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Headlines from week beginning 18 December 2017 |
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A round up of the top countryside, conservation, wildlife and forestry stories as chosen by the CJS Team.
Recharging Rural research announced - The Prince’s Countryside Fund The Prince’s Countryside Fund is thrilled to announce it has
appointed Professor Sarah Skerratt of Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC) to
conduct vital research into what can make rural communities in the UK
sustainable, in spite of the adversities they face. These communities are facing an increasing number of seemingly
insurmountable challenges. An ageing and disconnected population is
experiencing a reduction in local amenities and services; younger people
are being priced out of living in rural areas thanks to rising housing
costs and lower wages; added to this, urban dwellers are becoming
increasingly distanced from the rural way of life. Farming and
agriculture, the beating heart of many of these rural communities, is
about to undergo its most profound series of changes in a century which
will prove challenging for the rural economy. Yet rural
communities have always been many of our most resilient, taking
challenges and change in their stride and welcoming the influx of new
blood, which brings energy and new ways of thinking to their
communities. They foster independent businesses, encourage tourism and
an active leisure population, and many are well positioned to benefit
from new inclusive technologies, with a focus on the power of the
collective and local. Professor Skerratt’s Recharging Rural report is to look at these
challenges, as well as those which may arise in the future, with a focus
on communities currently not engaged in “empowerment networks”. The research will be published in July, to coincide with The Prince’s
Countryside Fund annual awareness campaign, National Countryside Week,
Monday 30th July to Sunday 5th August 2018. To find out more about Recharging Rural,
visit the Research section of PCF's website here.
2017 Survey Roundup! - ORCA We have finished collating all the data from our 2017 surveys and
what an amazing year it has been!
Here are our survey statistics for 2017:
All this data is added to our long-term, extensive dataset and
utilised to inform cetacean conservation and is all thanks to our
volunteer Marine Mammal Surveyors.
Norwegian Lessons on Dangers of Predation -
NFU Scotland Study trip hears more than 20,000 sheep lost to predators in 2016
Harbours at 26 locations win environmental awards
- Keep Scotland Beautiful Harbours and slipways across Argyll & Bute, Inverclyde, North
Ayrshire, the Highlands and the Western Isles have been recognised for
environmental excellence following audits by our team of assessors. The environmental accolades acknowledges the commitment
of both CMAL, which owns the harbours and ports, and CalMac Ferries Ltd
which operates them, to improving environmental quality. Our audits looked at the maintenance of the buildings, cleanliness
standards, waste management and engagement with the local community at
26 locations, and each site was accredited with a Bronze, Silver or Gold
level. Colin Hegarty from Keep Scotland Beautiful presented the awards. He,
said: “Keep Scotland Beautiful is working closely with businesses and
organisations across Scotland, helping them take direct action to
improve their local environmental impact. the awards provide an exciting
opportunity to assess and reward their efforts. We are delighted with
the achievements of CalMac and CMAL. Both organisations have set a high
bar for other transport operators across the country.”
Birds learn from each other’s ‘disgust’, enabling insects to evolve
bright colours - University of Cambridge A new study of TV-watching great tits reveals how they learn through
observation. Social interactions within a predator species can have
“evolutionary consequences” for potential prey – such as the conspicuous
warning colours of insects like ladybirds. Many animals have evolved to stand out. Bright colours may be easy to
spot, but they warn predators off by signalling toxicity or foul taste.
Yet if every individual predator has to eat colourful prey to learn this
unappetising lesson, it’s a puzzle how conspicuous colours had the
chance to evolve as a defensive strategy. Now, a new study using the great tit species as a “model predator”
has shown that if one bird observes another being repulsed by a new type
Great tit watching television (image: Credit: Per
Tillmann, University of Cambridge) “Our study demonstrates that the social behaviour of predators needs
to be considered to understand the evolution of their prey,” said lead
author Dr Rose Thorogood, from the University of Cambridge’s Department
of Zoology. “Without social transmission taking place in predator
species such as great tits, it becomes extremely difficult for
conspicuously coloured prey to outlast and outcompete alternative prey,
even if they are distasteful or toxic. There is mounting evidence that
learning by observing others occurs throughout the animal kingdom.
Species ranging from fruit flies to trout can learn about food using
social transmission. We suspect our findings apply over a wide range of
predators and prey. Social information may have evolutionary
consequences right across ecological communities.” Click through to watch a
video of great tits learning. Access the publication: Rose Thorogood,
Hanna Kokko & Johanna Mappes, :
Social
transmission of avoidance among predators facilitates the spread of
novel prey Nature Ecology & Evolution (2017)
Cyclically-changing environments could be the key to earth’s diversity
- University of Glasgow A new study, led by the University of Glasgow and published today
(Monday 18 Dec) in PNAS, found that cyclical changes in nature, such as
Image: University of Glasgow The study, conducted in collaboration with ecologists from Texas A&M
University and The University of the Aegean, focused on phytoplankton –
microscopic algae that thrive in the world’s oceans, lakes and rivers.
How such staggeringly diverse communities persist over time has been a
long-standing question for ecologists since the dawn of ecological
thinking. Phytoplankton affects ecosystems by fuelling the entire ocean food
chain, and is also critical in stabilising the climate because they
remove huge quantities of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, reducing
its impact on global temperatures.
New report highlights value of whales to the planet
- WDC
A new report, supported by WDC, has been released today (Tuesday 19
Dec) and reveals the enormous ecological benefits that whales provide to
the environment. The report is the product of a workshop supported by the Chilean and
Belgium governments that took place during the 2017 International
Congress for Conservation Biology in Colombia, the first time the issue
of how whales are essential contributors to a healthy marine eco-system
had been discussed at such an international conference. The report documents how whale faeces, rich in iron, nitrogen and
other nutrients, trigger phytoplankton blooms in the ocean that increase
the productivity of the entire marine food web.
Even in death, whales sustain life. When whales die naturally they
sink to the seabed, where they become mini-ecosystems sustaining all
manner of marine life. Whale carcasses fight climate change, taking huge
amounts of carbon with them to the ocean floor and researchers estimate
that as a direct result of whale hunting, large whales now store
approximately nine million tons less carbon than before large-scale
whaling. The report also explores how these and other ecological services
provided by whales could be used in national and international
conservation policy, including within the United Nations Framework
Convention on Climate Change and the International Whaling Commission
(IWC – the body that regulates whale hunting). In 2016, the IWC adopted
a ground-breaking resolution recognizing the ecological contributions
made by whales to the ecosystem.
New spiders found in Northern Ireland -
Buglife Three new spiders have been discovered in Northern Ireland during
surveys undertaken by wildlife charity Buglife which were funded by the
Northern Ireland Environment Agency. The Arcane tongue spider (Centromerus arcanus), Tree Comb-foot Spider
(Anelosimus vittatus) and Tree H-weaver (Episinus maculipes) have not
previously been recorded in Northern Ireland, and will now be added to
the list of 292 spider species known from the country.
Adam Mantell, Buglife Northern Ireland Manager said “These are some
exciting finds, and show how there is so much more to discover about
Northern Ireland’s wildlife. Our protected sites are vitally
important for the conservation of invertebrates, our surveys are helping
to manage them in the right way to conserve their wildlife riches” These finds also show the importance of monitoring invertebrate
populations so that we understand more about how our smallest animals
are changing in the wild. Good habitats are becoming increasingly
fragmented in the modern landscape which isolates populations and makes
them vulnerable to change and extinction. Buglife is working with NIEA
and others to ensure that our invertebrates have a brighter future.
New research reveals England’s only resident bottlenose dolphins
- The Wildlife Trusts A new study of bottlenose dolphins in the southwest of England
reveals a unique community. The southwest of England is known as a hotspot for cetaceans but
until recently little was known about the bottlenose dolphins glimpsed
off the coast. Now new research reveals that the southwest of England is
home to a resident population of bottlenose dolphins, the first and only
such community to be identified in English waters.
Ruth Williams, Marine Conservation Manager at Cornwall Wildlife
Trust, said: “This research is proof that we have a resident population
and is incredibly exciting. Further work is needed but this is a huge
step forward and I am proud of what our partnership between Cornwall
Wildlife Trust, scientists and boat operators has achieved. The future
of these iconic animals is in our hands and we need to make sure the few
we currently have in the southwest are given the protection not just to
survive, but to thrive.” Rebecca Dudley, MRes at University of Plymouth, who has been
analysing sightings and photographs of dolphins in the region, has
gathered data from a large number of collaborators between 2007 and
2016, studying their social structure and distribution. Individual
dolphins can be recognised by their dorsal fin, with its distinctive
shape and markings. From thousands of records, Rebecca Dudley identified
98 individuals and was able to define a distinct social group of 28
resident dolphins, present throughout the year in shallow coastal waters
around the southwest. This discovery could have significant implications for the
conservation of these animals, which currently receive no specific
protection in their home range. As dolphins are so wide-ranging, strong
evidence is needed to show that an area is important before protection
can even be considered. The UK’s two other resident bottlenose dolphin
populations (in the Moray Firth, Scotland, and in Cardigan Bay, Wales)
have both received protection. A summary fact sheet of this research can be found at:
http://www.cornwallwildlifetrust.org.uk/living-seas/bottlenose-dolphin-project
Scientific Publication Gaywood, M. J. (2018),
Reintroducing the Eurasian beaver Castor fiber to Scotland.
Mam Rev, 48: 48–61. doi:10.1111/mam.12113
And to finish the year:
Oldest living member of Slimbridge swan dynasty has arrived from the
Arctic - Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust Croupier, the 26-year-old leader of one of the biggest Bewick’s swan
families ever studied at Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust’s famous Swan Lake
at Slimbridge, arrived on Wednesday to the excitement of researchers.
The ‘cobfather’ was sadly minus his long-term partner, Dealer, who is
mum to 29 cygnets that they have brought back together over the years.
Researchers hope that Dealer has become separated from her mate on the
long migration and is still out there somewhere. But as Bewick’s swan
numbers have plummeted in the last two decades, they fear the worst. Croupier’s grandfather Nijinsky began wintering at Slimbridge in
1969. His mum Casino, at 27, was one of WWT’s longest living wild swans,
safely escorting 34 cygnets on the 2,500 mile journey from Russia to
Slimbridge during her lifetime. WWT’s swan research assistant Steve Heaven said: “Families tend to be
the dominant groups on our Swan Lake and Croupier is from one of the
oldest dynasties, which have ruled Slimbridge since the sixties. We can
trace the legacy of these powerful swan families as we’ve been studying
them closely for decades and drawing up family trees, using their
distinctive bill patterns to identify each member. Our long-term study
of the Bewick’s swans at Slimbridge has shed light on their ecological
needs, important for survival. This information is crucial for helping
us to understand why the population has been struggling”. For more information on Croupier, visit WWT’s swan expert Julia
Newth’s blog
here.
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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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of
prey, then both birds learn the lesson to stay away. By filming a
great tit having a terrible dining experience with conspicuous prey,
then showing it on a television to other tits before tracking their meal
selection, researchers found that birds acquired a better idea of which
prey to avoid: those that stand out. 
seasons
and tides, may create suitable conditions for the coexistence of a large
number of species.
(image:
Buglife)
Bottlenose
dolphin (©Dan Murphy via Wildlife Trusts)
Croupier
(image: WWT)
