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Headlines from this week. |
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A round up of the top countryside, conservation, wildlife and forestry stories as chosen by the CJS Team.
Fresh insight into invasive plant that blights UK rivers
– University of Stirling New research into the behaviour of an invasive plant seen on
riverbanks across the UK could help improve the management of the
problem, experts have found. The University
of Stirling study provides clues as to why the abundance of
Himalayan balsam – which has an adverse impact on native plants and
river habitats – varies dramatically from place to place. The work could help mitigate the impact of the pink-flowered plant,
which outcompetes native species, causes shading and reduces the
stability of riverbanks, enabling silt to enter the water. Dr Zarah Pattison, of the Faculty
of Natural Sciences, led the research, published in Ecosystems. She said: “Our research has found that Himalayan balsam dislikes
overly moist conditions, unlike the native plants – such as nettles,
butterbur and canary grass – which dominate our lowland riverbanks. It
prefers drier, steeper riverbanks where it can compete more effectively
with the native plants. River engineering often involves straightening and over-deepening
rivers and, combined with the abstraction of water, this leads to drier
riverbanks during the summer, benefitting Himalayan balsam growth. This
effect of riverbank drying may also be exacerbated with future climate
change and drought conditions, as seen this summer across the UK. In contrast, the restoration of rivers often results in gently sloped
banks, meaning water is retained and riverbanks are therefore moister,
favouring native species. The authors also found that riverbanks with a large abundance of
native plants are more likely to resist invasion by Himalayan balsam.
Study reveals severe decline of mountain hares
– Centre for Ecology & Hydrology
Mountain
hares turn white in winter Picture: Tom Marshall/RSPB Counts of the mammal on moorland managed for red grouse shooting and
on neighbouring mountain land from the past seven decades were analysed
for the paper by CEH and the RSPB. The study, published in the British Ecological Society’s Journal of
Applied Ecology shows that, from 1954 to 1999, the mountain hare
population on moorland sites fell by nearly five per cent every year.
This long-term moorland decline is likely to be due to land use changes
such as the loss of grouse moors to conifer forests, and is reflective
of wider population declines that mountain hares are facing across their
range. However, from 1999 to 2017, the scale of the moorland declines
increased dramatically to more than 30% every year, leading to counts in
2017 of less than one per cent of levels in 1954. The dominant land use
in these sites was intensive grouse moor management. The unregulated
practice of hare culling as a form of disease control, ostensibly to
benefit red grouse, has become part of the management of many estates
since the 1990s. On higher, alpine sites numbers of mountain hares fluctuated greatly,
but increased overall until 2007, and then declined, although not to the
unprecedented lows seen on moorland sites. Dr Adam Watson, a Fellow of the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, who
has been studying mountain hares in the eastern Highlands for 75 years,
is the lead author of the new paper entitled, Seven
decades of Mountain Hare counts show severe declines where high-yield
recreational game bird hunting is practised. “I find the decline in numbers of these beautiful animals both
compelling and of great concern” - Dr Adam Watson Responses:
GWCT's response to mountain hare study In response to the publication of the Watson and Wilson (2018) paper
on mountain hare populations, David Noble, Chairman (Scotland) of GWCT,
said: “We are delighted that the authors of this paper recognise that
that mountain hares thrive on heather moorland managed for red grouse,
that their numbers can increase quickly in such areas and that the
long-term threat to their population is from landscape scale habitat
change, especially coniferous tree planting.”
Catastrophic declines of mountain hares: what RSPB Scotland believes
should happen next - RSPB Community. James Silvey, Species and Habitats Officer (All Nature) at RSPB
Scotland takes a look what a recent paper on mountain hare numbers means
for the species
SNH response to mountain hares report: Here's our position on recent
mountain hare research
Housebuilder supports bumblebees of Ashbourne
– Bumblebee Conservation Trust
Redrow Homes East Midlands’ Henmore Gardens, which is situated on
Wyaston Road, has joined the plight of the bumblebee by introducing
pollinator-friendly habitats across its grounds. The development is one of Redrow’s pollinator flagship projects,
created with the intention of helping to boost the number of bumblebees,
as well as other wildlife, across the UK.
Image:
Bumblebee Conservation Trust Building awareness with new residents, Redrow Homes East Midlands is
also offering all completions at the development membership to the BBCT.
Each membership includes factsheets, bee-friendly wildflower seeds, a
car window sticker, postcards and a fold-out bumblebee identification
guide. As well as a wildflower meadow area, the housebuilder is working in
partnership with the Trust to ensure the wider planting plans meet the
needs of the bumblebee. This will include plants that are rich in
nectar, as well as those with flowering times which range across the
year to ensure a good supply of nectar from early summer, when the bees
emerge, throughout the year. Residents will be encouraged to create a haven for bumblebees in
their own gardens, introducing flowers rich in pollen and nectar, such
as sedum, lavender, alliums, herbs and wild roses.
Pine marten returning to Kielder Water & Forest Park
- Forestry Commission Camera footage has confirmed pine marten in Kielder Water & Forest
Park for the first time since planting in 1926. This is great news for
the partnership of organisations working together for pine marten
conservation in northern England, including Forestry Commission England,
Northumberland Wildlife Trust, Aberdeen University and Vincent Wildlife
Trust. The cameras are in a remote area of Kielder Water & Forest Park as
part of a red squirrel monitoring project and while many other species
are frequently captured this is the first time pine marten have been
spotted. The images were first seen by John Hartshorne, who manages the
fieldwork and ecology education organisation Albion Outdoors and has
been helping with the squirrel surveys as part of the Red Squirrels
United project for several years now. John says: ”It is very common to see wildlife other than squirrels on
the cameras I use. Badgers, foxes, deer and birds of all sorts are
regular visitors. This July I have caught some excellent pictures of red
squirrels but also an unexpected visitor – a pine marten, sitting on top
of one of the squirrel feeders. This was most unexpected but I now have
both still pictures and a short piece of video firmly placing pine
marten in Kielder Water & Forest Park. Historically, pine martens were
commonplace but habitat clearance and persecution has led to them being
eliminated from nearly all of England". Pine martens are elusive members of the weasel family and their
biggest UK stronghold is in Scotland.
Native crayfish make a comeback in Lincolnshire
- Environment Agency
(image: Environment Agency) A threatened species of crayfish is making a comeback in Lincolnshire
thanks to efforts by the Environment Agency and local conservation
groups. Last July, 600 white-clawed crayfish were moved from locations in the
River Witham – where they’re at risk of being wiped out by invasive
signal crayfish – to new remote locations including a chalk stream in
the Lincolnshire Wolds. Now, surveys show the transfer – the first in the county – has been
successful, and the crayfish have started to breed. Native white-clawed crayfish have been in decline since non-native
American signal crayfish escaped into UK waters in the 1970s. These
larger, invasive crayfish outcompete native species for food and habitat
and carry a disease fatal to the UK species. But working with partners such as the Lincolnshire Chalk Streams
Project (LCSP) and the Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust, the Environment
Agency is seeking to secure their future by relocating them to areas
free of the invaders in a scheme known as the ‘ark project.’ Richard Chadd, senior environmental monitoring officer with the
Environment Agency said: These crayfish are a vital part of our ecology,
so preserving them is yet another example of how we’re protecting our
environment for the future”.
Wasp new to UK found on nature reserve -
Worcestershire Wildlife Trust A wasp that has never been recorded in Britain before has been found
on a new nature reserve in Worcestershire’s Wyre Forest. The parasitoid wasp Diphyus latebricola was discovered by a member of
the Wyre Forest Study Group at the Helen Mackaness nature reserve. The
group had been contracted to survey the site by its owner Worcestershire
Wildlife Trust as a first step in managing the new reserve. Andy Harris, conservation officer responsible for the nature reserve,
explained “This is a fantastic find on one of our newest nature
reserves. It’s only a small grassland that includes wet flushes and dry
meadow with a stand of mature oak trees and an old orchard so to have
found something this rare is a really pleasant surprise.”
Discovering why basking sharks come to Scotland
- Scottish Natural Heritage
Discovering why basking sharks come to Scotland: Basking shark (image: © Alex Mustard via SNH) Basking sharks are the second largest fish in the world, reaching
lengths up to 10m. Despite their size and prevalence in Scotland’s seas,
little is understood about their social behaviours. “A large number of sharks appear each year just off the western coast
of Scotland in the Sea of the Hebrides. However, there’s been limited
research to show exactly what they’re doing here: do they come solely to
feed on plankton, or are they courting each other and using our coast as
a mating ground?” said Dr Suzanne Henderson, Policy and Advice Officer
at SNH. Researchers from SNH and the University of Exeter spent a week off
the coast of Tobermory tagging three basking sharks using towed camera
tags – the camera tags trail slightly behind the attachment point at the
base of the main dorsal fin. It is believed this type of tag has never
before been used on basking sharks. The video footage collected by the
tags will give scientists a new understanding of basking shark group
behaviour.
New generation of pesticides can reduce bumblebee reproduction A study published by researchers from Royal Holloway has concluded
that newly developed pesticides, which could potentially replace
neonicotinoid insecticides, may reduce the reproductive success of
bumblebees. PhD student Harry Siviter, alongside Professor Mark Brown, and Dr
Ellouise Leadbeater, all from the School of Biological Sciences at Royal
Holloway, tested the effects of a sulfoximine-based insecticide – which
is currently licensed for use in 47 countries around the world, and is
under review for licensing in the UK - on bumblebee colonies. In their experiment, exposure to sulfoxaflor, the first branded
sulfoximine based insecticide, reduced both the size of bumblebee
colonies and the number of male offspring they produced, with a 54%
reduction in the total number of sexual offspring produced in exposed
colonies. Their study is pre-emptive, because sulfoxaflor is a new
product and we currently have limited data about the levels to which
bees are likely to be exposed in the pollen and nectar of sprayed crops.
However, such impacts identify that broad use of sulfoxaflor pesticides
could have the potential to harm wild bumblebee populations, under
certain conditions.
University of Hull gives marine life a voice as new study reveals
concerns over marine pollution - University
of Hull A striking protest that gives marine life a voice and helps initiate
positive change to protect the future of our rivers and oceans has been
launched by the University of Hull.
The Don’t Be Shellfish initiative has seen a stretch of the Humber
Estuary, in the shadow of the landmark Humber Bridge in Hull, East
Yorkshire, transformed into an arresting picket line. The University,
which is leading on a series of research projects to address
environmental issues of global importance, has created the protest to
raise awareness of the harmful impact of plastic pollution and the
rising acidity levels on marine life in oceans, and encourage people to
take positive action. A series of slogan carrying placards have been planted in the water
to highlight the challenges facing different types of marine life. The
protest has been made to look like it has been organised by marine life
who have banded together to protest against the conditions in which they
are forced to live and the threat this poses to their livelihoods. As part of the campaign, a new study by the University of Hull and
YouGov has revealed that Brits are concerned about the effect of marine
pollution on both marine and human life.
Rare jumping spider discovered in UK for the first time ever in
Warrington - Cheshire Wildlife Trust An exciting discovery has been made this summer at Cheshire Wildlife
Trust’s Holcroft Moss Nature Reserve, in Warrington. Arachnologist,
Richard Burkmar, discovered a special tiny jumping spider, just half the
size of a matchstick head, during a survey visit to the Cheshire bog in
June. His discovery turned out to be a rare Sibianor larae – a
species never recognised before in the UK. Their next step was a visit to Manchester Museum to see world jumping
spider expert, Dmitri Logunov, Curator of Arthropods at the museum, who
confirmed that it was a Sibianor larae and was the first
recognised sighting in Britain. He had originally described the species
when it was new to science in 2001, naming it after his wife Larisa
Logunov (Lara is an abbreviated form for Larisa). Cheshire Wildlife Trust has carried out lowland raised bog
restoration work at the site and is continuing to improve its condition.
“We were delighted to hear about all the special discoveries that have
been made at our Holcroft Moss Nature Reserve,” said Sarah Bennett, Area
Manager West, part of the conservation team at Cheshire Wildlife Trust.
“The site is particularly special as it has never been exploited and cut
for peat; something which is unusual for most peatland in the UK. A
number of other rare bog spiders were also discovered during the
surveys, including the jumping spider Heliophanus dampfi,
making it the only site in England where this has been recorded. It is
definitely a special site for bog loving wildlife.”
Light aircraft used to target illegal abstraction investigations
- Environment Agency Information gathered from the air is helping the Environment Agency
protect nature and wildlife. The Environment Agency in the East Midlands is the first area in the
country to use digital imaging collected by light aircraft to put a stop
to illegal abstractions from rivers and streams. The information
obtained from the operation is now helping the Environment Agency to
effectively target high invasion areas and carry out targeted
abstraction patrols to catch illegal abstractors and put a stop to
illegal abstraction that can cause harm to the environment and wildlife.
The Environment Agency manages abstraction to balance the needs of the
environment with the rights of existing lawful water users during
periods of dry weather.
93 abstraction licences in the East Midlands have had restrictions
placed on them in the last few weeks to reduce abstractions and 16
licence holders have been told to cease abstracting completely. To
ensure abstractors are complying with the new restrictions, Environment
Officers will be carrying out high visibility patrols throughout the
East Midlands to check that abstractors keep within the conditions of
their licence and do not cause harm to the environment.
RSPCA issue warning to ‘well-meaning’ public about returning beached
dolphins to sea - RSPCA The RSPCA has issued a warning about how to respond to finding unwell
or beached cetaceans, after two dolphins were inappropriately returned
to the sea by members of the public in West Wales in recent weeks. Officers say “well-meaning” beach-walkers have sought to help beached
dolphins by moving them back into the water, but that this is the “wrong
thing to do for the animals, and their welfare”. Last Sunday (5 August), a dead striped dolphin was found on Coppet
Hall beach in the Saundersfoot area. The RSPCA had previously
responded to calls in the local area about the troubled striped dolphin
– who had been beaching on a member of the public’s property.
Unfortunately, in seeking to help the dolphin, members of the public
refloated the unwell, thin and emaciated dolphin. An RSPCA officer
inspected photos of the dolphin and could “clearly see” that the dolphin
was suffering and should not have been returned to the wild in this way. In a separate incident, the RSPCA was alerted after a washed-up,
skinny dolphin was found on a Newgale beach last Tuesday (7 August). The
animal welfare charity arrived to find a dolphin in poor bodily
condition, which had recently died. Unfortunately, well-meaning members
of the public had tried on several occasions to return the dolphin to
the water. RSPCA Cymru say dolphins tend to beach for a reason – often because
they have major welfare complications, or even because they are dying. A
summer plea has been issued urging anyone who finds a beached cetaceans
to contact the RSPCA immediately, and not seek to refloat the animal.
Ellie West, RSPCA animal collection officer (ACO), said: “In many ways,
it is a source of great pride that people across West Wales love wild
animals and want to help. But returning a beached cetacean to the
sea can be hugely counter-productive. People are obviously well-meaning
in doing this – but usually it is the wrong thing to do for the animals,
and their welfare." ACO West added: “If anyone sees a beached cetacean, they should ring
the RSPCA’s emergency line on 0300 1234 999, and provide as much
information as possible about the location of the animal, and their
condition. We can then do whatever we can to help – or at least
alleviate the animal’s suffering as quickly as possible.
Plans to cut harmful pollution from domestic burning set out
- defra Ways to promote cleaner domestic burning and cut harmful pollution by
stopping the sale of the most polluting fuels are set out in a
consultation issued today (17/8/18). Proposals to promote cleaner domestic burning and cut harmful
pollution by prohibiting the sale of the most polluting fuels have been
laid out in a government consultation published today. The burning of
wood and coal in the home is the largest single contributor to
particulate matter pollution - identified by the World Health
Organization as the most damaging air pollutant. Domestic burning
contributes 38% of particulate matter pollution, compared with 16% from
industrial combustion and only 12% from road transport. The government therefore plans to ensure that, in future, only the
cleanest fuels are available for sale. Delivering a commitment in the
government’s
Clean Air Strategy, the consultation proposes preventing 8,000
tonnes of harmful particulate matter from entering the atmosphere each
year by:
The government’s Clean Air Strategy - welcomed by the World Health
Organization who said it was “appreciating actions taken by the United
Kingdom government to protect its citizens from this silent killer” -
also set out proposals to tackle air pollution from a range of other
sources including:
This is in addition to our £3.5 billion plan to reduce nitrogen oxide
emissions from road transport.
Air quality: using cleaner fuels for domestic burning -
defra Open consultation The consultation closes on 12 October. Take part in the consultation here. By coincidence also published today: Impact aerosols have on the climate varies greatly depending on where
they were released Read the paper: Geeta G. Persad et al,
Divergent
global-scale temperature effects from identical aerosols emitted in
different regions, Nature Communications (2018). DOI:
10.1038/s41467-018-05838-6 Scientific Publications Stefanie L. Becker, Gregor von der Wall,
Tracing regime influence on urban community gardening: how resource
dependence causes barriers to garden longer term sustainability,
Urban Forestry & Urban Greening, 2018, ISSN 1618-8667, DOI:
10.1016/j.ufug.2018.08.003.
Barré, K., Le Viol, I., Bas, Y., Julliard, R. & Kerbiriou, C. (2018)
Estimating habitat loss due to wind turbine avoidance by bats:
Implications for European siting guidance. Biological Conservation
Chavez VA, Gilligan CA, van den Bosch F. Variability
in commercial demand for tree saplings affects the probability of
introducing exotic forest diseases. J Appl
Ecol. doi.org/10.1111/1365-2664.13242
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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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Mountain hare numbers on moorlands in parts of the eastern Highlands
in Scotland have declined to less than one per cent of their levels in
the 1950s, according to a long-term scientific study led by the Centre
for Ecology & Hydrology.
An East Midlands housebuilder has partnered with the Bumblebee
Conservation Trust (BBCT) to support the conservation of bumblebees in
Ashbourne.
The
first transfer in the county of white-clawed crayfish has been hailed a
success as the protected species is now breeding in its new location.
Scientists
seeking to discover whether Scotland’s seas are a mating ground for
basking sharks have gathered new footage showing the sharks being
sociable, including a first look at groups forming on the seabed. These
data have been gathered by Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) and the
University of Exeter as part of a new camera tagging project which
launched earlier this month.
Aerial
image of an irrigation boom, used by farmers to water their crops.
(image: Environment Agency)
