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Headlines from week beginning 5 August 2019 |
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A round up of the top countryside, conservation, wildlife and forestry stories as chosen by the CJS Team.
One good tern deserves … four others as rare birds hatch on the Welsh
coast - RSPB Good news on The Skerries, off Anglesey, where four roseate tern
chicks have hatched to two pairs of the elegant seabirds
For the first time in 29 years roseate terns, the UK’s rarest nesting
seabirds, hatched four fluffy chicks on The Skerries, off Anglesey. The
chicks arrived in late June, with two pairs of roseate terns each having
two hungry beaks to feed. More good news has come as the four chicks
have now successfully fledged. Roseate terns have long tails, and beautiful pale feathers with the
slight rosy flush that gives them their name. These endangered birds,
affectionately called "rosys", fly each spring from western Africa to
nest at just a handful of coastal spots in the UK and Ireland. In Wales, nesting roseate terns are rare. So, 2018’s successful
nesting attempt of a single pair on the Skerries for the first time in
12 years was an exciting development. The arrival of this year's second
pair is an encouraging sign that numbers of these birds are growing. The Skerries are a group of small rocky islets which lie just off the
northwest corner of Anglesey, Wales. Due to its sparse vegetation and
rough terrain, it is inhospitable to humans. However, the islands are an
extremely important sanctuary for nesting seabirds, especially terns.
The largest Arctic tern colony in the UK, depends on these islands: in
2018 over 3,000 pairs of these birds raised their young here, along with
more than 300 common tern pairs. During the summer, the islands are also
home to nesting puffins, along with herring, lesser, and great
black-backed gulls.
A beautiful blue butterfly which has been struggling for the last 40
years could be making a comeback, wildlife charity Butterfly
Conservation can reveal. (image: Peter Withers) The Common Blue is the most widespread of the UK’s blue butterflies
and during the record-breaking hot weather in 2018, the butterfly’s
numbers soared across the UK, increasing by 104% on the previous summer. Now, with the country experiencing another heatwave and the Met
Office forecasting above average temperatures throughout August, experts
are predicting the Common Blue could see its best ever summer. As part of this year’s Big Butterfly Count, Butterfly Conservation
has teamed up with Campaign for National Parks to ask the public to look
out for and record the Common Blue at the 13 parks they work to protect
across England and Wales. The butterfly is not typically found in gardens, preferring
unimproved grassland such as downland, woodland clearings, heathland and
even sand dunes – all habitats that can be found across National Parks
sites, like those in the New Forest, the Peak District and on the
Pembrokeshire Coast.
New study shows charred vegetation remains help to lessen overall carbon
emission from wildfires - Swansea University The extensive outbreak of wildfires in the arctic and the vast
amounts of CO2 they are emitting have been hitting the headlines across
the world with their extent being unprecedented since satellite
observations of fire began. Decades of satellite observations show that in an average year,
wildfires around the world burn an area equivalent to the size of India
and emit more carbon dioxide to the atmosphere than global road, rail,
shipping and air transport combined. As vegetation in burned areas regrows, it draws CO2 back out of the
atmosphere through photosynthesis. This is part of the normal
fire-recovery cycle, which can take less than a year in grasslands or
decades in fire-adapted forests. In extreme cases, such as arctic or tropical peatlands, full recovery
may not occur for centuries. This recovery of vegetation is important because carbon that is not
re-captured stays in the atmosphere and contributes to climate change. Deforestation fires are a particularly important contributor to
climate change as these result in a long-term loss of carbon to the
atmosphere. Now a new study by wildfire researchers at Swansea University and
Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam has quantified the important role that
charcoal created by fires - known as pyrogenic carbon - plays in helping
to compensate for carbon emissions. Their paper Global
fire emissions buffered by the production of pyrogenic carbon, has
just been published in Nature Geoscience. DOI 10.1038/s41561-019-0403-x
Robot cameras reveal secret lives of basking sharks in UK marine
conservation first – Scottish Natural
Heritage
An autonomous ‘SharkCam’ has been used in the UK for the first time
to observe the behaviour of basking sharks in the Inner Hebrides. Scientists hope the stunning images captured by the autonomous
underwater vehicle (AUV) will reinforce the case for creating the
world’s first protected area for basking sharks in this part of the sea. The REMUS SharkCam technology is owned and operated by the Woods Hole
Oceanographic Institution (WHOI). The project is funded by WWF/Sky Ocean Rescue, Scottish Natural
Heritage (SNH), WHOI and the University of Exeter. The team used the AUV to follow basking sharks below the surface of
the water and collect high-quality oceanographic data and wide angle
high-definition video of their behaviour from a distance. Initial
footage from the innovative REMUS-100 metre rated SharkCam Robot
deployed off the coast of Coll and Tiree last month shows the sharks
moving through the water column, potentially searching for food, feeding
near the surface and swimming close to the seabed. It is hoped that further analysis of the many hours of video footage
from the AUV, as well as visuals from towed camera tags attached to the
sharks and the deployment of advanced sonar imaging, will uncover more
about the underwater behaviour, social interactions, group behaviour and
courtship of the species.
CABI’s expert scientists in the field of ecosystems management and
invasion ecology have presented new guidance on ways to help protect the
world’s trees and forests from harmful pests and diseases such as
the box tree moth and ash dieback. Dr René Eschen led an international team of researchers who suggest
that a number of important factors should be considered when monitoring
for non-native pests that can pose a serious threat to forest resources
and have significant negative economic, biodiversity and livelihood
impacts. The team, which includes scientists from the Slovenian Forestry
Research Institute, the Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute, UK,
the University of Belgrade, Serbia and the Croatian Forest Research
Institute, say more information about organisms associated with imported
woody plant is needed to support authorities to be better prepared for
the arrival and spread of new pests. They stress that the increase in intercontinental trade is coinciding
with an increase in the number of potentially serious pests in all parts
of the world, and stronger border biosecurity is needed to minimise the
risk of additional pests being introduced. Dr Eschen and PhD student Iva Franić, in the new research published in the Journal of Biogeography, conducted a literature review and analysed case studies in Serbia, Croatia and Switzerland. They set out to determine inter and intra annual and spatial patterns in insect diversity, spatial patterns in diversity of seed-borne fungi, as well as spatial and temporal patterns across and within regions, locations and years.
Road verges provide refuge for pollinators –
University of Exeter Roadside verges provide a vital refuge for pollinators – but they
must be managed better, new research shows. With many pollinator species in decline, the University of Exeter
study shows verges can provide food and a home for pollinators such as
bees, butterflies and hoverflies. But the study emphasises that not all verges are equal. It found
pollinators prefer less busy roads and areas deeper into verges. It also found that cutting verges in summer, which removes
wildflowers, makes them useless for pollinators for weeks or even
months. “Road verges can provide a fantastic home for wildflowers and
pollinators, which is often lacking in our vast agricultural
landscapes,” said lead author Ben Phillips, of the Environment and
Sustainability Institute on Exeter’s Penryn Campus in Cornwall. “But
management is key – some road verges need to be cut for safety, but at
the moment we cut far more than we need to. Most verges are cut in
summer – the peak of flowering – but where possible they should be left
until autumn, when pollinators are less active. Our results show that
the part of the verge within two metres of the road contains the fewest
pollinators. This is often the most important part to cut for road
safety and visibility, so where possible only this part should be cut in
summer.”
Land managers vital to the success of rewilding in the Scottish uplands
– The James Hutton Institute Rewilding in the Scottish uplands could take decades without the
intervention of land managers, a new long-term grazing experiment at
Glen Finglas has shown. The experiment, the first of its kind in
Scotland, was set up in 2002 to explore how changes to Common
Agricultural Policy, particularly decoupling of support from livestock
numbers, might affect upland biodiversity. The grazing experiment assessed the impact of intensification
(tripling sheep numbers), abandonment (removal of sheep) and grazer
diversification (partial replacement of sheep by cattle) on vegetation
composition in a diverse area of grassland. It investigated how species
respond to different grazing treatments and how responses at lower
levels of the food chain affect those higher up. Professor Robin Pakeman, of the James Hutton Institute, and part of
the research team responsible for the experiment, explained: “We were
interested in how changes in grazing might cascade through a system from
the direct impacts of the grazers on the plants to indirect impacts on
other parts of the system (invertebrates, birds and voles). The
responses of individual plant species to the experiment took a minimum
of 12 years and often 15 years to become apparent, with some species
showing no detectable changes. In contrast, the meadow pipits responded
within a year of the treatments being imposed.” The research can be used to explore the concept of rewilding, which
refers to the restoration of an ecosystem, where nature takes care of
itself. Rewilding aims to encourage natural processes and, if required,
introduce missing species, allowing them to shape the landscape
naturally. Robin said: “We were interested in the impacts of grazing on birds,
so plots had to be big enough to have multiple territories of the most
common breeding bird – the meadow pipits. We established the experiment
on a mixture of uplands habitats: wet heath, wet and dry grassland and
sedge mire.”
£8 million nature boost for urban communities
- Scottish Natural Heritage Almost £8 million of funding has been announced to help people and
nature thrive in some of the most deprived parts of Scotland.
The latest round of Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH)’s ambitious Green
Infrastructure Fund will support seven major projects in cities and
towns across the central belt. The fund aims to tackle socio-economic issues such as poor health and
high unemployment as well as mitigate the impacts of climate change
through creating and improving greenspaces in urban communities. The latest projects will improve habitats and biodiversity, transform
derelict land, tackle flood risk and create new active travel routes,
community gardens and play areas in Glasgow, Bishopbriggs and
Dunfermline. The Green Infrastructure Fund is part of the Scottish Government’s
European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) programme and is being
delivered in two phases. Projects that were successful in the first phase of funding are
already well underway and include seven major capital infrastructure
schemes and 12 community engagement projects. When match funding is included, the overall programme is expected to
reach £40m. Announcing the funding, Environment Secretary Roseanna Cunningham
said: “This investment will bring significant benefits to communities
across seven more urban areas, repurposing and revitalising land to
create green spaces and infrastructure which will not only make
communities more attractive for people to live and work in, but also
attract jobs, businesses and further investment.
Five in a row for Northumberland Hen Harriers
- Northumberland National Park Authority The Northumberland Hen Harrier Protection Partnership is pleased to
announce that this year nine young have fledged from three nests on
Forestry England and nearby private land. 2019 was another successful year for rare and threatened hen harriers
in Northumberland with birds successfully breeding here for the fifth
year in row, making it the most consistent nesting place in England for
this rare bird of prey. The Northumberland Hen Harrier Protection
Partnership is pleased to announce that this year nine young have
fledged from three nests on Forestry England and nearby private land. Early on in the season, the partnership was braced for a record year,
perhaps passing last year’s total of 11 fledged young from 3 nests, but
unfortunately, it was not to be. Originally 6 nests were located but
torrential rain, when the chicks were small, saw young in two nests
perish. One clutch did not hatch and natural predation by a fox took a
further three young from a nest, leaving nine survivors in total. The Hen Harrier Protection Partnership, which is made up of Forestry
England, RSPB, Northumberland National Park Authority, Natural England,
Northumberland Wildlife Trust, Ministry of Defence, Northumberland
Police and Local Raptor Experts, worked together to find and monitor all
of the nests. Prior to fledging, a number of chicks were satellite
tagged by the RSPB’s Hen Harrier LIFE project team and Natural England,
to learn more about their movements.
Land is a Critical Resource, IPCC report says - IPCC Land is already under growing human pressure and
climate change is adding to these pressures. At the same time, keeping
global warming to well below 2ºC can be achieved only by reducing
greenhouse gas emissions from all sectors including land and food, the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) said in its latest
report on Thursday. The IPCC, the world body for assessing the state of scientific
knowledge related to climate change, its impacts and potential future
risks, and possible response options, saw the Summary for Policymakers
of the Special Report on Climate Change and Land (SRCCL) approved by the
world’s governments on Wednesday in Geneva, Switzerland. It will be a key scientific input into forthcoming climate and
environment negotiations, such as the Conference of the Parties of the
UN Convention to Combat Desertification (COP14) in New Delhi, India in
September and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change Conference
(COP25) in Santiago, Chile, in December. “Governments challenged the IPCC to take the first ever comprehensive
look at the whole land-climate system. We did this through many
contributions from experts and governments worldwide. This is the first
time in IPCC report history that a majority of authors – 53% – are from
developing countries,” said Hoesung Lee, Chair of the IPCC. This report shows that better land management can contribute to
tackling climate change, but is not the only solution. Reducing
greenhouse gas emissions from all sectors is essential if global warming
is to be kept to well below 2ºC, if not 1.5oC. The Summary for Policymakers of the Special Report on Climate Change
and Land (SRCCL) is available
here.
The IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) has released its
latest Special Report on Climate Change and Land. In response to the report, Patrick Begg, National Trust's Director of
Outdoors and Natural Resources, said: “One of the biggest opportunities
to be seized is through the large-scale creation and restoration of
natural habitats like native woodlands, peatlands and mudflats that can
store carbon and provide new habitats for nature. In places such as the
Peak District, we’re returning peatlands that were previously drained
into resilient eco-systems that will reduce emissions and provide a home
for scarce species. As a major landowner, the National Trust is
determined, in partnership with our farm tenants, to be at the
forefront of showing how restoring nature and adopting nature-friendly
farming can play a major role in capturing carbon. This is starting with
our commitment to create or restore 25,000 hectares of habitat by 2025.
If the UK Government is to play a world-leading role for the environment
and is to meet the new net zero target by 2050 then it needs to provide
the funding and legislation that will restore nature, starting with the
Agriculture Bill and a much stronger Environment Bill. At BBC
Countryfile Live last weekend it was good to hear the new Secretary of
State Theresa Villiers MP saying on the National Trust stage that she
wants to see these Bills back in parliament as soon as possible to get
them into law."
Top threats to seabirds identified - BirdLife
International Scientists reviewed more than 900 studies and found that seabirds
face big threats both on land and at sea. This helps explain why they
are one of the most threatened group of vertebrates.
© Stephanie Prince Seabirds are in danger. Taken as a whole, they are one of the most
threatened groups of vertebrates in the world. Steep declines in seabird
populations have been noticed almost everywhere, from albatrosses in the
southern ocean to puffins in the North Atlantic. Even once abundant
species, including some penguins, are now facing extinction. What is
causing these declines? A new study is providing some answers. For a long time we have known the general threats to seabirds –
fisheries, invasive species, pollution – but we haven’t known which
threats are the most dire, or had a big-picture understanding of how all
seabird species are affected. A new study led by BirdLife scientists in
collaboration with researchers from the British Antarctic Survey, the
Centre for the Environment, Fishery and Aquaculture Science (CEFAS), the
University of Washington and the Global Penguin Society, has changed
that, by analyzing the problem at a global scale. For the study,
scientists reviewed publications on threats to all 359 seabird species
worldwide, identified the main drivers of seabird declines and
quantified the magnitude of the impact of each threat. Access the paper: Maria P. Dias, Rob
Martin, Elizabeth J. Pearmain, Ian J. Burfield, Cleo Small, Richard A.
Phillips, Oliver Yates, Ben Lascelles, Pablo Garcia Borboroglu, John P.
Croxall,
Threats to seabirds: A global assessment. Biological Conservation
ISSN 0006-3207 doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2019.06.033.
A young eagle at a reintroduction site in the South of Scotland has been
attacked by another eagle in behaviour not observed before.
- Issued by Scottish Natural Heritage on behalf
of The South of Scotland Golden Eagle Project One of two female eagles released last year (Beaky) who had been
about ten miles from the release site, returned to it and was seen to be
aggressive and domineering towards the young males. She
immediately began treating the release area as her territory, which is
exceptional for such a young bird. It appears Beaky caused the death of one of the released young males
(which is now undergoing a detailed, post-mortem investigation) and
another young male is missing nearby. The third young male is safely secured in the aviary at the release
area. One of the Project Directors, SNH’s Professor Des Thompson,
commented: “This is distressing and extremely surprising. We have never
heard of such incidents before, despite having worked with eagle release
projects in other parts of Europe. For the project team, and the
estates which kindly allowed us to take these male eagle chicks, this is
very difficult. Our project has been 11 years in the making because it
is crucial to ensure everything possible is done to protect the health
and wellbeing of these birds. Such projects are very challenging, and we
are determined for this project to succeed, having involved the best
experts in this field to do this, and will share what we learn with
other similar projects.”
“Mountains aren’t just for visitors”: £3 million grant to help Brits
make the most of areas of natural beauty on their doorsteps
- the National Lottery Community Fund A project designed to open local people’s eyes to the areas of
natural beauty around them and the employment, health and leisure
opportunities they present, is to be rolled-out across the UK thanks to
a nearly £3 million National Lottery grant. The sum has been awarded to The Outdoor Partnership - a
Snowdonia-based project – that has already successfully encouraged local
people in North Wales to get healthier and to find work by enjoying the
landscape. After blazing the trail in North Wales for the last 14 years,
the project will now use the money, raised by National Lottery players,
to launch bases in five regions, starting with East Ayrshire (Scotland),
Newry (Northern Ireland) and Cumbria (England).
According to The Outdoor Partnership, although the mountains are
right on the doorstep of economically disadvantaged communities in
Wales, local people were not benefitting from the opportunities they
offered. In fact, research by Bangor University found that many local
people said the “Mountains were for visitors”, something that The
Outdoor Partnership has set out to address. The project has helped communities in North West Wales to set up
clubs for different outdoor pursuits, including kayaking and climbing.
It has encouraged local families to get involved and provided equipment
and training. The opportunities provided, including the chance to gain
coaching qualifications, have led to many in the community finding work
in the outdoor activities industry.
New research reveals that UK seas are a service station for migrating
ocean giants A new study uncovers the travel history of a humpback whale spotted
near Edinburgh thanks to members of the public sharing their sightings
on Facebook Keen-eyed volunteers have used photos shared on social media to
reveal the travel history of a humpback whale that spent last winter
near Edinburgh. The whale, nicknamed “vYking” by local whale watchers,
was one of 4 humpback whales seen regularly in the Firth of Forth in
winter 2018. Sightings of humpback whales in UK seas are increasing year
on year, with Scotland’s Firth of Forth emerging as a winter hotspot for
these ocean giants.
Armed with a photograph of the unique markings on the underside of
vYking’s tail fluke, enthusiasts from the local community worked
together with scientists to see if it had been photographed elsewhere.
When the whale wasn’t found in any scientific catalogues, volunteers
began to trawl the internet… only to find a photo of “vYking” on social
media! The image was taken 2,610km away in Svalbard, a Norwegian
archipelago in the high Arctic, the previous summer by a wildlife
photographer. This is the first ever record of a UK-sighted humpback
whale in their summer feeding grounds. Humpback whales make vast migrations between their breeding and
feeding grounds, but the origins and destinations of the humpback whales
visiting UK waters is not well understood. Excited by the photo from
Svalbard, a team of marine biologists began to interrogate the sightings
and photos of humpback whales in the Firth of Forth shared on the Forth
Marine Mammals Facebook group. They have now published their exciting
findings based entirely on the data collected by the local whale
watchers. This research suggests that some humpback whales are using UK
seas as a service station, a place to rest and feed, on their long
migration from their Arctic feeding grounds to their tropical breeding
grounds. Read the paper: O'Neil, K.E., Cunningham, E.G. and Moore, D.M., 2019. Sudden seasonal occurrence of humpback whales Megaptera novaeangliae in the Firth of Forth, Scotland and first confirmed movement between high-latitude feeding grounds and United Kingdom waters. Marine Biodiversity Records, 12(12). (open access)
Read the full media release (pdf)
Scientific Publications Goumas M, Burns I, Kelley LA, Boogert NJ. 2019
Herring gulls respond to human gaze direction. Biol. Lett. 15:
20190405. http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2019.0405 Letessier TB, Mouillot D, Bouchet PJ, Vigliola L, Fernandes MC, et
al. (2019) Remote
reefs and seamounts are the last refuges for marine predators across the
Indo-Pacific. PLOS Biology 17(8):
e3000366. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3000366
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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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Basking
shark feeding ©Alex Mustard 2020VISION
Painted
Lady butterfly in Leith © Mike Shepherd/SNH
Wandering
Albatrosses, which are globally Vulnerable to extinction, on Bird Island
C19,
the eagle which died. Credit: South of Scotland Golden Eagle Project
Humpback
Whale Fluke Svalbard 2017 (credit: Iain Rudkin Photography)
