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A round up of the top countryside, conservation, wildlife and forestry stories as chosen by the CJS Team.
Research shows how environment plays key role in changing movement
behaviour of animals - University of
Leicester University of Leicester mathematicians develop theory which helps to
unravel long-standing mysteries of animal movement
Animals have to continuously exert force to overcome environmental
drag and friction and adapt behaviour accordingly
Mathematicians from the University of Leicester have developed a
theory which explains how small animals, such as bats, insects and
birds, adjust their movement behaviour based on cues within their
environment. In a paper published in Scientific Reports, the researchers propose a
unified theory of animal movement that relates the movement pattern to
an animal’s biological traits such as its mass and body shape and to the
properties of the environment. The theory shows how different movement patterns may arise naturally
from the interplay between an animal’s force, the environmental drag,
and an animal’s behavioural response to the environmental cues. The cues
include information about an animal’s movement environment, in
particular the information about the location of food sources, predators
and mating partners. The theory works best for small animals such as insects, small fish
and small birds. The study, which is funded by The Royal Society, makes an important
step to understanding animal movement behaviour and could help to
provide answers to issues such as management of biological invasion,
control of epidemics spread, and protection of endangered species. Access the paper:
TCV’s Green Gym is to be featured in a new study commissioned by BBC2’s
Trust Me I'm A Doctor.- TCV We are delighted that TCV’s Green Gym was selected to take part in
the BBC2 programme, Trust Me I’m a Doctor’s new study into the effects
of different activities on stress levels. This follows a survey by the
BBC team which found that “how to beat stress” was people’s top mental
health question. The BBC commissioned this study, undertaken by the University of
Westminster, to monitor changes to the level of the stress hormone
cortisol in separate groups of participants taking part in Green Gym,
Yoga and Mindfulness against a control group. The University will be
writing up a full report on this study which is planned to be published
in a peer reviewed journal. The
BBC chose TCV’s Green Gym due to our success in connecting people with
the outdoor environment to improve health and wellbeing and tackle
social isolation. The University study showed that Green Gym participants reported
higher levels of well-being and lower levels of stress, anxiety and
depression. Green Gym participants showed the greatest reduction in anxiety of
all the groups when assessed by a validated questionnaire. Importantly the Green Gym sessions were also appreciated by the
participants, particularly the social aspect, they enjoyed meeting
friendly like-minded people who cared about each other and the local
environment. Participants also mentioned a great sense of achievement at
the end of each session knowing that they had improved a place to
benefit wildlife and to be enjoyed by the local community.
Stormy weather leads to influx of seal pups at RSPCA wildlife centre
- RSPCA Recent stormy weather has led to an influx of seal pups at an RSPCA
wildlife centre in Cheshire. There are currently 10 seals at Stapeley Grange Wildlife Centre, in
Nantwich, who have been admitted after becoming stranded on beaches and
separated from their mums due to high winds. It is the largest number of
seals the centre has had at any one time. A diet of fish soup is being fed to them at least three times a day
to help them gain weight. It is hoped that all of the seals will be
released back into the wild, however it can take many months – sometimes
as many as five – before they are well enough to be released. Lee Stewart, manager at Stapeley Grange, said: “When seal pups arrive
they are unable to feed for themselves and have to be tube-fed. The 10
seal pups in our care were all initially tube-fed a ‘rehydrate’ solution
and then later moved across to their liquidised fish soup. After some
time in care we will then try them on whole fish which can be quite a
time-consuming process. They are initially tube-fed until they work out
what they need to do. Once they are taking fish it’s then plain sailing
with regards their care, as soon after they will be taking fish by
themselves. We always worry for young seal pups at this time of year
when the weather is bad because they are so vulnerable and can become
separated from their mothers, as has happened with most of our seals.
The storms cause real problems for the seal colonies.” The RSPCA advises that if members of the public spot a seal on a
beach that they observe them from a distance and do not approach them.
Seals are wild animals and have a nasty bite. It is also advised they
keep dogs on leads on beaches that have seal colonies too. If you see a pup whose mother hasn’t returned within 24 hours, is on
a busy public beach, or if you think the seal may be sick or injured,
please call the RSPCA’s 24-hour advice and cruelty line on 0300 1234
999.
Very rare ‘strangler’ fungus discovered…just in time for Halloween
– National Trust An extremely rare fungus with a lethal survival technique and eerie
name has been discovered on our land – the Powdercap Strangler. The Powdercap Strangler is a parasitic fungus that grows by
body-snatching another grassland fungus. Visitors taking part in an organised foraging hunt at Clumber Park
made the unsettling discovery of the two-coloured toadstool, caused by
the strangler infecting and eventually overcoming, its host. Dr Gareth Griffith, Reader in Mycology at Aberystwyth University,
said, ‘The Powdercap Strangler (Squamanita paradoxa) is an
intriguing fungus. Rather like the monster in the film ‘Alien' it takes
over the body of its host (Cystoderma amianthinum) and its
mushroom erupts in place of the host's mushroom. This is a really
exciting find.’
National Lottery support to transform the birthplace of conservation
- Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust A £4.1m National Lottery grant has been awarded to WWT Slimbridge
Wetland Centre, Gloucestershire, in a three-year project that will pay
tribute to founder, Sir Peter Scott in a range of developments aimed at
creating inspirational wildlife experiences. Described as “the patron saint of conservation” by Sir David
Attenborough, Scott’s pioneering instinct led to the inception of the
Wildfowl & Wetland Trust (WWT) in 1946 at Slimbridge, not only as a
centre for science and conservation but also, unusual for the time,
opening its doors to the public. Scott was particularly enthusiastic
about giving anyone and everyone the opportunity to get close to nature
and, in turn, inspire them to take action to protect it. For this
reason, Slimbridge is often referred to as the birthplace of modern
conservation.
WWT
Slimbridge development plans The team at Slimbridge are looking to continue Scott’s legacy through
a range of ground-breaking experiences that show how Scott’s work
continues to influence modern conservation globally. In addition to the celebration of conservation history, WWT is
planning a ground-breaking multi-level, fully wheelchair accessible bird
hide with open rooftop terrace. The tower hide will offer visitors
spectacular access to thousands of waders and geese as well as
breath-taking views of the River Severn. Seasonal walkways, viewing
platforms and hides are being added to allow access right out to the
edge of the estuary itself. At the centre of the site, a walk-through aviary will allow visitors
to experience a range of British wetlands and get up close to wetland
species normally too secretive to spot. Attached to the aviary, a
Living Wetland Theatre will offer the perfect open-air venue for live
demonstrations and activities. Elsewhere are interactive exhibits
celebrating the close relationship between people and wetlands, telling
the story of WWT’s pioneering conservation work, and conveying what it
is like to be an intrepid conservationist carrying out work in the
arctic tundra. To keep up-to-date with developments, interested parties can keep an
eye on the Slimbridge 2020
microsite at slimbridge2020.wwt.org.uk and find out more about
what’s going on at WWT Slimbridge
here.
Natural flood management – part of the nation’s flood resilience
- Environment Agency The Environment Agency has published data, case studies and evidence
about the role of natural flood management in reducing flood risk.
Holnicote,
Somerset - National Trust The Environment Agency has today (31 October) published data, case
studies and evidence about the role of natural flood management in
reducing flood risk. Working with natural processes to reduce flood risk
is not a new concept but this is the first time that all the evidence
has been brought together, with the intention of enabling more uptake. ‘The evidence behind natural flood management’ contains more than 60
case studies from across England and explores how successful the
approach is, how it could be used elsewhere and what research may still
be needed. Natural flood management is when natural processes are used to reduce
the risk of flooding and coastal erosion. Examples include: restoring
bends in rivers, changing the way land is managed so soil can absorb
more water and creating saltmarshes on the coast to absorb wave energy.
Natural flood management works best when a ‘catchment based approach’ is
taken, where a plan is developed to manage the flow of water along the
whole length of a river catchment from its source to sea. This way,
natural processes can be used upstream and on the coast to compliment
engineered flood defences – such as walls and weirs – in populated
areas. Natural flood management not only reduces flood risk it can
also achieve multiple benefits for people and wildlife, helping restore
habitats, improve water quality and helping make catchments more
resilient to the impacts of climate change. The Working with natural processes to reduce flood risk reports can
be found
here
Red squirrels travel on Cumbria cycle route -
Sustrans A group of red squirrels has been spotted using an off-road section
of the popular long distance Sea to Sea (C2C) path which we maintain. Our volunteers regularly see four red squirrels (one female and three
males) at a feeding and monitoring station in Seaton to Broughton moor
section, on the former iron ore railway line. They were a few miles away
from their local stronghold in Broughton, which the team says is a clear
sign the animals are using the linear path to travel between feeding
grounds.
A
regular visitor to our Sea to Sea , a male red squirrel with a blonde
tail. (Photo credit: Mike Mossop/West Lake Squirrel Initiative)
We work with the West Lakes Red Squirrel Initiative, which monitors
the feeder and sitings, and reports to a red squirrel data base across
the North. Sustrans Project Officer Nikki Wingfield said: “This is clear
evidence that red squirrels are using the cycle and walking route to
move away from their stronghold in Broughton. It is exciting as it means
the path is acting as an important highway to link up isolated squirrel
habitats. In the past we’d had reports that there were red squirrels on
the cycle path and it’s brilliant we can now confirm that we are
actively part of protecting red squirrels across the whole of the north
of England. We really need to help protect red squirrels from the greys
in this area so if you do spot a grey squirrel in this area please
contact the West Lakes Squirrel Initiative.”
Report reveals continued persecution of birds of prey in UK
- RSPB Without urgent action some of UK’s birds of prey face a bleak future
after the latest Birdcrime report revealed a minimum of 81 confirmed
incidents of illegal raptor persecution in 2016, without a single person
prosecuted. Birdcrime 2016 – the only report summarising offences against birds
of prey in the UK – revealed 40 shooting, 22 poisoning, 15 trapping and
four other incidents of illegal persecution against raptors. Among the
victims were hen harriers, peregrine falcons, red kites and buzzards.
However, evidence suggests these figures are just the tip of the iceberg
with many illegal killings going undetected or unreported. The report also revealed close to two-thirds (53) of the confirmed
incidents took place in England, with particular concern for raptors in
North Yorkshire. Over the last five years the county recorded the
highest number of confirmed bird of prey persecution incidents in the
UK, with 54 incidents since 2012 and 19 last year alone. The problem wasn’t confined to England, with the report highlighting
confirmed case in Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland, where there is
growing concern over the repeated suspicious disappearance of satellite
tagged birds of prey. This year, a study by Scottish Government examined
the fate of 131 golden eagles fitted with satellite tags between 2004-16
concluding that ‘as many as 41 (one third) disappeared, presumably died,
under suspicious circumstances connected with records of illegal
persecution.’ Increasingly, people in the UK are being robbed of the chance to see
these spectacular birds because of these illegal incidents, yet in 2016,
there wasn’t a single prosecution arising from a confirmed incident, the
first time this has happened in 30 years. For the full copy of Birdcrime 2016 report summarising the extent of
illegal persecution offences against birds of prey in the UK, visit
www.rspb.org.uk/birdcrime
NGO Responds to RSPB Bird Crime 2016 Report The National Gamekeepers’ Organisation has made the following
statement in response to today’s (1 November 2017) publication by the
RSPB of Birdcrime 2016 – A focus on raptor persecution in the UK. A spokesman for the National Gamekeepers’ Organisation said: "The NGO
is an active member of the Partnership for Action Against Wildlife
Crime, and it is well known that the NGO stands for gamekeeping within
the law. It is also well known that the NGO believes in cultivating
dialogue among stakeholders involved in rural issues. We sincerely wish
therefore that the RSPB would take a leaf out of our book in working to
promote consensus and, rather than seeking to demonise the many in game
management that uphold the law, the RSPB should join with us in working
to alienate the very few that operate outside it. "To this end, it is disappointing that the RSPB persists in
publishing its own uncorroborated figures on raptor persecution when
they are signed up, alongside ourselves, to a formal protocol for
publishing verified police data. The RSPB should be working with the
rest of us to drive down all wildlife crime, not promoting their own
agenda.”
BASC chairman calls for “honesty” in raptor debate
- British Association for Shooting and
Conservation BASC chairman Peter Glenser has called for “plain and open” dialogue
between all sides of the raptor debate. Following an article in today’s (2/11) Times newspaper in which BASC’s acting chief executive Christopher Graffius highlighted the damage to shooting from the illegal killing of birds, Mr Glenser has spoken of the need for “honesty” if sustained change is to take place.
Scientists join forces with farmers, communities and local authorities
in major flood mitigation research project –
University of Reading Choosing different crops, building soil organic matter and planting
more trees could allow farmers to reduce the risk of nearby rivers from
bursting their banks miles downstream, according to an innovative new
research project.
Researchers
in a collaborative project led by the University of Reading will work
with farmers, advisors, communities and local authorities across the
West Thames area to learn how different land management methods impact
on flood risk. Making changes to land management could help reduce river
flooding (image: University of Reading) The LANDWISE (LAND management in loWland catchments for Integrated
flood riSk rEduction) proposal was one of only three to be backed with
funding from the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC)’s £4.1m
Understanding the Effectiveness of Natural Flood Management (NFM)
program, and will receive £1.25m. A lot of attention recently has been given to ‘slowing the flow’
within river channels using wood to create leaky barriers. LANDWISE aims
to look at the wider landscape and investigate ways to reduce the volume
of water entering river channels in the first place, and to ‘slow the
flow’ by enabling water to move slowly below the ground surface. This
can be done by increasing the amount of water that can be absorbed by
soil and returned to atmosphere through crops and trees, or stored in
deep groundwater. These more natural methods, including crop choice, land preparation,
building soil organic matter and tree-planting, can reduce the amount of
water that runs off the land surface. They improve soil structure to
allow more rainwater to infiltrate below ground. Dr Joanna Clark, Associate Professor of Environmental Science at the
University of Reading, and project lead, said: “If you think about the
land surface as a bucket, then these different land use and management
methods can help us to increase the size of that bucket and help to
empty it so that it can hold more water when it rains again. This is
about making small changes over the large catchment area as a whole,
rather than large changes in small areas where flooding occurs.
Turning the tide: National Lottery helping to conserve our rivers,
coasts and marine heritage - Heritage Lottery
Fund Eight landscape-scale projects in line to benefit from £20million
investment. Water and our connection to it has shaped the UK’s island heritage
over centuries. From landform to trade, and intrinsic beauty to the
devastating effects of flooding, many schemes in England, Scotland and
Northern Ireland are in line for £19.7m of National Lottery funding to
improve understanding and management of this precious resource. A number of the Landscape Partnership schemes will work with local,
regional and national partners to promote a catchment approach to water
management by engaging people, communities and landowners to improve
water management in the long term. Many schemes awarded funding
also focus on using nature and heritage to provide opportunities for
communities within post-industrial landscapes, from new skills training
and educational opportunities, to boosting tourism and local business
promoting heritage-led regeneration. Drew Bennellick, HLF Head of Landscape and Natural Heritage, said:
“Across the UK people are increasingly realising that nature is in
trouble and it’s time to take a more proactive approach. Schemes like
these provide a creative solution to helping people reconnect with
landscapes and the environment, to implement solutions at a truly
landscape-scale and tackle issues such as soil loss and flooding by
supporting partnerships and coalitions of the willing.” The eight areas given initial support stretch from Ayrshire to
Somerset. Highlighting the range of the UK’s natural heritage -
from a World Heritage Site to HLF’s first marine-based LP project
Increases in rats, bedbugs and mosquitoes are unintended consequence of
urbanization - University of Toronto expert The recent uproar about seats on a British Airways flight crawling
with bedbugs is only one of the unintended consequences that
urbanization worldwide has on evolution, says a University of Toronto
researcher whose new study takes a comprehensive look at those
consequences. “As we build cities, we have little understanding of how they are
influencing organisms that live there,” says Marc Johnson, an associate
professor of biology at University of Toronto Mississauga who is also a
director of the University of Toronto’s Centre for Urban Environments.
“It’s good news that some organisms are able to adapt, such as native
species that have important ecological functions in the environment. But
it can also be bad news that the ability of some of these organisms to
adapt to our cities might increase the transmission of disease. Bedbugs,
for example, were scarce two decades ago, but they’ve adapted to the
insecticides used to keep them at bay and have exploded in abundance
worldwide.” In the first study to take a broad look at the way urbanization is
affecting evolution, Johnson and Jason Munshi-South reviewed all
existing research studies about urbanization and evolution and
synthesized the results. “Traditionally, we’ve thought about evolution as a long-term process
driven by environmental pressures and the interactions between species.
But now there is a new driver that is rapidly changing many other
species, which is how they interact with humans and our built
environment," says Munshi-South. “Humans and our cities are one of the
most dominant forces of contemporary evolution now.” The study raises questions about which native species can persist
during urbanization and whether those that adapt will influence the
health of ecosystems and human beings. Loss of habitat and urban
barriers, such as roads and buildings, pose challenges to all kinds of
species and some may adapt in undesirable ways. The researchers assessed
various means of genetic adaptation, such as mutation, the movement of
genes through dispersal, neutral evolution and adaptive evolution
through Darwinian natural selection, concluding that the urban
environment has an impact on each of these mechanisms of evolution. Access the paper: Marc T. J. Johnson,
Jason Munshi-South.
Evolution of life in urban environments. Science DOI:
10.1126/science.aam8327
Rangers undertake mass litter pick at Breydon Water
- Broads Authority Litter picks along the waterways of the Broads National Park are a
daily task for Broads Authority Rangers. Aside from removing unsightly
litter that spoils the landscape, the work is essential for maintaining
the navigation and protecting the Broads’ flora and fauna from
potentially harmful waste.
As
a result of low tides and shallow mud flats, litter picks are
particularly difficult to complete at Breydon Water near Great Yarmouth.
Litter can build up to considerable levels as it becomes stuck in the
inaccessible mud, and can only be removed when high tide levels are
present. (image: Broads Authority) Due to the very high tides recently experienced, a team of Broads
Authority Rangers were able to conduct a mass litter pick on Monday 30
October. The pick was highly successful, with over 50 bin bags of
rubbish and a skip full of driftwood removed from the edge of the water.
Other than masses of plastic bags, bottles and hypodermic needles, a
number of more surprising items were removed; including a television,
children’s car seat, multiple traffic cones and even a children’s toy
castle.
Scientific Publications Katarzyna Turzańska-Pietras
Blue Tits Cyanistes caeruleus breeding in a House Martin
Delichon urbicum nest Bird Study doi:
10.1080/00063657.2017.1385592
Filip Harabiš, Aleš Dolný,
Military training areas as refuges for threatened dragonfly species:
Effect of spatial isolation and military activity, Biological
Conservation, ISSN 0006-3207, doi: 10.1016/j.biocon.2017.10.021.
Montambault, J. R., Dormer, M., Campbell, J., Rana, N., Gottlieb, S.,
Legge, J., Davis, D. and Chakaki, M.,
Social equity and urban nature conservation. Conservation Letters.
doi:10.1111/conl.12423
Tom Finch, Nina O'Hanlon, Steve P. Dudley
Tweeting birds: online mentions predict future citations in ornithology
R. Soc. open sci. 2017 4 171371; DOI: 10.1098/rsos.171371.
Planillo, A., Mata, C., Manica, A. and Malo, J. E. (2017),
Carnivore abundance near motorways related to prey and roadkills.
Jour. Wild. Mgmt.. doi:10.1002/jwmg.21384 Christian Kerbiriou, Clémentine Azam, Julien Touroult, Julie Marmet,
Jean-François Julien, Vincent Pellissier,
Common bats are more abundant within Natura 2000 areas, Biological
Conservation, doi: 10.1016/j.biocon.2017.10.029.
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