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Headlines from week beginning 23 July 2018 |
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A round up of the top countryside, conservation, wildlife and forestry stories as chosen by the CJS Team.
Are ripe berries a warning for wildlife? –
Woodland Trust Wacky weather could mean early berry batches, but browning and
weakened trees, warns Woodland Trust.
The Woodland Trust’s Nature’s
Calendar project is already receiving records of ripe berries in the
current heatwave – but the dry weather could spell danger for this
year’s wild fruit crop, and the animals that feed on them. So far the Trust has received 59 records of blackberries ripening,
and six records of rowan berries ripening. The baseline average for
these events is 27 August and 1 September, meaning the earliest
sightings this year have come in around two months earlier than this,
and about two weeks earlier than our expected date range. The first ripe
sloe was also recorded on 12 July (baseline average for this is
19 September). The heatwave could also trigger other changes in UK
flora, with tree leaves browning earlier as well. These early changes in summer scenery could, however, suggest something more sinister. If the hot weather continues, the lack of water could mean that berries may be smaller or drop from trees and shrubs altogether. Migratory birds like fieldfare and redwing (arriving in the UK around October) could be left with less food if the resident wildlife has taken their share first. Furthermore, trees may tint earlier as they try to preserve water and can also be more susceptible to threats such as tree pests and diseases. The Trust, therefore, is urging the public to take note of seasonal changes and report them via Nature’s Calendar.
Beavers arrive in the Forest of Dean –
University of Exeter A pair of Eurasian Beavers will return to the Forest of Dean today
(24 July) for the first time for about 400 years. It is expected that the beavers’ activity will improve biodiversity
in their new 6.5-hectare home and may have the potential to reduce local
flood
Regular monitoring will continue throughout the three-year project to
assess these ecosystem benefits. Beavers arrive in the Forest of Dean (University of Exeter) The release will be attended by Environment Secretary Michael Gove,
who will also announce £20,000 of new funding for the Devon trial
reintroduction of beavers to understand further the impact of bringing
back one of England’s native species. Mr Gove said: “The beaver has a special place in English heritage and
the Forest of Dean. This release is a fantastic opportunity to develop
our understanding of the potential impacts of reintroductions and help
this iconic species, 400 years after it was driven to extinction. The
community of Lydbrook has shown tremendous support for this scheme and
the beavers will be a welcome addition to local wildlife. The project is
an example of our wider approach to enhancing biodiversity. It is
another step towards our aim of leaving the environment in a better
state for future generations.”
Professor Richard Brazier, a hydrologist from the University of
Exeter, said: “We have monitored the hydrology of the Greathough Brook
for over a year now and shown quite clearly that the brook contributes
to the flooding problems experienced in the village of Lydbrook. We now
have a unique opportunity to study the impacts of beaver dams on the
flood flows from this flood-prone landscape. The study will be a
valuable and important opportunity to quantify the benefits that beaver
dams might deliver and therefore contribute to natural flood management
in an upland, wooded catchment.”
Microclimates may provide wildlife with respite from climate change
– University of York Sheltered pockets of cooler and more variable conditions in the
British countryside may help native species of flora and fauna survive
warming
temperatures caused by climate change, researchers have found.
As global temperatures rise, some species of butterfly, beetle and
plant are already beginning to disappear from the warmer parts of their
geographical range. By the end of this century, many of our native species will be
experiencing intolerable temperatures, forcing some of them to move
northwards and uphill. Alternative habitats However, researchers based at the Universities of York and Exeter
suggest that locally variable habitats such as hummocky hillsides or
shaded valleys could help a range of native species survive this modern
warming episode – in much the same way as species such as red deer and
squirrel survived the Ice Age by seeking refuge in pockets of warmer
conditions sheltered from the extreme cold. Analysing five million records of plants and animals collected by
members of the public in England, the researchers found that a number of
these microclimates or “refugia” are already being used as alternative
habitats for many species sensitive to warming. For some species, the beneficial effect of refugia could be
substantial; for example, the researchers estimate that refugia have
reduced the probability of extinctions of Dark Green Fritillary
butterflies (Argynnis aglaja) by 63% in the parts of the country that
have warmed the most.
Caught on camera: identity crisis for blue tit chicks after being raised
by the wrong parents – RSPB Wildlife cameras in nest boxes often reveal a fascinating glimpse
into the private world of birds.
Image: RSPB But one such camera at The Lodge Forest Visitor Centre in Aberfoyle
uncovered a truly remarkable family situation this summer, as a pair of
great tits were recorded raising both their own chicks, and two blue tit
chicks at the same time. The nest was first discovered in early June, and two of the eggs in
the clutch were quickly identified as belonging to a different species.
The eggs all hatched together, but despite being dwarfed by the much
larger great tits, the two blue tit chicks fought their way to the front
at feeding time, and managed to not only survive, but thrive, fledging
at the same time as their adopted siblings. This behaviour is not unknown amongst blue tits and great tits, but
it is rare to catch it on film. Territorial arguments for good nesting sites are thought to lead to
the larger great tits displacing their smaller rivals, sometimes after
they’ve already laid their eggs. But blue tits have also been recorded
sneaking back in after the takeover and adding a few eggs of their own,
perhaps as a last ditch breeding strategy. Ami Kirkbright, RSPB Scotland Wildlife Information Officer, said: “Watching this little great tit nest with a mixed brood of chicks has just been incredible. It’s something that no one here has ever seen before, it was really fascinating to research what was happening, and then follow their progress over the weeks.
NRW sets out a fresh approach to wildlife in Wales A report is launched today (Tuesday 24 July) which aims to secure
long-term improvements in Wales’ habitats and wildlife. “Vital
Nature” sets out Natural Resources Wales’ (NRW’s) priorities for
protecting and restoring Wales’ biodiversity, the variety of habitats
and species and the ecosystems they depend on. It outlines NRW’s goals and ways of working and a series of
high-level actions and commitments up to 2022. It also sets out how NRW will work with other public authorities as
they play their part in improving the environment. The goals include helping people, communities and businesses to
connect more with nature, to raise awareness, understanding and interest
in biodiversity and to make sustainable use of the wealth of
opportunities and resources that the natural environment provides. The goals also focus on improving the links between protected sites,
to enhance wildlife and habitats and make them more resilient to
pressures including climate change. They also include ensuring that the
consideration of biodiversity is at the heart of all our activities, and
working with others to support them to do the same. Central to the report is the principle that everyone’s wellbeing
depends on a healthy environment, which in turn depends on healthy
biodiversity.
The rate at which our planet is warming has been found to be a
critical factor in explaining the decline of bird and mammal species,
reveals new
research published today in Global Change Biology by international
conservation charity ZSL’s (Zoological Society of London) Institute of
Zoology. Black-tailed godwit's are also one of the species in decline in Germany and Senegal © Aron Tanti Scientists studied 987 populations of 481 species across the globe,
to investigate how the rate of climate change and land-use change (from
natural to human-dominated landscapes) interact to affect the rate of
decline on mammals and birds, as well as whether species located in
protected areas and body size had an influence. The rate at which our
climate is warming was found to be the best explanation for the observed
rate of population declines. Birds were one of the worst affected by rapid climate warming, with
effects being twice as strong in birds over mammals, as well as
populations located outside of protected areas being more severely
impacted. Species such as the black-tailed godwit (Limosa limosa)
in Germany and Senegal, pink-footed Geese in Canada (Anser
brachyrhynchus) and black-backed jackal (Canis mesomelas)
in Tanzania were just some of the species highlighted to be in
population decline.
Some protection reinstated for at-risk Local Wildlife Sites
- The Wildlife Trusts Today the Government has published a revised version of its National
Planning Policy Framework which now includes some reinstated protection
for Local Wildlife Sites following a campaign supported by 25,000
people. The National Planning Policy Framework guides thousands of planning
decisions every year - from a new 5,000 home estate, a business park or
two houses at the end of your road. Local Wildlife Sites are some of our
most valuable wildlife areas. They are identified and selected locally
using scientifically-determined criteria and surveys [following Defra’s
guidance]. The only type of protection that Local Wildlife Sites have is
through national planning policy. More than 25,000 people supported The
Wildlife Trusts’ campaign to call for protection for Local Wildlife
Sites which were omitted from the previous version of the National
Planning Policy Framework, published in April. We called for the framework to include Local Wildlife Sites in a list
of types of sites on which development would be restricted. We also
asked that Local Wildlife Sites should be identified and mapped as part
of a network of wildlife-rich habitats. Finally, we wanted the framework
to require local councils to protect Local Wildlife Sites from harm.
New accord launches to enhance National Parks and woodland
- Defra National Parks Minister backs new agreement to create new woodland,
protecting wildlife and connecting people with nature.
The Accord, announced at the New Forest Show,
will expand and protect woodland (image: Defra) The Accord, a statement of a shared ambition between the Forestry
Commission and National Parks England, will bring together decision
makers to ensure woodland is managed sustainably and in line with a
natural capital approach. This will take into account the environmental,
social and economic impact of trees and forests and the statutory
purposes of our National Parks. National Parks are already home to a third of the Public Forest
Estate in England, and the Accord will also consider how woodland
creation grants can be used to sensitively expand wooded areas across
these landscapes. The partnership ensures all woodland will be managed
to the highest standards so they are rich in wildlife and protected for
future generations to enjoy.
Hot weather continues to affect nature reserves
- Northumberland Wildlife Trust The hot weather, although glorious, is having an effect on
Northumberland Wildlife Trust’s 60 reserves, resulting in staff
receiving telephone calls from concerned members of the public. Although it may not appear so at first glance, the water level of the
pond on its Holywell Pond reserve is starting to run low. The low water level will result in the water being more stagnant as
the nutrients will be concentrated into a small area. Stagnant water
will cause algal blooms that are very dangerous to dogs jumping into the
pond, toxic to wildlife such as foxes and deer drinking from the pond.
It is deadly for plants in the pond, as they will be smothered and die,
and, in the event of it completely drying up, the wildlife living within
it will start to die very quickly. Elsewhere, the peat is cracking on the Trust’s Whitelee reserve a
cause of great concern to the Trust’s estates team. Once peat starts to
dry out it reduces the ability to absorb water, thereby shedding carbon
dioxide into the atmosphere exacerbating climate change and increasing
the risk of flooding in the event of heavy rain. It also burns very
easily. The plants at Whitelee are very bleached with sphagnum which is
normally bright red bleached almost white. The wildlife charity is repeating its call for visitors to its
reserves to take their cigarette butts and lighters home with them and
to be on the lookout for broken bottles which, in the current high
temperatures, act as magnifying glasses and can spark a fire in a couple
of hours.
Celebrating a Year of Whale Track! - HWDT Now a year on from its launch, Whale Track, HWDT’s community sightings app and website, is going from strength to strength, creating a growing community of citizen scientists monitoring whales and dolphins on the west coast of Scotland.
The HWDT team are jumping for joy over Whale
Track's success! Whale Track is a first of its kind smartphone app using the
technology we all carry in our pockets to allow anyone to quickly and
easily record sightings of marine mammals in the Hebrides. The app is
free to download (Google Play, App Store) and uses GPS to accurately
track excursions at sea and record locations of sightings. Crucially,
the app works without phone signal or WiFi, meaning sightings can be
recorded even in the most remote areas.
Sky teams up with Imperial academics to tackle plastic waste
- Imperial College London Leading experts from Imperial College London and global media company
Sky Plc are to work together to prevent an avalanche of ocean plastic
waste. Sky Ocean Ventures and Imperial’s Grantham Institute – Climate Change
and the Environment, have agreed to work together on their common goals
to protect the environment by supporting promising business and
scientific innovations and sharing inspiring messages about the benefits
to our planet of eliminating plastic waste. Internationally-renowned academics and enthusiastic entrepreneurs
from the Grantham Institute will explore solutions at all stages of the
problem that sees more than 5 million tonnes of plastic enter the ocean
each year. On current trends, there will be more plastic than fish
in the ocean by 2050, according to sailor and campaigner Dame Ellen
MacArthur. The partnership is led at Imperial by the Grantham Institute –
Climate Change and the Environment, and harnesses the academic expertise
of the College's Ocean Plastic Solutions Network. Grantham Institute
experts gave evidence to the UK government that was instrumental in
bringing about a UK-wide ban on micro-plastic particles in cosmetic
products in 2016. Sky Ocean Ventures is on a mission to find ideas that will help save
our oceans from drowning in plastic. Its impact investment model,
anchored with a £25 million commitment from Sky plc, is committed to
fostering an innovation ecosystem to achieve this goal.
Time is running out in the tropics - researchers warn of global
biodiversity collapse - Lancaster University A global biodiversity collapse is imminent unless we take urgent,
concerted action to reverse species loss in the tropics, according to a
major scientific study in the prestigious journal Nature. In their paper ‘The future of hyperdiverse tropical ecosystems’ an
international team has warned that a failure to act quickly and
decisively will greatly increase the risk of unprecedented and
irrevocable species loss in the most diverse parts of the planet. The study is the first high-level report on the state of all four of
the world´s most diverse tropical ecosystems – tropical forests,
savannas, lakes and rivers, and coral reefs. The authors found that although the tropics cover just 40% of the
planet, they are home to more than three-quarters of all species
including almost all shallow-water corals and more than 90% of the
world’s bird species. Most of these species are found nowhere else, and
millions more are as yet unknown to science. “At the current rate of species description – about 20,000 new
species per year – it can be estimated that at least 300 years will be
necessary to catalogue biodiversity,” said Dr. Benoit Guénard, Assistant
Professor of the University of Hong Kong and an author of the study. And across tropical ecosystems, many species face the ‘double
jeopardy’ of being harmed by both local human pressures - such as
overfishing or selective logging - and droughts or heatwaves linked to
climate change.
Plastic bag sales in 'big seven' supermarkets down 86% since 5p charge
- Defra New figures show sales of 5p bags in England continued to fall in
2017/18.
Plastic bag sales in England’s ‘big seven’ supermarkets have dropped
by 86% since the Government introduced its 5p plastic bag charge in
2015, helping to tackle the devastating impact of plastic waste on our
environment. New figures reveal customers of the country’s biggest supermarkets
bought nearly a quarter fewer plastic bags last year compared to 2016/17
- a decrease of nearly 300 million bags. This is equivalent to just 19 bags per person in England, compared to
140 bags since the government introduced a 5p charge in 2015 – a
dramatic reduction of 86%. Welcoming today’s figures, Environment Secretary Michael Gove said: Plastic bags have a significant impact on the environment. Government
scientists believe plastic in the sea is set to treble in a decade
unless marine litter is curbed - with one million birds and over 100,000
sea mammals dying every year from eating and getting tangled in plastic
waste. A recent study by Cefas revealed since the 5p charge on plastic bags
was introduced, which has taken over 9 billion plastic bags out of
circulation, there has been an estimated 50% reduction in plastic bag
marine litter. Access the Defra Research and analysis:
Carrier bag charge: summary of data in England, A summary of the
data on single-use plastic carrier bags in England.
Environment Minister announces National Park funding to continue at same
level - Welsh Government To mark National Parks Week, the Minister for Environment, Hannah
Blythyn, has today announced that Welsh Government funding for Wales’
three National Parks will continue at the same level as last year. The confirmation of the funding will provide financial security for
the National Park Authorities through an additional £1.5million over the
next two years. The Minister has also published Valued and Resilient: the Welsh
Government’s Priorities for Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty and
National Parks. The document outlines the Minister’s priority areas and provides
clarity for the National Parks and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty
(AONBs), following a period of review and in preparation for the UK’s
exit from the EU. It calls on the managing bodies to deliver on a number of priorities,
including the Nature Recovery Plan, a refreshed woodland strategy for
Wales and Cymraeg 2050.
App helps ecologists map vulnerable ecosystems within minutes
- University of New South Wales A mapmaking app created by UNSW scientists harnesses the power of
Google and NASA to empower ecologists to create a view on ecosystems
without any specialist equipment. The UNSW scientists built the program to allow quick analyses of
Landsat satellite data gathered by NASA and the US Geological Survey.
Landsat is a series of satellites imaging the whole Earth every two
weeks since the 1970s - it is one of the longest continuous space-based
record of global change. The database of images is free, and when pieced
together forms an intricately detailed image mosaic of the Earth. Dr Murray explains that just half a decade ago, building a map from
raw satellite data from scratch required extensive work. “In the past it
has been a technical process to produce high-quality maps suitable for
tracking environmental change such as deforestation and ecosystem loss.
It really has been sitting in the hands of experts,” says Dr Murray. “We
aimed to remove the technical steps required to monitor ecosystems from
space. Now, if I want to map an area the size of Sydney using satellite
data that would require a fraction of the time in REMAP."
REMAP was designed to be user-friendly, making it accessible for
everyone at the frontline of environment conservation, from national
park rangers and ecologists to citizen scientists. The program gives
users a high level of control and ability to map an ecosystem type,
analyse specific areas and even the timeframe of their choosing. The app uses machine learning to develop a map: users train REMAP to
classify specific ecosystems types by identifying a few pixels from
Google Earth, or by uploading their own field data. From that little bit
of data, REMAP can apply that information to recognise ecosystems in a
selected area and then returns results that let users know the final
extent of the ecosystem and how much it has changed over time. It is
possible to tailor the program to detect ecosystem changes, such as
witnessing the boundaries of forests shrink over the decades due to
deforestation.
Scientific publications Creel, S. et al. (2018)
Changes in African large carnivore diets over the past half-century
reveal the loss of large prey. Journal of Applied Ecology. doi:
10.1111/1365-2664.13227 Prévot, A. C., Cheval, H., Raymond, R & Cosquer, A. (2018)
Routine experiences of nature in cities can increase personal commitment
toward biodiversity conservation. Biological Conservation. Doi:
10.1016/j.biocon.2018.07.008
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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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The
first ripe sloe has also been recorded (credit: WTML/Ben Lee)
risk.-uni-york.jpg)
Boggy, cool and damp habitats can also act as
refugia. Credit Marcus Rhodes.
%20Aron%20Tanti.jpg)
A
new Accord that aims to expand and enhance woodland in National Parks to
protect wildlife and connect people with nature has been launched today
at the New Forest Show.
The
new infrastructure has helped almost double the rate sightings are
reported to HWDT and Whale Track now has a staggering 651 users, who
have recorded over 3,550 sightings and 24,055 animals. The sightings
reported are helping to track the movements of coastal species like
bottlenose dolphins and unravelling the mysteries of more elusive
species like humpback whales and killer whales. The project was made
possible thanks to a generous grant of £79,300 from the Heritage Lottery
Fund.
The
REMAP program allows users to identify ecosystems, shown here mapping
deforestation. Credit: REMAP
