseline tolerance had lower trematode loads than
populations living far from agriculture with inducible pesticide
tolerance. In contrast for ranavirus, a highly virulent pathogen capable
of decimating amphibian populations, populations living close to
agriculture with high baseline tolerance had higher viral loads than
populations far from agriculture with inducible tolerance. Access the paper: Hua J, Wuerthner VP,
Jones DK, et al.
Evolved pesticide tolerance influences susceptibility to parasites in
amphibians. Evol Appl. 2017;00:1–11. doi: 10.1111/eva.12500
Dragonfly Challenge - the Results are in!
- British Dragonfly Society The results of The Dragonfly Challenge have arrived. Participants
from Scotland in the north to Devon in the south all got involved, with
a total of 25 dragonfly and damselfly species seen across the country. Top spot goes to Common Blue Damselfly which was found in 48% of the
sites surveyed. Close on its heels was Common Darter seen at 43% of
sites. Emperors scored well, as did both Azure and Blue-tailed
Damselflies, with Emerald Damselflies at 30% of all locations not far
behind. With the Dragonfly Challenge taking place during Dragonfly Week (15th
to 23rd July), Large Red Damselflies were still flying at 20% of all
sites. Broad-bodied Chaser, another essentially spring species, was
observed at almost as many places. The timing was a little too early,
though, for Migrant Hawkers and Willow Emerald Damselflies, with the
latter only seen at one site and the former at three. It was still
mid-season for Brown and Southern Hawkers however, with plenty of each
seen at a quarter of all locations. Click here
to see more surveys in need to participants and records.
University of Stirling team discovers new plant in Shetland
- University of Stirling Scientists at the University of Stirling have discovered a new type
of plant growing in Shetland – with its evolution only having occurred
in the last 200 years.
The new plant is a descendant of a non-native species, the yellow
monkeyflower (Mimulus guttatus), which colonised the United Kingdom in
Victorian times. It has evolved through the doubling of the number of
chromosomes, known as genome duplication or polyploidy. The plant,
referred to as ‘Shetland’s monkeyflower’, produces yellow flowers with
small red spots. It is larger than the typical monkeyflower and its
flowers are more open. Researchers say the finding is significant as it shows that a major
evolutionary step can occur in non-native species over a short period of
time, rather than over thousands of years. Associate Professor Dr Mario
Vallejo-Marin said: “Evolution is often thought to be a slow process
taking thousands or millions of years. Yet we show that a major
evolutionary step can occur in a couple hundred years.”
Hard work pays off at the last Welsh home of a rare orchid
- Natural Resources Wales
The uncommon plant thrives in young, wet dunes and used to be found
at eight sites across South Wales. Today, if you want to see the
Fen Orchid in Wales the only place you can do so is Kenfig SAC, which is
also a National Nature Reserve. The plant’s population at Kenfig
was at risk having dropped from as high as 21,000 recorded plants in the
early 90’s to as few as 10s of plants in recent years. Luckily,
there has been a large amount of work done to restore the habitat which
was being lost because of natural changes.
Emma Brown, senior conservation officer for NRW, said: “It’s vital we don’t lose the things that make Wales’ environment so special and managing our sites to protect struggling species is a part of that work. The work being done at Kenfig SAC has been a real success, having recorded 1012 Fen Orchids across the site. This is not only amazing news for this rare orchid but also for all the invertebrates and other plant species it benefits.”
Finally for Wednesday one close to home:
Proposed draft restoration plan for the Cinder Track
- Sustrans Using a grant from the Coastal Revival Fund, we have developed a
draft plan for a sympathetic restoration of the old railway line between
Scarborough and Whitby for consideration by Scarborough Borough
Council. The draft ‘Restoration Plan’ for the popular 21 mile long shared-use
route, known as the Cinder Track, recognises that the pathway needs
substantial investment and proactive management to protect it for future
use by all those that use it. The route is used for recreation, tourism
and daily transport by lots of people including walkers, horse riders,
cyclists, runners and dog owners. Broad principles for improving the track in relation to drainage,
path construction, vegetation, vehicle use and improved multi-user
access are set out in the plan, along with 41 section-by-section maps
depicting proposals and suggestions. An initial assessment of
ecological issues has been made, but the plan acknowledges that more
information needs to be gathered and further work undertaken to ensure
that the Cinder Track thrives as a wildlife corridor and ancient
woodland is protected.
Click through to see the proposals in full. CJS Ed: as a very small person my family and I
often walked the old railway line and in autumn collected tonnes (well
it seemed that much!) of brambles to make pots of gloriously glowing
purple bramble and apple jelly. It looks a little different now! Image: Sian, our Irish wolfhound, on the Cinder
Track in 1982, ©CJS
Butterfly Conservation report reveals some butterflies are thriving at
National Trust sites - Butterfly Conservation A Butterfly Conservation report has revealed that some of the UK's
most threatened butterflies are thriving at National Trust sites.
Marsh Frit (image: Butterfly Conservation) The findings follow decades of work by National Trust advisers and
rangers to protect the specialist habitats demanded by struggling
butterfly species like the Duke of Burgundy and Pearl-bordered
Fritillary. Butterfly Conservation researchers used results from the UK Butterfly
Monitoring Scheme (UKBMS) to compare butterfly numbers at National Trust
sites to those under other ownerships. They found that ‘habitat specialist’ butterflies such as the chalk
grassland-loving Adonis Blue have increased in abundance by 13% on
National Trust land since 1992. Overall, scarcer butterflies have
declined by 25% in the UK countryside in the last 25 years. Professor Tom Brereton, Head of Monitoring at Butterfly Conservation,
said: “The results are highly encouraging and demonstrate that with
targeted and tailored habitat management we can turn around the fortunes
of many threatened butterfly species.” Matthew Oates, National Trust butterfly specialist, said: “Many of
Britain’s scarcest butterflies are doing relatively well at our places,
with rangers and tenant farmers working together to protect important
habitats." The report revealed that the Marsh Fritillary has seen its
numbers grow by 5% year-on-year at National Trust sites over the last 25
years. The Trust will work closely with Butterfly Conservation to better
manage butterfly sites and to monitor progress on these ambitions.
Norfolk chalkstream still under threat from pollution
- Salmon & Trout Conservation UK Fisheries charity, Salmon & Trout Conservation UK (S&TC) has just
completed the second year of its unique three-year national Riverfly
Census. The census aims to assess the health of our English and Welsh
rivers through monitoring the invertebrate communities that live below
the surface.
Blue-winged Olive Female Dun copyright Stuart
Crofts According to S&TC the threat to our rivers has moved from industrial
pollution to a range of more subtle but equally damaging impacts from
excess phosphates and fine sediments. These enter our watercourses from
sources such as agricultural and road run-off, poorly treated sewage,
septic tanks, new developments and in certain areas discharges from
watercress and fish farms. Five sites were surveyed on the Wensum: Doughton Bridge, Fakenham
Common, Pensthorpe Park, Sennowe Bridge and Bintree Mill. Mayfly species
richness is under the level that would be expected for the middle
reaches of a healthy chalkstream at all sites. In spring and autumn,
sediment was at or above the level considered to have a detrimental
impact on the invertebrate community for all five sites. Phosphorus
levels were also at or above the level of concern at four sites in
spring and two in autumn. Taken together, the spring and autumn results
in 2016 show the Wensum’s water quality is under severe pressure from
sedimentation and phosphate.
In search of Edwards’ Pheasant - Newcastle
University Genuinely extinct or just not worth looking for? Scientists set out
to discover just how endangered certain species are. Scientists are heading off in search of a rare species of bird which
has not been seen for 17 years. The research team, led by Newcastle University, are to search for
Edwards’s Pheasant, a bird that was listed as Critically Endangered on
the IUCN Red List in 2012. First recorded in 1895, Edwards’ Pheasant is endemic to central
Vietnam but excessive hunting and loss of habitat means it is now on the
brink of extinction. Or at least that is what scientists assume. Now a team of
experts from the universities of Newcastle and Bangkok have compiled
data of all known sightings and recordings of this rare species of
Galliform and have identified two locations where it may still exist in
the wild. Publishing their findings today in the
academic journal Oryx, the team are now using this information to aid in
the search for Edwards’ Pheasant to find out if it really is as
endangered as scientists believe or if we just haven’t been looking for
it in the right places. “For well-known, easily-detectable species like the Bornean Orangutan
or the Giant Otter we have good data which provides a sound basis for
conservation,” explains lead author Dr Matthew Grainger, from Newcastle
University. “But some species that are believed to have the highest
probability of extinction are also amongst the most poorly known." Access the paper: Grainger, M.,
Ngoprasert, D., McGowan, P., & Savini, T. (2017).
Informing decisions on an extremely data poor species facing imminent
extinction. Oryx, 1-7. doi:10.1017/S0030605317000813
New tale trail for South Walney Nature Reserve
- Cumbria Wildlife Trust Darwin, the little eider chick is a bit scared. Newly hatched on the
shingle beach at South Walney Nature Reserve, his brothers and sisters
rush off to explore, but he’d rather stay in the safety of the nest. He
doesn’t know what to make of the bigger animals surrounding him: “They
make strange noises and some of them look frightening too, especially
the black dinosaur bird on The Great Ocean.”
Darwin is the diminutive hero of The Eiderling, an engaging new
family story trail all about South Walney Nature Reserve. The
easy-to-follow interactive trail is 5km long (including a short cut if
little legs are getting tired!) It is available free of charge to all
visitors at South Walney Nature Reserve. Children visiting South
Walney can now borrow a new Wildlife Watcher backpack too. Amy and Iain Douglas from Newby Bridge visited South Walney Nature
Reserve recently with their daughters Daisy, aged two and Pearl, five.
The tale trail and Wildlife Watcher backpacks were a great hit with both
youngsters, as Amy said: “Having the spotter sheet gave us the
opportunity to put names to things we have seen before and also look out
for things we haven't. The girls loved the tale trail and I really do
think it’s great for keeping small ones entertained." Scientific Publications Welch, J. N. and Leppanen, C. (2017),
The threat of invasive species to bats: a review. Mam Rev.
doi:10.1111/mam.12099 Eren Turak, et al Using
the essential biodiversity variables framework to measure biodiversity
change at national scale, Biological Conservation, Volume 213, 2017,
Pages 264-271, ISSN 0006-3207, doi: 10.1016/j.biocon.2016.08.019.
Sparling C, Lonergan M, McConnell B.
Harbour seals (Phoca vitulina) around an operational tidal
turbine in Strangford Narrows: no barrier effect but small changes in
transit behaviour. Aquatic Conserv: Mar Freshw Ecosyst. 2017;1–11.
doi: 10.1002/aqc.2790 Noel D. Preece, et al
A guide for ecologists: Detecting the role of disease in faunal declines
and managing population recovery, Biological Conservation, Volume
214, October 2017, Pages 136-146, ISSN 0006-3207, doi:
10.1016/j.biocon.2017.08.014.
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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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Water
vole about to be placed in release pen (image: South Downs National
Park)
That
was nine years ago. Since then he has completed at least one mission a
week, notching up over 2,000km of work over 1,000 days, earning himself
a prestigious volunteer award from the Lake District National Park. 
Researchers
from Royal Holloway,
University of London, and the University of Guelph have found that
exposure to thiamethoxam, a common pesticide, reduced the chances of a
bumblebee queen starting a new colony by more than a quarter. 
campaign
set up by wildlife charities the British Hedgehog Preservation Society
(BHPS) and People’s Trust for Endangered Species (PTES), to help combat
the ongoing decline in native hedgehog population numbers. This
survey is in partnership with the University of Reading and Warwickshire
Wildlife Trust.
Shetland
Monkeyflower (photo: University of Stirling)
The
rare Fen Orchid is starting to strengthen its presence at Kenfig Special
Area of Conservation (SAC) after years of partnership work between
Bridgend County Borough Council, Plantlife and Natural Resources Wales.
Information
about the economic and wider benefits of restoring the Cinder Track is
also included in the plan. There is also a summary of a cost benefit
analysis showing that the proposed works would deliver ‘very high’ value
for money, especially in terms of health, journey quality and local
economy benefits. A separately commissioned study for the Whitby
end of the Cinder Track has been completed and incorporated into the
plan.
The
study revealed that species like the Marsh Fritillary are bucking
nationwide declines, with some habitat specialists seeing their numbers
grow at National Trust sites since 1992.
This
important research has revealed that nationally no significant
improvement in the condition of our rivers and chalkstreams has occurred
on the 12 rivers included in the study over the past two years. The
results from the River Wensum indicate that pollution is a significant
concern for this precious chalkstream.
Pearl
Douglas (aged five) inside the hide with the new Eiderling Tale (image:
Cumbria Wildlife Trust)
