|
A round up of the top countryside, conservation, wildlife and forestry stories as chosen by the CJS Team.
Sea snail shells dissolve in increasingly acidified oceans, study shows
– University of Plymouth Species living in regions with predicted future levels of CO2 were on
average around a third smaller than those living in present day
conditions A heat-map demonstrating where differences are most likely to occur
in shell shape among gastropods exposed to raised CO2 levels (with red
indicating a greater degree of change) Shelled marine creatures living in increasingly acidified oceans face
a fight for survival as the impacts of climate change spread, a new
study suggests. Researchers from the University of Tsukuba, Japan, and the University
of Plymouth, UK, assessed the impact of rising carbon dioxide levels on
the large predatory “triton shell” gastropod (Charonia lampas). They found those living in regions with predicted future levels of
CO2 were on average around a third smaller than counterparts living in
conditions seen throughout the world’s oceans today. However there was also a noticeable negative impact on the thickness,
density, and structure of their shells, causing visible deterioration to
the shell surface. Writing in Frontiers in Marine Science, scientists say the effects
are down to the increased stresses placed on the species in waters where
the pH is lower, which reduce their ability to control the calcification
process. And they have warned other shellfish are likely to be impacted in the
same way, threatening their survival and that of other species that rely
on them for food. Plymouth graduate
Dr Ben Harvey, now Assistant Professor in the University of
Tsukuba’s Shimoda Marine Research Center, said: “Ocean acidification is
a clear threat to marine life, acting as a stressor for many marine
animals. Here we found that the ability of the triton shells to produce
and maintain their shells was hindered by ocean acidification, with the
corrosive seawater making them smoother, thinner, and less dense. The
extensive dissolution of their shells has profound consequences for
calcified animals into the future as it is not something they can
biologically control, suggesting that some calcified species might be
unable to adapt to the acidified seawater if carbon dioxide emissions
continue to rise unchecked.”
New map shows endangered water voles thriving across threatened wetlands
– The Wildlife Trusts
Campaign launched today (15 October) to save the Gwent Levels
Water voles have been discovered thriving across the Gwent Levels
after bouncing back from extinction on the internationally-important
wetlands of south Wales. Six years ago, Gwent Wildlife
Trust reintroduced the endangered species to Magor Marsh nature reserve
on the edge of the Levels. New mapping shows that they have bred
successfully and spread up to 10 kilometres. The water vole is the UK’s most rapidly declining mammal and has been
lost from 94% of places where they were once prevalent; earlier this
year a report* revealed an ever-worsening situation. Thus, the new
map created by Gwent Wildlife Trust is very heartening and shows water
voles are reclaiming their historic range. Unfortunately, the news comes at a time when the Welsh government is
due to announce a decision which will decide the fate of the Gwent
Levels. A new 14-mile-long six-lane motorway is proposed; it will cut
across six protected wildlife havens and destroy or damage a historic
landscape which is Wales’ equivalent to the Amazon rainforest. Rare
wildlife such as water voles, otters and cranes will be badly affected. Ian Rappel, chief executive of Gwent Wildlife Trust says: “The
fantastic success of the water vole reintroduction project is a
wonderful testament to all the great efforts of volunteers and staff
working to enhance the Gwent Levels for wildlife. This beautiful
landscape is a nature-lover’s paradise and people really enjoy its peace
and tranquillity. But the success is bitter-sweet. If the new road gets
the go-ahead billions will be spent destroying a very special place for
the sake of saving ten minutes of commuting time.”
The people have spoken – and voted for their ten favourite UK parks
– Green Flag Award More than 65,000 votes cast as the nation picks the best of British
Image:
Green Flag Award Today (15 October), Green Flag Award is announcing the winners of the
2018 People’s Choice vote for the UK. With more than 1,800 sites to choose from – all of which meet the
high standards demanded by the Green Flag Award, the international
quality mark for parks and green spaces – the public have chosen their
top ten favourites. The ten winners of the 2018 People’s Choice Award are:
Included in this year’s list of winners are a university campus, a
town park, a woodland and a nature reserve. Paul Todd, Green Flag Award manager, said: “We know that parks matter
to people and that those tasked with looking after them have faced and
are facing some significant challenges with shrinking resources. The
number of people that took the time to vote for their favourite park is
testament to how much they are valued and we would like to congratulate
all the winners.”
Recorded cases of bird of prey poisonings at record low
– Scottish Government 2017 saw only one recorded incident of illegal bird of prey poisoning
in Scotland, according to new maps published by the Partnership for
Action Against Wildlife Crime (PAW) Scotland. This is the lowest total in a single year since PAW Scotland began
compiling data for 2004 onwards. Despite the drop in recorded incidents, data from satellite tagged
raptors continues to show birds disappearing in unexplained
circumstances, with persecution strongly suspected in many cases. There was a further 36% fall in all recorded bird of prey crimes
during 2017. The new figures show 9 confirmed crimes compared to 14 the
previous year. Species illegally killed in 2017 incidents included buzzards, owls,
and a hen harrier, while the golden eagle, osprey and merlin were
victims of disturbance cases. In addition to the poisoning incident,
there were two shootings, two illegal trappings and three cases of
disturbance. Environment Secretary Roseanna Cunningham said: “While I welcome this
further reduction in recorded bird of prey crimes, including our lowest
ever total for poisoning incidents, reports from early 2018 indicate
that this remains a problem in some parts of Scotland. It is extremely
frustrating that some criminals continue to undermine the good work that
has been done by conservationists and land managers in recent years,
with much of that work being done through the Partnership Against
Wildlife Crime (PAW Scotland).”
Call for public to help wildlife conservation
– The Mammal Society The Mammal Society, the only organisation dedicated to the study and
conservation of all mammals in Britain and Ireland, launched its new
Mammal Mapper app today. The
charity wants members of the public to help record when and where they
see mammals.
Most wild mammals, including rabbits and iconic species like
hedgehogs and mountain hares, are very poorly monitored. This makes it
difficult to know which regions or habitats are most important, or to
detect changes in their population sizes. The Mammal Mapper app is designed to record information on the
location and number of animals spotted on walks or bicycle rides. Fiona Mathews, Chair of the Mammal Society and Professor of
Environmental Biology at Sussex University explains “What we need people
to do is to go on a walk or bike-ride (an evening outing of about 45
minutes is ideal) and record the mammals they see. By recording the
route taken, the App will let us work out the densities of animals in
different habitats. This is a unique feature of the Mammal Mapper app
and will be hugely valuable for conservation. Previously we had no way
of working out whether a sighting was submitted because an animal was
common, or because people were excited to see it because it was rare. It
was also difficult to pin down the precise habitat where the mammal was
seen. New technology means that this is all now really easy on a
smart-phone”.
Hedgehog
Street reveals which counties are recording the most hedgehog sightings
- PTES For the first time we can revealed the counties across the British
Isles who are recording the most (and least!) number of native hedgehog
sightings. The Hedgehog Street team are calling for more people to
record their sightings of Britain’s favourite mammal online, to ensure
the BIG Hedgehog Map reflects the most accurate picture of hedgehogs
that have been seen in Britain. The data, which is from Hedgehog Street’s BIG Hedgehog Map, shows all recorded sightings of hedgehogs (dead or alive) since 2015. Hedgehog Street, which we run along side the British Hedgehog Preservation Society, has collated these sightings to create a ‘heatmap’ showing where in the British Isles the public are most actively recording sightings of hedgehogs: The top five hedgehog spotting counties are:
Emily Wilson, Hedgehog Officer for Hedgehog Street says: “We’re so
pleased that people across the country, from rural Hampshire to urban
landscapes such as Greater Manchester, are actively recording sightings
of hedgehogs when they see them. While the heatmap does not reflect
actual hedgehog distribution, the more data we can gather, the better
picture we have of where hedgehogs are located across the British Isles,
which helps us to protect these beautiful but endangered animals.”
First record of Myxomatosis in Hares - Essex
Wildlife Trust
Essex
Wildlife Trust is urging the public to record and send any sightings of
hares in Essex. Photo by Robin Lowry Myxomatosis is historically a disease that affects rabbits, caused by
the myxoma virus. It was introduced into Australia in 1950 in an attempt
to control the rabbit population. The disease first reached the UK in
1953, where it was originally considered an effective rabbit bio-control
measure, before 99% of rabbits were killed by the disease in just 3
years and the intentional introduction was banned. The disease is spread by direct contact with an affected animal or
from biting insects and in rabbits they usually die within 14 days of
contracting the disease, developing skin tumours, blindness, fatigue and
fever. Hares have suffered from an 80% decline since the late 19th century
and their population is not as robust as rabbits. Over time many rabbits
develop a resistance to the disease, however there won’t be any
resistance in hares yet so this outbreak could be extremely detrimental.
2018’s Tree of the Year winners revealed -
Woodland Trust A beech tree created to woo a sweetheart 100 years ago, which is
still a meeting place for lovers today and a popular place to pop the
question, has been crowned England’s Tree of the Year. The public voted overwhelmingly to crown Nellie’s Tree in Aberford,
Leeds, its 2018 winner. The tree was grafted from three saplings
to form an N by Vic Stead who would make a daily walk to see his
girlfriend Nellie. They would later marry.
England's
winner, Nellie's Tree (Photo: Rob Grange) The winning trees for Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland were also
revealed live on the BBC’s The One Show on Wednesday evening (17
October). Northern Ireland: The Giant Sequoia, Castlewellan Forest Park, County
Down England: Nellie’s Tree, Aberford, Leeds Scotland: Netty’s Tree, Eriskay, Outer Hebrides Wales: Pwllpriddog Oak, Rhandirmwyn, Carmarthenshire Now in its fifth year, the Woodland Trust’s Tree of the Year contest
aims to showcase the UK’s best trees to help drive up interest in their
value and protection. The charity is now asking the public to whittle
the four national winners down to ONE to represent the UK in February’s
European Tree of the Year competition.
Dartmoor reserve wins top national award -
Devon Wildlife Trust A project which has seen the restoration of bog habitats in Dartmoor
National Park has taken home the prestigious Park Protector Award. The
project has been recognised for its important role in improving one of
Dartmoor’s most beautiful valleys for wildlife and increasing its
visitor access. Opening up Emsworthy Mire nature reserve, which is owned and cared
for by the Devon Wildlife Trust, took home the £2,000 prize, which was
presented at a parliamentary reception last night [17 October]. The
annual Award is run by Campaign for National Parks to recognise,
celebrate and support projects that make a difference within the English
and Welsh National Parks. Peter Burgess, Director of Conservation and Development at the Devon
Wildlife Trust said: “Opening up Emsworthy Mire, is a wonderful example
of what can happen when dedicated, passionate people come together to
make a difference to our natural world. Through determination and hard
work we have completely transformed the mire from an impenetrable and
formidable landscape to somewhere both wildlife and visitors can enjoy.” The European Court of Justice has today ruled that the UK Government
failed to propose sufficient numbers of sites that would protect harbour
porpoises in waters off the Scottish, English, Welsh and Northern
Irish coastline. The European Commission now will ask the UK government
what measures they will put in place to comply with the EU Habitats
Directive.
Harbour
Porpoise St Lawrence Canada © Ores Ursula Tscherter The Commission had previously brought action against the UK for
failing to designate Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) for harbour
porpoises, which led to six sites being designated. However, scientific
evidence has demonstrated that additional sites were required in the
northern North Sea and Celtic & Irish Sea Management Units in Scottish
waters, before the network of SACs for harbour porpoise could be
considered complete. Whale and Dolphin Conservation has campaigned for 20 years to get
more protection for this important but vulnerable species and was
delighted when Scottish, English and Welsh Harbour Porpoise Special
Areas of Conservation were submitted originally to the European
Commission. More than 8,500 people contributed to the consultation in 2016 and
supported these sites and
WDC’s campaign to make these sites a reality. However, whilst the
efforts of the UK to designate these SACs are welcome, more needs to be
done. The ruling by the European Court of Justice today only relates to
site designation and doesn’t consider important management measures
regarding activities that take place within these areas where the
harbour porpoise feed and breed, and so might threaten their future
survival.
Work begins on developing next priorities for South Downs National Park Conservation and heritage organisations, rural economy
representatives, water companies, farming groups and volunteer networks
are just some of the groups being challenged to help set out the
priorities for the South Downs National Park for the next five years and
the practical action they will take to help achieve them. The work is
part of a five-year review of the Partnership Management Plan for the
National Park. The first South Downs National Park Partnership Management Plan was
published by the National Park Authority in 2014 following extensive
consultation. The plan sets out a shared vision for how the SDNPA and
the partner organisations would like the National Park to be in the
future and identified the key priorities for how they would work
together over five years to achieve this. It’s now time to put together
an action plan for the next five years. Margaret Paren, Chair of the South Downs National Park Authority,
said: “The Partnership Management Plan is about conservation and
enhancement not preservation. In setting priorities for the next five
years we must do all we can to respond to both the opportunities and
challenges that face this wonderful living, working landscape to keep it
thriving. Everyone who cares for or benefits from the National Park has
a role to play and we will be engaging with partners, communities and
other stakeholders over the coming months to put together an exciting
future for the National Park.” The new Partnership Management Plan will launch in autumn 2019
alongside a campaign encouraging members of the public to get involved
in caring for the National Park.
Rare snails introduced to Pentland Hills -
Buglife Conservation experts have hailed the first ever release of rare Pond
mud snails in the Lothians as a “vital step” in efforts to save the
species.
Native
to Europe, Pond mud snail populations in the UK have almost halved over
the past twenty-five years due to habitat loss. Measuring a little over
a centimetre in length and classed as a vulnerable species, the snails
were previously found in only seven locations within the central belt of
Scotland, a fraction of their former range. Pond mud snails (image: Buglife) More than 80 snails have now been introduced to a specially created
habitat near the Pentland Hills, having been bred at the Royal
Zoological Society of Scotland’s Edinburgh Zoo key partners of the
Marvellous Mud Snails project being run by Buglife Scotland, this
project is working to ensure this species doesn’t disappear from
Scotland. Ben Harrower, the charity’s conservation programme manager, said, “It
is very encouraging that we now have this new Pond mud snail site, which
means there are currently eight populations in Scotland. We were able to
release 87 snails in total."
UK Research and Innovation launches major programmes to tackle climate
change and drive clean growth - UK Research
and Innovation Leading research teams will join businesses and government
departments to tackle the impacts of climate change on our towns and
cities and the countryside. Four research programmes established with £60 million of funding have
been announced by Greg Clark, Secretary of State for Business, Energy
and Industrial Strategy, today, Friday 19 October, to protect the
environment and communities from the effects of climate change and
support a move to a low carbon economy by:
The programmes, will be funded through the Strategic Priorities Fund,
delivered by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI). UK Research and Innovation Chief Executive, Professor Sir Mark
Walport, said: “The recent IPCC report is a timely reminder of the
challenges we face in tackling climate change. Storm Callum has
highlighted the impact that extreme weather events can have on our
communities. It is vital that the evidence generated by research
is used effectively to navigate and mitigate the effects of climate
change, and new technologies are developed to support a move to a low
carbon economy. The Strategic Priorities Fund is important in supporting
UKRI’s mission, allowing us to bring collective expertise from a wide
range of disciplines and sectors to bear on addressing important matters
affecting all of society."
Tree Champion: we must preserve our urban trees
- defra The government’s Tree Champion, Sir William Worsley, has called for
stronger protections for England’s street trees with the launch of an
‘Urban Tree Manual’. Aimed at local authorities, charities and community groups, the
manual provides advice on selecting the right tree for the right place
in towns and cities – ensuring the views of local communities are at the
heart of decision-making and residents are properly consulted before
street trees are felled.
Government Tree Champion Sir William Worsley said:" Whether they’re
rooted in countryside woodland or in urban cityscapes, trees make our
environment more attractive and a healthier place to live and work –
which is why expertise in the planting and maintenance of urban trees is
vital. I hope this Urban Tree Manual will help to improve
decision-making around the country to make sure our invaluable trees are
preserved now - and for future generations." The toolkit builds on work already underway by local authorities to
help trees flourish, featuring case studies such as the planting at
The Queen
Elizabeth Olympic Park which focused on choosing climate change
resilient trees, and
Observatree - a collaborative citizen science project which aims to
spot new pest and disease threats to UK trees. The release of the Urban Tree Manual forms part of the government’s
wider work to protect and promote our precious trees, including our
commitment to plant one million trees in our towns and cities and eleven
million trees nationwide over the course of this parliament. Access
the Urban Tree Manual here.
Scientific Publications Al Vrezec & Irena Bertoncelj (2018)
Territory monitoring of Tawny Owls Strix aluco using playback
calls is a reliable population monitoring method, Bird Study, DOI:
10.1080/00063657.2018.1522527 (open access) Sandom CJ, Dempsey B, Bullock D, et al.
Rewilding in the English uplands: Policy and practice. J Appl Ecol.
2018;00:1–8. DOI: 10.1111/1365-2664.13276 (free access) Zuzana Musilová, Petr Musil, Jan Zouhar, Matyáš Adam, Vladimír
Bejček,
Importance of Natura 2000 sites for wintering waterbirds: Low
preference, species' distribution changes and carrying capacity of
Natura 2000 could fail to protect the species, Biological
Conservation, Volume 228, 2018, Pages 79-88, ISSN 0006-3207, DOI:
10.1016/j.biocon.2018.10.004.
Callaghan, C. T., Major, R. E., Lyons, M. B., Martin, J. M. &
Kingsford, R. T. (2018)
The effects of local and landscape habitat attributes
on bird diversity in urban greenspaces (open access) Ecosphere. DOI:
10.1002/ecs2.2347
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||
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. |