|
|
|
||||||
|
Headlines from week beginning 10 July 2017. |
|
A round up of the top countryside, conservation, wildlife and forestry stories as chosen by the CJS Team.
Sweet chestnut blight found in South East London
– Forestry Commission Sweet chestnut blight, a disease that affects sweet chestnut trees,
has been found in South East London, the UK Government’s Chief Plant
Health Officer has confirmed. Action is being taken to identify and control the disease in line
with the Government’s plant disease contingency plans. The Animal and
Plant Health Agency (APHA) and Forestry Commission are carrying out
extensive surveillance of sweet chestnut trees in the area, working
closely with local stakeholders. Further action will be taken on the
basis of surveillance information and the best available scientific
evidence. The disease, caused by the fungus Cryphonectria parasitica, causes foliage to wilt and die and cankers to develop on the tree surface, which may eventually kill the tree. Chestnut blight does not pose any risk to people, pets or livestock, and is only known to seriously affect sweet chestnut (Castanea) species.
Euphoria as Lake District becomes a World Heritage Site
– Lake District National Park Authority The Lake District has become a World Heritage Site joining iconic
locations such as the Taj Mahal, the Great Barrier Reef and Grand Canyon
as a place of international acclaim.
Chairman of the Partnership, Lord Clark of Windermere, described the
prestigious status as momentous and will bring great benefits for
locals, visitors, tourism, businesses and farming. It now joins just
over 1,000 World Heritage Sites worldwide. View of Ullswater from Gowbarrow Park (Lake
District National Park/Andrew Locking) Three key themes underpinned the bid for World Heritage Site status,
recognising the Lake District National Park as a cultural landscape of
international significance. These include world ranking examples of
identity - the dramatic farmed landscape; inspiration - art, literature
and love of the place. This in turn sparked the birth of conservation -
people fought and invested to look after this special corner of England. Lord Clark explained: “It is this exceptional blend which makes our
Lake District so spectacularly unique and we are delighted UNESCO has
agreed. A great many people have come together to make this happen and
we believe the decision will have long and lasting benefits for the
spectacular Lake District landscape, the 18million visitors we welcome
every year and for the people who call the National Park their home.”
Ordnance Survey releases open dataset and free map of Britain’s
Greenspaces A Government initiative to make it easier for people to locate and
access greenspaces has launched today with the release of a new database
and interactive digital map identifying accessible recreational and
leisure greenspace in Great Britain.
Delivered by Ordnance Survey (OS), the free map contains data from OS
and other sources, and can be used immediately, for free, through the
popular leisure mapping app and online service, OS Maps. This
comprehensive map of Great Britain’s greenspaces is also available as an
open dataset, called OS Open Greenspace, for communities, businesses and
developers to create products and services that will encourage healthier
and greener lifestyles. OS CEO, Nigel Clifford, says: “Geospatial data can transform
Governments, businesses and communities for the better. We see that
through our work in Great Britain and internationally, and we’re excited
to be one of those at the forefront leading this and making
contributions of consequence and benefit.”
Study examines increasing likelihood of extreme sea levels
– University of Southampton Scientists at the University of Southampton are warning that future
coastal impact studies must take account of extreme sea levels – a
phenomenon expected to occur more frequently as rising waters combine
with high tides and storm surges to potentially devastating effect.
Read the paper here: Wahl, T. et al
(2017)
Understanding extreme sea levels for broad-scale coastal impact and
adaptation analysis. Nature Communications 8, Article number: 16075
(2017) doi:10.1038/ncomms16075
It is the world's largest 'not for profit' voluntary-led disability
exhibition, held annually in a huge tented village within the grounds of
Walton Hall Gardens in Warrington. Find out more here:
https://www.disabilityawarenessday.org.uk/index.shtml In 2016 we produced CJS Focus on Overcoming Barriers with lots of
information and articles about the problems faced by people with
disabilities in being able to enjoy the great outdoors and how
countryside sites can help with the problems and become more accessible. Download this edition here. (PDF)
Heroes Wanted - To Help our Hedgerows! – Surrey Wildlife Trust Hedgerows are a haven for wildlife such as hedgehogs, butterflies and
birds, but this vital habitat may be under threat. Now Surrey Wildlife
© Jon Hawkins “Hedgerows are fantastically important for lots of different species,
providing excellent habitat for dormice and commuting routes for bats.
Hedgehogs use them for foraging and shelter and they are a magnet for
birds and bees,” said Jim Jones, the Trust’s Living Landscapes Project
Manager. “Hedgerows form vital natural highways, enabling wildlife to
move around. They can also help prevent flooding and slow down soil
erosion. But hedgerows are very under-recorded in Surrey. A lot of them
may be in a very poor state – surveys suggest just 10 per cent are in
good condition - and that needs to change.” Hedgerows are at risk from intensive farming and development and many
are being damaged by over pruning or neglect. Since the Second World War
more than 120,000km of hedgerows have been lost. Some of the ancient
hedges that remain are rich in plants such as hawthorn, hazel,
blackthorn and oak – an amazing 130 species of conservation concern are
known to rely on them. As part of the Hedgerow Heroes project, teams of volunteers will be
shown how to carry out hedgerow surveys and trained in traditional
hedgerow management techniques. They will also plant new hedgerows in
some areas. Information collected by the volunteers will be used to
build up a database of information about the current state of the
county’s hedgerows.
First gannet chick hatched at St Abbs –
National Trust for Scotland Staff at the National Trust for Scotland's St Abb's Head National
Nature Reserve are celebrating a first this summer, as the first
northern gannet chick ever to be recorded there was seen on 7 July.
Image: National Trust for Scotland Last year, for the first time on record, gannets attempted to nest at
St Abb’s Head. In late May, a number of birds started prospecting one of
the large seabird stacks with a few settling onto the stack and pairing
up, looking like they were getting ready to breed. One pair even
brought in nesting material, but nothing came of it. This year, the prospecting birds came earlier and in larger numbers,
with around 70 gannets scouting out the same stack, and with many pairs
settling on the stack and performing courtship displays. However,
as with last year, after a short flurry of activity most of the birds
left, leaving just three pairs of birds which have been sitting tight
since then.
British Cycling and Welsh Cycling welcome consultation aiming to make it
easier for cyclists to access the countryside
– British Cycling British Cycling and Welsh Cycling have welcomed a consultation
document ‘Taking Forward Wales’ Sustainable Management of Natural
In the section dedicated to Access to Outdoors the consultation sets out the following proposals that are particularly relevant to cyclists. Image: British Cycling These are:
Writing in the consultation document, Cabinet Secretary for
Environment and Rural Affairs, Lesley Griffiths, said:
Caterpillars Key To Urban Blue Tits' Low Breeding
– Glasgow University Many animal species suffer reduced reproductive success in urban habitats, despite wide-spread supplementation of breeding and feeding opportunities.
In some years, the breeding success of city birds is devastatingly low. Biologists have now shown conclusively that in urban blue tits,
reduced breeding success is linked to poor nestling diet and in
particular to scarcity of caterpillars, their preferred nestling food.
Image: Glasgow University Although blue tits are widespread songbirds that appear to do well,
their breeding failure in cities can be severe. In 2015, blue tit
parents fledged less than one chick per nest in city parks in Glasgow,
compared to more than five chicks per nest in the Loch Lomond National
Park. Suburban sites showed intermediate breeding success. Researchers
from the University of Glasgow and NERC’s LSMSF Facility (National
Environment Research Council’s Life Sciences Mass Spectrometry Facility)
at SUERC (Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre) used a
holistic study approach to reveal the reasons for this drastically low
breeding success. Their research is published in the journal Scientific
Reports. Read the paper: Pollock, C. J., Capilla-Lasheras, P., Helm, B. & Dominoni, D. M. Integrated behavioural and stable isotope data reveal altered diet linked to low breeding success in urban-dwelling blue tits (Cyanistes caeruleus) Scientific Reports 7, Article number: 5014 (2017) doi:10.1038/s41598-017-04575-y
Global trade networks are the key to distribution of invasive non-native
species - Centre for Ecology & Hydrology
Scientists at the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (CEH) have conducted
an analysis of invasive non-native species occurrence in 48 countries to
show that global trade networks play a key role in the distribution of
invasions across Europe.
Tree of heaven (Ailanthus altissima) (image:
CEH)
Dr Chapman, lead author of the study published in Global Ecology and
Biogeography, says that "the assumption that global trade networks
explain the large-scale distributions of non-native species remained
largely untested until now." He continued, "This study enhances the potential to predict the
spread and distribution of economically damaging invasive non-native
pests – such as emerald ash borer (Agrilus planipennis), ash
dieback (Hymenoscyphus fraxineus) and ragweed (Ambrosia
artemisiifolia) – to improve risk assessment, biodiversity and
surveillance." The scientists also suggest that many non-native species are
transported accidentally and that no data exists on their movement
rates. Nevertheless, using data on trade flows it may be possible to
better predict their arrival probabilities. Read the paper: Chapman D, Purse B V,
Roy H E, Bullock J M.
Global trade
networks determine the distribution of invasive non-native species.
Global Ecol Biogeogr. 2017;00:1–11. DOI:
10.1111/geb.12599 Tree of heaven (Ailanthus altissima) (image: CEH)
Threat to new beaver family in the Highlands of Scotland
- Trees for Life A family of beavers found living on a river in the Beauly area in the
Scottish Highlands are to be trapped and put into captivity following a
decision by Scottish Government Ministers. Trees for Life, the charity
which discovered the group, says the family should either stay where
they are or be relocated locally.
European Beaver (image: L.Campbell)
Alan McDonnell says: ‘We think these beavers have been active at this
site for at least five years without any local concerns being raised.
Which just goes to show that in the right location, beavers and other
land use interests can co-exist successfully.’ Richard Hartland, local resident: ‘Many people in the local community
have no idea the beavers are there and they’re having very little impact
on their surroundings. Why can’t they be left alone?’
Ambitious project seeks extra funding needed to improve disabled access
to great outdoors - RSPB Hopes are high that underpass project will get green light after
successful event A project that would put Loch Leven at the forefront of countryside
access for disabled people in Scotland is one step closer to becoming a
reality after a successful exhibition event on Friday. Four Perth and Kinross Councillors, the MSP for Mid Scotland and
Fife, a Portmoak Community Councillor, leaders of local community groups
and members of the Project Stakeholder Group gathered at RSPB Scotland
Loch Leven on Friday to hear more about the plans to replace the current
corrugated iron tunnel and steps below the B9097 with a more accessible
underpass. All four local ward councillors, Willie Robertson, Michael Barnacle,
Callum Purves and Richard Watters are supportive of the project. The
former three attended the event along with Councillor Ian Campbell,
Leader of the Perth & Kinross, who last month received a letter
co-signed by a Stakeholder Group to ask for financial backing for the
popular project. Following the event, Councillor Campbell said: “I was delighted to
see the exciting plans for this project today. Perth & Kinross has been
extremely supportive of this project over the years and Councillors
Robertson and Barnacle have been stalwart supporters. I am sure that all
members of Perth and Kinross Council would like to see this project
succeed and we will consider every avenue possible to try to help get a
successful outcome”. MSP AlexRowley, who was also at the event, said: “This project will
give even greater accessibility to more of the National Nature Reserve
and is very welcome. Everyone involved should be very proud of their
achievements to date and their ambition to bring more people to
experience Loch Leven”. The plan is to replace the 35-year old tunnel and steep steps, which
are part of the Perth & Kinross Core Path Network and currently connect
the “Sleeping Giant” path from Fife to the Loch Leven Heritage Trail,
with a more accessible underpass that would incorporate gentle slopes
for wheelchair and mobility scooter users and provide unimpeded access
for cyclists and families with young children in pushchairs.
Watch out for Pacific pink salmon in Scotland
- Fisheries Management Scotland
Salmon (image: Nigel Fell) These fish are not native to Scotland and are likely to have
‘strayed’ from some of the rivers in northern Norway or Russia.
Read
more about what you should do if you encounter one of these fish.
Surrey School Children Achieve Coveted Wildlife Award
- Surrey Wildlife Trust A wildlife project in Staines has earned young nature lovers a
special ‘John Muir Award’ for their work to help their local
environment. A group of 30 children from Ashford Park Primary School have worked
towards the accolade over several months at Church Lammas Lakes in
Wraysbury Road. With the help of Surrey Wildlife Trust the children covered all four
aspects of the national award scheme – Discover a wild place; Explore
it; Conserve it and Share it. The John Muir Award encourages people to get outdoors and closer to
nature, to learn about wildlife, get involved and take action to help
the environment, then pass on their knowledge to others. Pauline Bartlett, John Muir co-ordinator at Ashford Park Primary,
said: “Being outside, learning about the environment, understanding
nature and the food chain are so important for children. Lots of
children who maybe struggle in class really thrive outside – they come
alive and learn so much better. If they go home dirty they’ve had a good
day!”
Schemes across the country to receive £15 million of natural flood
management funding – Defra Floods minister announces which projects around the country have been
allocated funding for natural flood defences, part of the government’s
drive to roll out innovative techniques to reduce flood risk.
New allocations of flood management funding will allow homes,
businesses and communities around the country to benefit from increased
flood protection, Floods Minister Thérèse Coffey announced today. 34 community led projects have been named as winners of a £1m
government funded competition, the first of its kind, and will now
be able to realise their innovative plans to use landscape features such
as ponds, banks, meanders, channels, and trees to store, drain or slow
flood water. 24 other catchment scale projects have also been allocated funding to
develop larger scale projects which will benefit wider areas; with
Cumbria, Greater Manchester Merseyside and Cheshire and Wolsingham all
receiving over £1m of funding. Environment minister Thérèse Coffey said: “This funding will help
more than 50 projects around the country take full advantage of
innovative natural flood management measures. Flood defence technology
and engineering is better than ever and by using a mix of natural and
concrete defences, we can provide the best flood protection for
individual areas.”
Sir David Attenborough warns of a 'critical' summer for butterflies
– Butterfly Conservation Sir David Attenborough has warned that UK butterflies face a critical
summer after a string of poor years has seen the numbers of many common
species decline. Last year was the fourth worst on record for butterflies and Sir
David is urging the public to take part in the Big
Butterfly Count survey to help reveal if widespread species can
mount a comeback this summer.
Image: Butterfly Conservation The Big Butterfly Count is the world’s largest butterfly survey,
which encourages people to spot and record 18 species of common
butterflies and two day-flying moths during three weeks of high summer.
Biofuels made from waste are the business, say researchers
– Lancaster University Biofuels have a role to play in meeting the UK’s commitments to
climate change mitigation, especially so-called second generation
biofuels made from wastes and by-products of other sectors. That’s according to a major new review of the sustainability pros and
cons of biofuels by the Royal Academy of Engineering, including research
from Lancaster University. Such fuels can be sustainable and could make
a real impact in reducing carbon emissions, although action is needed to
manage the risks involved, improve traceability and avoid fraudulent
practice.
The report, Sustainability of liquid biofuels, was commissioned by
the Department of Transport and the Department of Energy and Climate
Change (now the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy)
to provide advice on the UK’s future strategy for the development of
biofuels. While they have been enthusiastically adopted in some
countries, notably Brazil, first generation biofuels manufactured from
crops like corn have proved controversial. There have been concerns that
increased demand for crops drives the conversion of land to agriculture,
with the consequent risks of an increase in deforestation, drainage of
peatlands, loss of biodiversity, as well as associated usage of
freshwater, fertilisers and pesticides.
Ravens parallel great apes in their planning abilities
– Lund University Research from Lund University in Sweden shows that ravens can plan
for different types of future events, while also demonstrating
self-control and sensitivity to different lengths of time. Such skills
are central to humans, and previous research has indicated that they are
Photo: Mathias Osvath Anyone who has spent time in London sees the merits of carrying an
umbrella, despite the inconvenience, and the sky currently being blue.
This type of planning, which is based on expectations and sometimes
requires one to forgo immediate wants and comforts, has historically
been thought to be unique to humans and great apes. Previous research has shown that corvids can plan for, among other
things, the next day’s breakfast by stashing food in different
compartments; however, this behavior is considered to be different from
the planning exhibited by apes. As most corvids habitually hide food,
their admittedly impressive behavior might reflect a specific adaptation
confined to the food hoarding domain. The new study, published in the
journal Science, now reveals that ravens are at least as good as apes at
general planning tasks as well.
National Trust rangers go to extreme lengths to monitor storm petrels
- National Trust With ghetto blasters pumping into the early hours, this remote night
spot has a very exclusive guest list: elusive sea birds only. National Trust rangers are going to extreme lengths to monitor storm
petrels, setting up high-powered speakers to lure them in at night. A small team of passionate ornithologists at The Leas in South
Tyneside will work into the early hours to coax the birds by
transmitting their sound out to sea.
Image: Douglas Holden The data is passed onto the British Trust for Ornithology and
provides vital information in understanding the survival rates,
population sizes and movement of storm petrels. Dougie Holden, ranger for the National Trust on The Leas said: “A
small team of us regularly monitor storm petrels in July and August. We
construct 120 foot of fine netting on the beach and begin playing the
sound of the breeding colony as soon as it gets dark, usually around
10pm at this time of year. When the birds fly inland they are caught in
the net and trained handlers ring the birds and record their data. We
prefer the weather conditions to be a little overcast as the nets are
more visible to the birds on a clear moonlit night. The information we
gather through bird ringing and monitoring provides a small part of a
much bigger picture when it comes to understanding how a species lives
and thrives. The National Trust is passionate about wildlife
conservation. We work closely with volunteers and other like-minded
organisations to care for our natural world.” Scientific publications Bessa, E., Geffroy, B & Gonçalves-De-Freitas, E. (2017)
Tourism impact on stream fish measured with an ecological and a
behavioural indicator. Aquatic Conservation. DOI: 10.1002/aqc.2804 Alderton, E., Sayer, C.D.,
Davies, R., Lambert, S. J. & Axmacher,
J. C. (2017)
Buried alive: Aquatic plants survive in ‘ghost ponds’ under agricultural
fields. Biological Conservation.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2017.06.004
Hitchmough, J., Wagner, M. & Ahmad, H, (2017)
Can the addition of a shade-tolerant under-canopy layer allow designed
herbaceous vegetation to be flower rich and resistant to weed
colonisation? Urban Forestry & Urban Greening.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ufug.2017.06.022 Alison, J., Duffield, S. J., Morecroft, M. D., Marrs, R. H. &
Hodgson, J. A. (2017)
Successful restoration of moth abundance and species-richness in
grassland created under agri-environment schemes. Biological
Conservation. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2017.07.003
Mason, T. H. E., Keane, A., Redpath, S. M. & Bunnefeld, N. (2017)
The changing environment of conservation conflict: geese and farming in
Scotland - Journal of Applied Ecology. DOI: 10.1111/1365-2664.12969
|
|
|
|
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. |
|
|
Today’s
(Sunday 9 July) announcement in Krakow has led to jubilation among 25
organisations in the Lake District National Park Partnership who had put
the bid together for UNESCO recognition in the cultural landscape
category.
OS's
Philip Wyndham with Universities & Science Minister Jo Johnson
A
new study published today (Friday 7 July) in Nature Communications – led
by the University of Central Florida and involving experts from
Southampton, Germany and the Netherlands – suggests that extreme events
currently expected to happen on average once every 100 years could, in
vulnerable coastlines around the world, occur every decade or even every
year by 2050.
Disability
Awareness Day will be on Sunday 16 July.
Trust
is a launching an exciting new project called ‘Hedgerow Heroes’, to
train an army of volunteers to help save the county’s precious hedge
network.
Up
until the spring of 2016 there had only been three occasions in the last
30 years or so when gannets had been seen settling down on the cliffs at
St Abb’s Head, which has been in the care of Scotland’s largest
conservation charity since 1980. 
Resources’
published by the Welsh Government which sets out their plans to make it
easier for cyclists to access the countryside.
The research adds to growing concerns that urban environments can
become ecological traps for urban-dwelling species. The increasingly
rapid process of urbanisation has now placed more than 50% of the human
population in cities. Birds and other species can be attracted to these
habitats by human food and shelter, but these benefits can be offset by
major ecological deficits, as now shown for blue tits.
The
CEH team of Dr Daniel Chapman, Dr Beth Purse, Professor Helen Roy and
Professor James Bullock looked at more than 420 non-native plant pest
species – including 173 invertebrates, 166 pathogens and 83 plants – to
show that invasion was strongly linked to agricultural imports from
countries in which the focal species were present.
Film
from camera traps set by the conservation experts from the charity in
mid-June clearly show the presence of a mother and at least two young
kits swimming and playing with their mum. Trees for Life shared news of
the discovery with Scottish Natural Heritage and made a case to Scottish
Environment Minister Roseanna Cunningham that the family be allowed to
stay.
In
recent weeks, anglers in Scotland (Rivers Ness, Dee and Helmsdale) have
reported several captures of fresh run non-native Pink Salmon
(Oncorhynchus gorbuscha). Some captures have also been reported in some
salmon net fisheries in Scotland and both rod and net fisheries in
England and Ireland. 
Image:
Defra
Common
species such as the 
Image:
Lancaster University
unique
to humans and great apes. The new findings reveal that complex cognition
can arise several times independently of common descent, which is an
important factor in charting the underlying principles of cognition.
Storm
petrels, which don’t usually come inland in the daytime as they’re
easily predated by gulls, are caught in mist nets before being ringed,
recorded and set free again.
