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Headlines from week beginning 5 February 2018 |
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A round up of the top countryside, conservation, wildlife and forestry stories as chosen by the CJS Team.
10,000
new trees to boost roadside wildlife habitat in the South West
– Highways England Highways England is starting a major programme of tree and shrub
planting along the A30 and A38 in a bid to connect a 105 mile corridor
of wildlife habitat. The work is taking place at 21 sites in Devon and Cornwall and
involves the planting of 10,000 native trees and shrubs to fill or
reduce gaps in hedgerow and woodland along the roadside. In total the planting will provide around three extra miles of
vegetation and connect over 105 miles of habitat on the verge and land
adjacent to the A30 and A38. The scheme is being delivered under Highways England’s national
Biodiversity Plan which is being supported by a £30 million national
investment programme over the next five years. The plan recognises road verges and associated land can be managed to
provide areas of habitat, relatively free from human access, that may be
scarce in the surrounding landscape. These road verges can also be used to connect fragmented habitats in
the wider landscape, enabling plant and animal populations to move and
interact, and so become stronger and more resilient. Ecologist Leonardo Gubert said: “Highways England is committed to
protecting the environment through its biodiversity plan and improving
the connectivity of habitats along our roads is one of our top nature
conservation priorities. The main aim of this improvement scheme is to
reconnect wildlife habitat and ecosystems on a significant scale across
our road network in the South West allowing species to move between core
areas. The work is expected to have a huge benefit for a wide variety of
species of animals including insects, birds, and mammals, such as
butterflies, bees, flies and dormice, suitable places to forage, shelter
and breed.”
Marine mammals under threat from micro plastics
– ORCA Marine pollution is continuing to present a serious threat to marine
life, with a new study suggesting that the risk from micro plastics to
whales, some sharks and other marine species is increasing. Some marine mammal species, such as baleen whales and basking sharks,
have evolved to swallow thousands of cubic metres of sea water a day,
and feed by filtering it for plankton and other small organisms.
Microbeads (image: ORCA)
One of the co-authors of the study, Elitza Germanov has told the
Guardian ‘Despite the growing research on micro plastics in the marine
environment, there are only a few studies that examine the effects on
large filter feeders. We are still trying to understand the magnitude of
the issue. It has become clear, though, that micro plastic contamination
has the potential to further reduce the population numbers of these
species, many of which are long-lived and have few offspring throughout
their lives.” Maria Cristina Fossi, who is also a co-author of the study added
that, though filter feeders don’t seem to be killed by microplastic
alone, they could produce “sub-lethal effects” which would still damage
their health.
A good life for all within the planet’s means
- University of Leeds A study led by the University of Leeds has found that no country
currently meets its citizens’ basic needs at a globally sustainable
level of resource use.
Each country’s resource use and well-being achievements have been
made available as a website built
by the academics involved in the study. Image: University of Leeds Lead author, Dr Daniel O’Neill, from the Sustainability
Research Institute at Leeds, said: “Almost everything we do, from
having dinner to surfing the Internet, uses resources in some way, but
the connections between resource use and human well-being are not always
visible to us. We examined international relationships between the
sustainability of resource use and the achievement of social goals, and
found that basic needs, such as nutrition, sanitation, and the
elimination of extreme poverty, could most likely be achieved in all
countries without exceeding global environmental limits. Unfortunately,
the same is not true for other social goals that go beyond basic
subsistence such as secondary education and high life satisfaction.
Meeting these goals could require a level of resource use that is two to
six times the sustainable level.” Co-author, Dr Andrew Fanning, also from the Sustainability Research
Institute, said: “Our results suggest that some of the United Nations
Sustainable Development Goals, such as combating climate change and its
impacts, could be undermined by the pursuit of other goals, particularly
those focused on growth or high levels of human well-being."
New alien species invasions still rising globally
– University College London Up to 16% of all species on Earth could qualify as potential alien
species and if they invade new regions, impacts will be difficult to
predict, according to new research involving UCL.
The study shows that the number of newly emerging alien species –
those never before encountered as aliens – continues to rise, posing a
significant challenge to biosecurity interventions worldwide. Approaches to tackle the growing issue largely rely on knowledge of
species’ invasion history elsewhere, giving new previously unrecorded
alien species a higher chance of slipping through border controls and
eluding early response management. The study, published today in PNAS and led by scientists at
Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre (BiK-F), the
University of Vienna and UCL, analysed a global database of 45,984
records detailing the first invasions of 16,019 established alien
species from 1500 until 2005 to investigate the dynamics of how alien
species spread worldwide. Between the years 2000 and 2005, one quarter of records are of
species that had not previously been found anywhere as an alien, which
is a worryingly high proportion. For plants, mammals, and fishes, the proportion of newly emerging
alien species has remained constant during the last 150 years but the
total number of alien species has increased. Insects, molluscs and other invertebrates have the highest proportion
of emerging alien species. Birds are the only group exempt from the
trend, showing the lowest proportions of emerging alien species, with a
distinct decline noted recently.
Duck faeces shed light on plant seed dispersal
– British Ecological Society
Mallard - Attila Molnár V, University of Debrecen Mallards pick up seeds when feeding on or below the water surface, or
on land within a few metres of water. Many of these seeds are not
digested and survive gut passage intact, and as a result these dabbling
ducks transport and disperse seeds and spores of a broad range of
aquatic and terrestrial plants in a process called ‘endozoochory’. Ducks are usually thought to disperse seeds primarily on the outside
when stuck in the feathers, or in mud on their feet or their bill. To study which plants are dispersed by mallards during their autumn
migration period, researchers from the University of Debrecen (Hungary)
and Estación Biológica de Doñana (Spain) collected over 200 faecal
samples in two protected wetland regions of Hungary, one of which is at
Lake Balaton, central Europe’s largest freshwater lake. They recovered seeds of 21 flowering plants (including 13 terrestrial species), many of which were not previously known to be dispersed by ducks. These new species include the brown galingale (Cyperus fuscus), which is threatened in the UK but common in Hungary. Even more
excitingly, the ecologists also found viable spores of floating
watermoss (Salvinia natans) in 32 samples, providing the first
field demonstration of endozoochory of ferns by birds.
New research expands the potential of environmental DNA techniques in
river monitoring – Centre for Ecology &
Hydrology Environmental DNA survives for less than two days in small
fast-flowing rivers, providing highly localised and current information
on species composition, new experimental research has shown. This is
crucial new evidence as biologists turn increasingly to new DNA sampling
techniques to assess aquatic ecosystem health. Environmental DNA (eDNA) sampling is being adopted more and more by
government agencies and commercial contractors in biodiversity
assessments because it uses far less manpower, needs less expertise and
could reduce costs. The technique involves taking water samples
The research team is now testing these methods in
natural river systems (Daniel Hauck) But questions have remained: how long has the eDNA been in the water?
And from how far up-river might it have come? An international team of
scientists working on the LOFRESH project, led by Bangor University and
including the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, have now provided answers.
Their findings are published in the first issue of a new academic
journal from Nature, Communications Biology. Project coordinator Prof Simon Creer of Bangor University said, “This eDNA technique has been used far more widely over recent years, and has already contributed to conserving species in the UK such as the Great Crested Newt. While the technique can identify creatures ranging from the microscopic to larger fish and mammals, we could not say with certainty how long ago any creature had been present. Was this 'zombie' eDNA persisting from a long-dead creature or was it more recent?"
Walking project at Edinburgh drug rehabilitation centre hailed a success
- Ramblers An innovative new trial scheme has been hailed as a success, after
introducing staff and service users at a Lothian drug treatment testing
centre to the benefits of walking. Organisers of the project are delighted with the popularity of the
scheme. They awarded certificates and book tokens to the most active
staff and service users at a prize-giving event at The Grindlay Court
Centre in Edinburgh on Thursday 1 February. benefits - walking boosts your mood, helps you sleep better and
reduces stress and anxiety.”
Wildlife partnership between charity and university pays dividends
– Cumbria Wildlife Trust A review of a Memorandum of Understanding signed between the
University of Cumbria and Cumbria Wildlife Trust has praised the
partnership and called for a further agreement to be drawn up. The three-year plan began in 2014 and pulled together informal links
established between university staff and the charity. The initial aim
was to provide learning placements for undergraduate conservation and
wildlife media students but this expanded and resulted in postgraduate
students also making use of the Trust’s nature reserves and staff. The report highlights how the professional development of staff has
benefitted from the agreement through ‘mutual working and
cross-fertilisation of theory and practice.’ Cumbria Wildlife Trust pays
tribute to the presence of students who it’s claimed have ‘contributed a
huge amount to a two-way learning process deriving from practical
conservation work.’ “This link has brought significant benefits to students and staff at
the university who have been able to make the most of the wealth of
experience and expertise on our doorstep,” Dr Elspeth Lees, head of the
university’s department of science, natural resources and outdoor
studies, said. “We’re delighted Cumbria Wildlife Trust have welcomed
this association and we look forward to closer working in the future.” This is the latest in a series of initiatives aimed at cementing the
university’s position as a leading centre for outdoor study. In
September 2017 the university’s new Centre for National Parks and
Protected Areas was launched with the aim of providing a research hub
for the UK and international national parks.
Launched Today: The State of Britain’s Hedgehogs
– Hedgehog Street
Photo by Hedgehog Champion Liza Griffiths It shows that hedgehogs in the countryside are in a serious decline.
However, the picture is not so bad for our towns and cities.
Although the species has declined by a third in urban areas since 2000,
the rate of decline is slowing, and where hogs are found, numbers appear
to be growing in some places. This shows why campaigns like
Hedgehog Street are so important, and could actually help bring this
species back from the brink. Access the report here
Rare high-altitude money spider discovered near Loch Ness
– Trees for Life Surveys at Trees for Life’s Dundreggan Conservation Estate in
Glenmoriston near Loch Ness have revealed a rare money spider in a find
described by experts as “spectacular”. The discovery of an adult male of the species Hilaira nubigena at the
native forest restoration site in Inverness-shire is the first record of
the spider west of the Great Glen for more than 25 years.
Rare money spider Hilaira nubigena © Jens-Kjeld
Jensen “This really spectacular find shows that the habitat at Dundreggan is
rather special,” said Edward Milner, who identified the spider, and who
has been studying spiders in Scotland for over 20 years. “Some of the spider species that we find in the montane woodland on
the estate are also found in the Arctic. They are adapted to surviving
the extreme conditions that we can experience here. I last saw this
spider near the summit of Liathach in Wester Ross in June 1986.” The few recent records of Hilaira nubigena in Scotland are all from
south of the Great Glen, with a few records from mountains on the west
coast. It has only been recorded from 14 sites throughout Scotland,
including a recent one above 500m in the Carrifran Valley near Moffat.
Citizen scientists are the future!
– ORCA
Citizen
scientists are the future and even though this is nothing new, recently
it has been catapulted into the public consciousness! For hundreds of
years amateur scientists have collected data and information to help us
understand the environment. In the UK alone, organisations such as the RSPB and The National
Trust have millions of members and thousands of active volunteers that
help us to protect the countryside. From regular weekend beach cleans on
the Isle of Man to recreational divers documenting the levels of marine
litter, volunteers are more important than ever, to help limit damage to
the environment and identify the threats it faces. Recreational divers make a contribution. In Norfolk, whilst
collecting information about marine conservation zones, volunteer divers
have discovered a submerged prehistoric forest and in the Isle of Man
they were the first to find a horse mussel reef.
Hand-reared godwits found safe and sound in Portugal
- Wildfowl & Wetlands Two of the first ever British wading birds to be released into the
wild under a new conservation technique have been spotted alive and well
– 1,200 miles away in Portugal.
After release the birds joined wild flocks and this is the first time
any of them have been outside the UK. Project Godwit chicks shortly after hatching (c) Bob Ellis WWT Dutch ornithologists reported seeing the birds among a flock on the
Tagus Estuary near Lisbon. The team from RSPB and WWT behind “Project Godwit” has welcomed the
news that their protégés have migrated safely. Project Godwit manager Hannah Ward said: Project Godwit is a partnership between RSPB and WWT with major
funding from the EU LIFE Nature Programme, The HSBC 50th Anniversary
Fund, Natural England and the Heritage Lottery Fund through the Back
from the Brink programme. The project aims to secure the future of
black-tailed godwits in the UK.
2017 squirrel survey reveals Scotland’s red squirrels are holding on
strong - Saving
Scotland’s Red Squirrels Saving Scotland’s Red Squirrels has published the
results of its 2017 annual survey, which indicate that overall
Scotland’s red squirrel populations have stabilised, with significant
gains in the North East.
Squirrel at feederbox © Raymond Leinster The 2017 survey results show that red squirrel populations have
remained stable in the past year, a sign that with continued effort from
conservationists and volunteers, their decline can be halted. In Tayside and the Central Lowlands, red squirrels have maintained
their range, indicating that the project, which was awarded a £2.4m
National Lottery grant last year, is successfully protecting Scotland’s
largest red squirrel population north of the Highland Boundary Line. Mary-Anne Collis, Red Squirrel Conservation Officer for Argyll, the
Trossachs and Stirling said: "In the Central Lowlands, red squirrels are
holding their ground and as a result we’ve started to see them in areas
where they haven’t been seen for a long time. This is particularly
noticeable to the south and east of Loch Lomond and the Trossachs
National Park, which is now predominantly a red-only zone. Access the report here
RSPCA campaign success as Wales’ council land becomes ‘no fly zone’ for
sky lanterns - RSPCA RSPCA Cymru is celebrating as the final local authority to ban the
release of deadly sky lanterns on their land approved restrictions on
their use on Wednesday, effectively making Wales a no-fly zone for the
devices on council land. Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council unanimously approved plans to
restrict sky lantern use on land controlled by the local authority in a
vote. The charity has long highlighted the dangers these devices pose to
public safety and to animal welfare. In 2013, the Welsh Government challenged councils across Wales to
implement bans on their land – and RSPCA Cymru supporters have been
contacting their local authority urging them to take action. Twenty-one local authorities in Wales had already taken action – and
Merthyr Tydfil CBC joined the list on Wednesday evening, as a meeting of
full Council unanimously approved “a voluntary ban of the release of sky
lanterns and balloons from Council owned land and property with
immediate effect”. In addition, Merthyr CBC also supported instructing all Councils
tenants of the ban, which also extends to the sale of sky lanterns on
local authority land. RSPCA campaigns assistant Charlie Skinner said: “This has been
long-fought and tireless campaign, and we’re delighted that Merthyr
Council’s action means all 22 local authorities across the country have
acted on the real danger posed by sky lanterns. “Council land in Wales is now a no fly zone for sky lanterns. These
devices can have deadly consequences for pets, farm and wild animals;
and it’s huge step forward for animal welfare that these restrictions
now exist in all corners of our nation. We’re so grateful to all of our
supporters who have campaigned tirelessly on this topic. It’s a great
example of what the RSPCA, our supporters and others can do when working
together for the good of animals. Scientific Publication Matthew Geary, Paul F. Haworth & Alan H. Fielding Hen harrier Circus cyaneus nest sites on the Isle of Mull are associated with habitat mosaics and constrained by topography. Bird Study. doi.org/10.1080/00063657.2017.142161
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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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They
are now ingesting the tiny particles of plastic which are now spread
across the world’s oceans, which stops their ability to absorb nutrients
and may even cause toxic side effects. The authors of this new
study have warned that some species of marine mammals could be at threat
of extinction with the damage caused by micro plastics combined with
other threats such as bycatch and over fishing. 
The research, published in Nature Sustainability, is the first to
quantify the sustainability of national resource use associated with
meeting basic human needs for 151 countries.
Mandarin
duck (credit: Professor Tim Blackburn)
Mallards are among the most abundant and widespread duck species in
the world, yet little attention has been paid to date to their role in
spreading
plant seeds. A new study in the Journal of Ecology reveals a number of
plants that were not previously known to be part of the diet of
waterbirds.
from
aquatic habitats and screening for remnants of DNA (e.g. cells and
secretions) originating from the species present. The hope is that this
rapid approach could be automated to replace more laborious methods of
sample sorting and identification that are currently needed.
Published
jointly by the British Hedgehog Preservation Society (BHPS) and People’s
Trust for Endangered Species (PTES). This report is the only
comprehensive review of the status of Britain’s hedgehogs in the UK.
The rare arachnid has been recorded from damp moorland above 400m and
up to 700m, but little is known about its habits. It may be
characteristic of high-altitude habitats such as ‘montane woodland’ – a
waist-high mini-forest found on mountainsides, which is home to a unique
range of species. Unfortunately this important habitat is overgrazed,
and most of it has already disappeared in Scotland.
The
two black-tailed godwits from Norfolk were among 26 that
conservationists hatched and reared by hand before releasing into the
wild, a process known as ‘headstarting’.
Since
2011, Saving Scotland’s Red Squirrels has been monitoring squirrel
populations in the parts of the country where red squirrels are most
under threat from the spread of non-native grey squirrels. Grey
squirrels, which were introduced to Britain from North America in the
19th Century, out-compete red squirrels for resources, and can also
carry squirrelpox, a virus that doesn't harm them but is deadly to reds.
