This is a Technical Support Bulletin from Wildlife Acoustics regarding problems that can occur when using the SM4 family of recorders with certain SD cards.
Overview
A number of customers have recently reported deployment problems when using SanDisk Extreme and SanDisk Extreme Pro SDXC flash cards with their Song Meter SM4 family recorders. The issue can affect all Song Meter SM4 family products including the SM4, SM4TS, SM4BAT-FS, SM4M, and SM4MU (but excluding SM4BAT-ZC).
The failure generally manifests with schedules that make continuous back-to-back one-hour recordings and can result in recordings being lost. Corrupted .WAV recordings with a 256KB length and/or many .sm4dump files on the card are both indications. The issue only rarely affects schedules with short duty cycle recordings such as 10 minutes on the hour, or on triggered recordings on the SM4BAT-FS.
Note: Many of the above symptoms are normal at the end of a deployment as batteries fail. What is unique to this issue is it can occur while the batteries are fresh.
Solution
Wildlife Acoustics have released firmware version 2.3.3 that corrects this problem and may improve interoperability with other flash cards as well. We strongly advise customers to update to this latest version as soon as possible whether you are seeing issues or not. The firmware is available on the Wildlife Acoustics website after you log in to your account here: https://www.wildlifeacoustics.com/account/downloads/sm4.
Firmware version 2.3.3 also fixes an unrelated issue, introduced with firmware 2.3.1, which could result in corrupted cards that are formatted in exFAT and have the “dirty bit” set (this indicates an issue with unmounting the card previously).
Note: If you experience card corruption, Wildlife Acoustics have tools that can possibly recover recordings off the card. Contact their support team using the details below for more information.
Contact Wildlife Acoustics
Please contact support2021@wildlifeacoustics.com if you have any questions or concerns.
A UK campaign, headed by Professor Dave Goulson, has called upon the government to ban the use of peat in garden compost by the end of 2021.
In 2011, voluntary targets were set by the government with the aim of ending the domestic sale of peat-based composts by the end of 2020. But, in a recent letter to the environment secretary, George Eustice, Goulson explains that these targets have been an ‘abject failure’. The letter, which has been signed by a long list of notable conservationists, scientists and gardeners – including Alan Tichmarsh, Isabella Tree and Kate Bradbury – goes on to suggest that banning peat-based composts before the COP26 climate conference is a vital step in demonstrating the UK government’s dedication to addressing the climate crisis.
Why is peat important?
Globally, peatlands store half a trillion tonnes of carbon; this is twice as much as is stored in the world’s forests. In the UK alone, peatlands hold more than three billion tonnes of carbon although, worryingly, only 20% exist in a natural or near natural state. Peatlands also provide important habitat for many species of plants and animals and play a critical role in reducing flooding.
As well as the extraction of peat for use in the garden trade, these areas are under threat from overgrazing, draining (so that land can be made suitable for farming), and burning of the surface heather, particularly on grouse shooting estates.
Peatlands grow from the slow accumulation of dead plant material in wet terrestrial habitats and take an incredibly long time to form. When the peat is extracted or damaged, the stored carbon that has built up over centuries is released into the atmosphere. Because of this, the UK’s peatlands are now acting as a net carbon source, rather than an environmentally critical store.
Peat extraction in Sharpham, Somerset. Image by Matthew Britton via Flickr.
How can I help?
As a gardener and consumer, one of the most important things you can do is to commit to only buying composts that are peat-free. Or, better still, if you have the space, try making your own from kitchen and garden waste. As stated in Goulson’s letter ‘Unearthing this precious store of carbon to use in the garden is needless, given that there are high-quality peat-free alternatives available’. Following a survey conducted by the Wildlife Trusts, only two garden retailers declared an end-date for peat sales: Travis Perkins in 2021 and Wickes by 2025. Other retailers, including B&Q, Asda and Lidl said they were committed to phasing out peat products but gave no date.
For anyone purchasing plants from nurseries, the Dogwood Days blog provides a comprehensive list of plant nurseries that are peat-free on site and/or committed to sourcing peat-free plants.
Dr. Amir Khan is a GP, well-known for his regular appearances on Lorraine and Good Morning Britain. As a lifelong lover of wildlife, he is also ambassador for the Wildlife Trusts and Butterfly Conservation. He is passionate about connection with the natural world as a mutually beneficial practice which can not only improve our mental and physical health, but is also necessary to ensure the conservation and biodiversity of local areas.
From April this year, Dr. Khan is fronting Butterfly Conservation’s Nurture for Nature campaign which aims to get people involved with the wildlife in their gardens and local wild spaces. We recently chatted with him about the campaign as well as his love of the natural world.
Your incredibly popular Instagram and Twitter accounts are full of beautiful images and descriptions of your local wildlife encounters. Have wildlife and conservation always been passions of yours?
I have been a lover of wildlife from an early age, my dad and I used to watch nature documentaries together. He wasn’t well enough to get out of the house so I would tell him about what I had seen in the woods or local park. As I got older, I learned about wildlife gardening and the importance of nature on our health. I am passionate about everyone, from all walks of life, having access to nature and that means conserving it. It has such important wellbeing effects that everyone should get to experience. I experienced the benefits of nature on my mental health during the pandemic, when I would come home from the surgery after visiting my patients in nursing homes; nature helped me during these difficult times.
As an ambassador for Butterfly Conservation you are also going to be fronting their new Nurture for Nature campaign. Can you tell us a bit more about this and what it hopes to achieve?
Butterflies and insects are vital pollinators and we need them in our lives to keep us alive! By understanding that by helping nature we are actually helping ourselves, I am hoping people will see the wider benefit of doing simple things that can encourage some of these wonderful creatures to visit them. We have to remember that, at this time of year, many insects are emerging from a long winter and need areas where they can feed to get them going for the spring and summer months. They will then get the mental and physical benefits that being close to nature provides and our insects get more areas to feed, drink and rest.
Hopefully lots more people will be inspired to get into their gardens this year as a result of the campaign. Do you have plans for your own garden this year?
I am really excited about my garden this year. After what feels like a very long winter, I want my garden to feel like a haven for both myself and the wildlife that visit or live there. I am making sure every corner has something in it to entice wildlife. There is nothing better than a summer’s day in the garden, simply watching the insects going about their business whilst you potter about. And knowing they are feeding off the plants and flowers you planted is a lovely feeling.
We’ve also heard that you’re hoping to get into moth trapping! What is it about moths that interests you?
I absolutely love moths! I think they are the most underrated insects in our gardens. They are vital pollinators but have a bit of a bad reputation, probably down to the fact that many of them are nocturnal so we are just not as familiar with them. I want to show people that moths are just as amazing as butterflies and just as beautiful. By doing some moth trapping this summer I am hoping to catch and showcase some of the gorgeous moths that live right under our noses!
It’s fascinating to read about the link between lifestyle choices and their impacts on mental and physical health. How do you feel that a connection with wildlife and an appreciation for nature fit into this picture?
There is so much proven science behind the wellbeing effects of nature. When we are amongst natural spaces, listening to bird song or spending time immersed in nature, our bodies produce chemicals that make us feel content and happy – we produce less stress hormones which can help reduce blood pressure and heart rate, having an overall calming feeling on our minds and bodies. We need to embrace and encourage this as part of our every day lifestyles. This is why we need to conserve green spaces so that everyone can benefit from them.
Find out more about the Nurture for Nature campaign and sign up for your free gardening and wellness guide on the Butterfly Conservation website.
At NHBS we understand the needs of professional ecologists and are here to support you in your work. Here’s what we can offer you:
Specialist advice and support:
We have ecologists on our team who are experienced and knowledgeable about the products that we sell. Whatever you need to know about our equipment, before or after purchase, we are sure to be able to find the answer for you.
Should you experience any problems with the equipment you buy from us, we will make sure that it is repaired or replaced as quickly as possible. Just get in touch with us and one of our wildlife equipment specialists will be able to chat with you about any issues you are experiencing.
Huge product range:
We stock a huge selection of environmental survey tools and conservation products, including items for protected species survey and environmental monitoring. We also stock the UK’s largest selection of nest boxes and habitat products from suppliers big and small.
By sourcing all of your survey and conservation kit from one place, you can shop with ease and ensure that everything you need is delivered quickly and reliably.
Can’t find what you’re looking for? If there is a piece of kit that you need but you can’t find it on our website, get in touch and we’ll do our best to get hold of it for you.
Conservation Pro reward scheme
We do our best to make sure our prices are competitive and our customer service is second to none. With our Conservation Pro Reward Scheme we go even further by offering our frequent customers access to automatic discounts when ordering online, over the phone or via purchase order.
Receive discounts of up to 10% on a huge range of equipment and 5% on all books. You can even view your discounted prices when logged into your online account.
There are two levels – Conservation Pro 1 and Conservation Pro 2. To be eligible for Conservation Pro 1 you will need to have spent at least £8000 ex VAT within the last year and to be eligible for Conservation Pro 2 you will need to have spent at least £4000 ex VAT within the last year.
Bespoke manufacturing
If you can’t find what you are looking for, we are happy to help with designing and building the survey equipment you need.
Our team of engineers and seamstresses are experienced in metalwork, woodwork and textile construction and can chat with you about your specific requirements.
Simply fill out the form on our bespoke manufacturing page, including details of your project and the type of equipment you require, and one of our engineers will get back to you as soon as possible.
Bespoke Ichthyoplankton NetBTHK Tree Roost Net
Support for European customers
To ensure continuity of service following Brexit, we have registered a company in Bonn, Germany – NHBS GmbH. The new business is fully registered for tax and VAT in Germany.
Order through nhbs.com in Euros as well as UK pounds. Transactions in Euros will be processed through NHBS GmbH, but all the ordering processes remain the same! You can continue to order by phone, email, website or even fax in either currency.
Switch between Euros and UK Pounds at nhbs.com using the currency switcher in the top right hand corner of the site.
You can also browse certain parts of our website in German language, and speak to our dedicated German speaking bilingual customer service advisor by calling +49 (0)228 5048 8063 or emailing info@nhbs.com.
The 6th International Berlin Bat Meeting was held online from 22nd–24th March 2021 and consisted of a series of varied and fascinating live lectures based around a timely theme: ‘The Human Perspective on Bats’. Over the three days, speakers from around the world spoke on topics such as bat coronaviruses, bat health, human interventions, bats in anthropogenic habitats, ecosystem services, conservation marketing and citizen science.
The first day of the conference began with a keynote talk from Prof. Felix Drexler (Institute of Virology, Charité Berlin) who spoke about emerging viruses with a focus on bats and SARS-CoV-2. He began by relating the fact that most (around 60%) of human pathogens have a zoonotic origin and that several notable animal-borne diseases have originated in bat hosts (eg SARS 2003, Ebola), although it is currently still debated whether bats are particularly prone to becoming reservoirs of zoonotic pathogens or whether they are just very diverse and numerous in comparison to most other mammals.
It is a constant challenge to predict where future diseases or pandemics may arise, although important factors appear to be Exposure (whether humans have close contact with the species), Ecology (aspects of the animals’ behaviour or ecology that are favourable for the maintenance and transmission of pathogens) and Evolution (as pathogens are more likely to cross species boundaries if species are genetically and antigenically related).
Moving forwards, Prof. Drexler suggested that better surveillance is required to respond to cases of zoonotic spillover, as an early response is vital in preventing future pandemics. This is particularly important in peripheral healthcare settings such as where small numbers of cases initially crop up in developing countries.
Later on in the day, Dr. Jon Epstein (EcoHealth Alliance, USA) continued this theme with a talk that looked at the interconnectedness of animal and human health. He stated that, although the exchange of microbes between animals and species is normal, many aspects of modern life, coupled with our dense populations, have made it more likely that pathogens will make the jump from animal to human. Emerging disease hotspots often show the same trends in terms of high species diversity, large numbers of intensively farmed livestock, high human population densities and land use changes which increase contact with local wildlife. Intensive agriculture, wildlife provisioning and legal or illegal wildlife trade, which often occurs in unsanitary ‘wet markets’, are thought to be particularly problematic.
As stated by Prof. Drexler in his earlier talk, Dr. Epstein concluded that surveillance is critical, alongside appropriate community interventions in cases where spillover has been found. These may include, but are not limited to, reducing the commercial trade of wildlife, building barriers so that wild animals cannot come into contact with farmed livestock and their food, and protecting food sources (such as the date palm sap that is widely collected in Bangladesh and which is often contaminated with saliva and faeces from local flying foxes who have exploited this practice as a useful food source).
Towards the end of the day we were treated to an interactive session from Dr. Tigga Kingston (Texas Tech University, USA) who used the online whiteboard, Miro, to allow the audience to discuss and document what they felt were the biggest challenges for bat conservation. Personal observations were added in the form of virtual ‘sticky notes’ to each category and then the audience was asked to vote on which areas they felt confident in tackling, and which they felt less able to deal with. Persecution of bats, habitat loss, and restrictions on fieldwork/research due to Covid-19 were found to be areas that people generally felt were the most problematic and challenging to address. The talk ended with a brainstorming session to pose various solutions to these issues.
The second day featured a session on ecosystem services. This began with a keynote speech from Dr. Rudolf de Groot who spoke about the economic importance of bats. Much of his talk focused on the limitations of our current economic models (eg GDP) when it comes to conservation and the environment, as conservation is generally only ever considered as a cost, while ecosystem values and services are rarely factored into the equation.
In a paper published in Nature (1997), the global value of ecosystem services and natural capital was calculated to be US $33 trillion. To put this into perspective, global GDP at the time was US $27 dollars. A later paper, published in Science (2002) estimated that the cost of ecosystem loss was 2-5% GDP per year, and this was expected to increase to 7% by 2050. (Interestingly, and worryingly, the amount currently spent annually on protected areas is US $24 billion, just 40% of the amount that is spent each year on ice cream).
Speaking more specifically about bats, Dr. de Groot listed several of the services that are dependent on bats, including pest control, pollination of more than 300 food plants and 80 medicinal plants, as well as the development of several important vaccines following research into bat viruses.
His concluding remarks reminded us of the importance of raising awareness and spreading the message about the value of the natural world and the services it provides.
On the third and final day of the conference we heard a fascinating talk from Dr. Diogo Verissimo (University of Oxford, UK / Institute for Conservation Research, San Diego Zoo Global, USA) titled ‘Can Conservation Marketing Save Bats’. Many of the sessions from the final day had focused on the importance of social scientists and biologists working together to implement change and promote conservation practices. Dr. Verissimo’s talk took this a step further by discussing how effective marketing can contribute to conservation science.
The problem with bats – he initially stated – is that people don’t like them. In multiple surveys conducted around the world, bats rank low on the list in terms of popularity, and the current Covid-19 situation has done little to improve this state of affairs. He then went on to discuss how Batman is, conversely, one of the biggest media franchises of all time, and this indicates that the way in which a subject or species is marketed and packaged can have a huge impact on its public appeal.
Dr. Verissimo explained that ‘social marketing’ involves the use of marketing principles to influence the behaviour of individuals and communities for the general good. When it comes to conservation this means that we need to show individuals how conservation and ecosystem services have a value to them, whether that is a tangible benefit (such as pollination being vital for the food they enjoy), or intangible (such as pride in a local rare species or habitat).
He went on to suggest that emotions are much better at driving change and decisions than facts, and environmentalists must always remember that everyone in the world is not going to think in the same way as them, as people have different life experiences and therefore different priorities. It is incredibly important to understand the target audience of any marketing campaign and to appreciate that only a small percentage of this audience are likely to be influenced – however, these are the people that need to be focused on. Finding out who they are is a huge part of the process.
In his final remarks, Dr. Verissimo stressed the importance of including social science research when considering conservation and conservation marketing campaigns. Although working in such an inter-disciplinary manner can be a challenge in itself, he believes it is critical for the future of global conservation.
The talks and poster presentations that we saw over the three days of the meeting were lively and varied and it was great to hear from people from a variety of disciplines and backgrounds. I’m certain that everyone who attended would join me in congratulating the organisers of the meeting for an exceptionally well planned and executed meeting that brought together people from around the world to share their expertise and opinions on ‘The Human Perspective on Bats’.
Dr Tony Gent, CEO of the ARC Trust, recently took the time to talk to us about the challenges faced by amphibians and reptiles in the UK, some of the charity’s success stories, and ways in which you can get involved with amphibian and reptile conservation.
Firstly, could you give us a brief introduction to Amphibian and Reptile Conservation and the work that you do?
Amphibian and Reptile Conservation (ARC) is a national conservation charity dedicated, as its name suggests, to conserving frogs, toads and newts, snakes and lizards. ARC manages a network of over 80 nature reserves in England and Wales that cover some 2,000 hectares. These include a significant suite of lowland heathland areas that are home to all six native reptile species. The trust is also custodian for nationally important habitats for natterjack toads and pool frogs, plus sites established specifically to support populations of great crested newts.
ARC leads on recovery programmes, especially for more threatened species, including managing reintroduction and captive breeding programmes, direct engagement through site management and running national monitoring schemes. We actively engage with advocacy in the UK and further afield, to ensure that amphibians and reptiles are considered via legislation, policy, and funding streams. We also support and undertake research and run education and training programmes to promote amphibian and reptile conservation. Though UK based, we also work with partner organisations across Europe and in the UK’s Overseas Territories.
Our team achieves this through a network of volunteers, partner organisations, Governmental agencies and engaging with the wider public.
As for most groups of animals in the current climate, the factors affecting their populations are obviously complex. However, what do you consider to be the greatest challenge faced by amphibians and reptiles in the UK?
A number of factors are impacting on our reptile and amphibian populations including disease, climate change, pollution, drought and wildfires. However I consider the biggest challenge is ensuring that there is enough suitable habitat available for these species to maintain their populations and distribution across the country, given the vast pressures for alternative land uses.
Of our seven species of amphibian, comprising of three newt, two frog and two toad species, some such as the common frog are widespread, while others such as the natterjack toad are found in a restricted number of habitats and endangered. Similarly, the three species of lizard and three species of snake that make up our reptile fauna include widespread species, such as the slow worm, and other species such as the smooth snake and sand lizard that have much more restricted ranges. All, however, need certain habitat features to survive; reptiles in particular need generally open habitats with a good ground cover, while amphibians need ponds for breeding.
Smooth Snake – by Chris Dresh
The loss and degradation of the habitats on which these rare amphibians and reptiles depend has been a major factor contributing to their decline. Pond numbers in England and Wales decreased dramatically from an estimated 800,000 in the late 19th century to around 200,000 in the 1980s; this in turn has impacted on amphibian populations. Heathland, the only habitat occupied by all six of our native reptile species, has declined by over 85% since the late 18th century. The heaths that remain are highly fragmented, meaning that some patches are too small to sustain characteristic native reptile species.
As well as ensuring that areas are not lost to competing land uses, such as development or intensive agriculture, it is important that these areas sustain the features within them that allow amphibians and reptiles to survive. Having comparatively low mobility, we also need to ensure there are linkages between these areas to prevent populations becoming isolated and to allow for recolonisation if for any reason they become locally extirpated.
Our work securing areas as protected nature reserves can help address this, but we need to see action over a much wider area. ARC both undertakes and provides advice on habitat management on behalf of landowners, who are often steered by government directives. We therefore also lobby for more robust land use policies and funding mechanisms that encourage sympathetic land management. Agri-environment schemes, for example, protect land from the impacts of development, or at least fully mitigate any unavoidable damage that will occur. Underpinning this is the need for a greater awareness and regard towards the conservation of these animals, so that they are considered positively in decision making.
Within the UK, reptiles and amphibians are notoriously elusive – do you think that this affects the extent to which people are aware of them and the conservation issues that they are facing?
The elusive nature of these species makes it difficult for people to see them and therefore often misunderstand them.
In appearance they are neither feathered nor furry and lack the inherent universal appeal of some other animals. This has contributed to their negative profile in tradition and folklore which are often associated with evil, witchcraft and common ailments such as warts. Indeed, even Carolus Linnaeus, the great biologist and ‘father of modern taxonomy’, described reptiles and amphibians in his book The System of Nature as ‘These foul and loathsome animals are abhorrent because of their cold body, pale colour, cartilaginous skeleton, filthy skin, fierce aspect, calculating eye, offensive smell, harsh voice, squalid habitation, and terrible venom.’
This matters because people’s appreciation and negative perceptions of amphibians and reptiles are echoed in the low importance placed on their conservation, leading to their needs being often just not considered. This can range from direct persecution to simply over-looking their habitat needs, for example in tree planting programmes.
It is hard to appreciate something you cannot see; indeed many people are not aware that we even have reptiles in UK. However, once appreciated they then become important to preserve. That’s why at ARC we place great importance in getting people to see and to learn about the amphibians and reptiles in their area, and to learn how and when they can be seen.
The sight of frogspawn in the garden pond followed by tadpoles and the unmistakable sound of croaking frogs can offer a close-up experience of wildlife and, for some people, this has been the start of a lifelong interest in nature. We are also seeing an increasing fascination with our native ‘dragons’ and recognition of their cultural significance.
This past year has been unbelievably hard for charities. How has 2020 (and 2021 so far) differed for the ARC Trust and how have you dealt with the difficulties that Covid has created?
Covid shut the door on many of our activities, and especially face to face meetings with people including many educational training events and group activities. This has had a number of different impacts, including the amount of habitat managed, opportunities for us to show people reptiles and amphibians and our volunteer engagement. However we maintained work across all of the different areas of our activity – it just meant we had to do these in different ways and have gained from doing so.
As we saw home working and ‘Zoom meetings’ become the norm we were in a position to move many of our education and training events online swiftly. Over the year of restrictions we have developed free ‘bite sized training courses’ and have made some of our sites accessible virtually through virtual reserve walks, drone tours, Q and A panel sessions, quizzes, activities and classroom lessons for children. As lockdown continued, people became more aware of their immediate environments and we offered an opportunity for the public to undertake a home-based survey through our online Garden Dragon Watch survey in addition to our reserves remaining open throughout.
Our two major annual events, the scientific meeting that we co-host with the British Herpetological Society and the Herpetofauna Workers Meeting run jointly with ARG-UK, went online. We explored different platforms for these meetings and, while we couldn’t meet face to face, these meetings attracted larger audiences than we could have hosted through physical meetings, reduced costs and gave a voice to people who had not previously joined in before. This not only significantly reduced the carbon footprint of these events but actively engaged a wider range of delegates, networks and researchers. We will be looking at how we can integrate some of these positive outcomes into future outreach.
What would you consider to be your greatest success story so far?
Ultimately we aim to improve the conservation status of all 13 native species of amphibians and reptiles in the UK. Securing 80 sites into active conservation management, 25 of which we own, is something that we would not have imagined possible when the foundations for forming the charity were being laid in the late 1980s. In terms of conservation impact, our translocation work has truly brought species back from (and in one case beyond) the brink of extinction in Britain.
Sand lizards suffered significant declines across their range during the mid to late 20th Century, disappearing from Wales, seeing a huge reduction in the Merseyside populations and loss from huge swathes of Surrey, Hampshire and Kent. We have led conservation efforts for this species in Britain and in 2019 we released our 10,000th sand lizard as part of our long-term reintroduction programme which has restored sand lizards to 70 sites, restoring much of their former range. Similarly, the range of the natterjack toad dwindled over a similar time period and down to a single surviving heathland population south of the River Thames. We have been involved in reintroducing natterjack toads to 17 sites across the UK.
Perhaps our greatest species success story is the pool frog which was formerly considered to be non-native and went extinct from the UK in the 1990s. We worked in partnership to assemble evidence to indicate that they were in fact native and, through our reintroduction programme, we sourced pool frogs from Scandinavia and successfully reintroduced them to Norfolk, bringing the species back from extinction in the UK. Our latest Green Recovery Challenge government funded project will explore how we can restore the species range in East Anglia, by trailing outdoor enclosures.
Natterjack – by Chris Dresh
Our greatest success overall is the combination of seeing the status of wildlife improve and the benefits that come to people because of what we do. In the course of working towards our primary mission of conserving amphibians and reptiles, we benefit many other species that share their habitats, such as birds, butterflies and dragonflies. We also provide benefits directly to our volunteers and the public who enjoy our reserves that tell us they benefit in terms of their physical and mental health, social lives, enjoyment, education and career development.
How can people get involved with amphibian and reptile conservation, particularly if they are inexperienced in terms of identification and/or field survey?
Reptiles and amphibians occur throughout the country, but the species that you may encounter will vary in different locations and habitats. There are a variety of ways you can get involved through ARC, and whatever your background, we welcome your support.
If you live close to one of our nature reserves or local projects you might like to join a habitat activity day. We run programmes of habitat management designed for teams of volunteers mainly through the winter months – It’s a great way to keep fit, make friends and get a personal insight into looking after your local nature reserve. ARC also offers opportunities to learn more about amphibians and reptiles through training, including online, field and class-based courses and events run in partnership with the Field Studies Council. We are keen to have more people joining in with our national programme of species and habitat surveys, which has various options for people with different levels of knowledge and available time. There is also an opportunity to take part in our Garden Dragon Watch (recording amphibians and reptiles in your garden), or if you have more time sign up to monitor species at a location near you, though the spring and summer months. The information volunteer surveyors supply is valuable in helping ARC to keep track of where amphibians and reptiles are found and how populations are faring.
ARC also runs a members’ scheme for people who wish to support the work we do, stay up to date with the ecology and conservation of amphibians and reptiles, gain discounts to events and conferences and claim a welcome pack containing an array of species identification resources.
You can find out more about the ARC Trust from their website and by following them on Facebook and Twitter.
The 6th International Berlin Bat Meeting is due to be held online from 22nd–24th March 2021 and will consist of a series of live lectures delivered via video link. To make it possible for people to attend from around the world, the lectures will also be available to watch on demand. At NHBS, we’ve always loved being involved with the Berlin Bat Meeting and hope that soon we can attend again in person!
In the build up to this exciting event, organiser Dr. Christian Voigt kindly took the time to answer some questions about this year’s meeting. Dr Voigt is Head of the Department of Evolutionary Ecology at Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Lecturer at the Freie Universität Berlin and Member of the Berlin-Brandenburg Centre for Stable Isotope Ecology.
Organiser Christian Voigt
The theme of this year’s International Berlin Bat Meeting is ‘The Human Perspective on Bats’. Can you tell us why you decided to choose this particular theme?
We decided on this topic because we became aware of the necessity to address bat conservation from a more holistic approach. Conservationists often have the saying ‘wildlife management is the management of humans’ and this is very much true. We need to better understand the emotions and attitudes of humans towards wildlife in general and bats in particular, in order to protect wildlife and bats respectively. Ultimately, this will make conservation more efficient. The Covid-19 pandemic told us that we were right because many aspects of bat conservation have turned more difficult when some people changed their attitude towards bats. It is important to remember that bat conservation does not only mean dealing with the protection of bat populations but also with their ecosystem function. In many cases, bats are very helpful for humans, e.g. by consuming large numbers of pest insects or because they pollinate flowers or disperse seeds. Becoming aware of these ecosystem services might change people’s minds about why they should care for bats. Lastly, zoonotic diseases such as Covid-19 emerge because the way we treat wildlife is wrong. Poaching, wet markets, our whole interaction with wildlife has to be reconsidered and we will be talking about this during the International Berlin Bat Meeting. The topic of the upcoming IBBM `’The human perspective on bats’ is more relevant and timely than ever.
What do you think are the key conservation challenges currently faced by bats?
The major challenge is now to re-establish a good reputation for bats. Bats are key players in ecosystems, they are important indicator species, and many species are rare or even threatened. We need to care for them.
How do you hope that this meeting will contribute to the work required to address these challenges?
Our hope is that we come up with ideas about how to approach bat conservation and human-bat interactions from a different angle. This conference will bring together people from various geographic backgrounds and from a variety of disciplines. It is this exchange of ideas and perspective that make the IBBM quite unique among bat conferences.
Meetings such as these provide an unrivalled chance for attendees to share ideas and network. Do you know of any key projects or collaborations that have arisen from previous International Berlin Bat Meetings?
The networking that happens during these meetings is huge. The very first IBBM on bat migration brought this topic to the attention of many people and lots of papers have been published since then. Specifically, our meeting on bat diseases, right when white-nose syndrome hit North American bats, stimulated a lot of excellent research on both continents. I remember that we sat together during the IBBM and discussed what should be done and what to expect.
Organising an online meeting must be very different in comparison to organising an ‘in person’ event. How have you found the process? And have you noticed that there are benefits to this format, as well as challenges?
Organizing an online meeting is overall not difficult, it was the postponing of the conference, not knowing when to reschedule it and not knowing how people would respond to an online instead of a presence conference that caused us sleepless nights. Now that we have already organized a few online events, the task seems doable. Overall, the benefits are that people from many more places on our globe can participate in this event without having to pay the travel costs. The challenge for these kinds of conferences is to maintain a format in which people feel encouraged to discuss and to interact. This can be better achieved when you meet in person, e.g. during coffee breaks. It is my hope that we have a very lively discussion and a very stimulating event.
Professor Jeff Ollerton is a researcher, educator, consultant and author, specialising in mutualistic ecological relationships – in particular, those between plants and their pollinators. Now one of the world’s leading experts on pollinators and pollination, he has conducted field research in the UK, Australia, Africa, and Tenerife, and published a huge body of ground-breaking research which is highly-cited and used at both national and international levels to inform conservation efforts. Jeff currently holds Visiting Professor positions at the University of Northampton in the UK and Kunming Institute of Botany in China.
His recent book, Pollinators & Pollination: Nature and Society, provides a hugely informative yet accessible look at the ecology and evolution of pollinators around the globe, and discusses their conservation in a world that seems to be stacked against them.
In this article we chat with Jeff about his background, the book and the future of pollinators in an increasingly changing climate.
Firstly, could you tell us a little bit about your background and how you came to write Pollinators & Pollination: Nature and Society?
Where to begin? Like lots of ecologists my interest started with natural history as a kid: poking around in rock pools, looking under stones, keeping tadpoles in jars, collecting fossils, the usual stuff that most people grow out of. I was born in Sunderland, close to the shipyards and coal mines that provided employment for most of my family. The grasslands and scrubby areas that developed on bombsites and after slum clearance were where I ranged free: my wildlife playground was the result of industrial development and decline. I also learned a lot from my dad who was a keen gardener, and plants have always been a passion. At school I didn’t do well – “easily distracted” said my reports – and only passed one A level (Biology). That was enough to get me into an HND in Applied Biology at Sunderland Polytechnic, then onto the second year of a BSc Environmental Biology degree at Oxford Polytechnic. My dissertation supervisor was Andrew Lack and he convinced me that I should apply for a PhD with him, looking at the pollination ecology, flowering phenology, and reproductive output of grassland plants in colonising and established grasslands. That was completed in 1993 (by which time the institution was Oxford Brookes University) and I went off to do some travelling and field work in Australia, funded by some small grants. When I got back I applied for numerous postdoctoral positions but the first job I was offered was a lectureship at Nene College of Higher Education in Northampton. At the time it was predominantly a teaching institution but they were keen to develop their ecological research. I originally planned to be there for a couple of years and ended up staying for 25! By that time it had transitioned into the University of Northampton. Throughout all of this the main focus of my research has been the ecology, evolution and conservation of plant-pollinator interactions, with field work in the UK, Africa, South America, and Asia. That’s a huge field of study, ranging in scope from molecular ecology to animal behaviour to agriculture and government environmental policy. A few years ago it struck me that there was a need to bring together these different strands into a single, coherent book that presented a state of the art account of why all of this was important, how the different topics fitted together, what we had learned so far after a couple of hundred years of research, and where the gaps and scientific disagreements lay. The result was Pollinators & Pollination: Nature and Society.
While it’s evident that habitat destruction and fragmentation have a huge role to play in the decline of pollinator species, you also state that rising temperatures may be a more significant factor, particularly for species such as bumblebees. Given the continual, and some may say unstoppable, rise in global temperatures, are you hopeful in any way for the future of pollinators?
Well, first of all, I certainly don’t think that climate change is unstoppable. We know what needs to be done and we know how to do it, though it’s not easy of course. But, yes, we are already seeing the effects of climate change on pollinators, particularly in relation to range shifts as insects move northwards in the northern hemisphere. Bumblebees are a particular concern because on the whole they are adapted to colder temperatures. However most other bees are adapted to warmer, drier conditions, and they may benefit from moderate climate change. The problem is that we simply don’t know enough about the natural histories of most of the 20,000 or so species of bees to say. Our knowledge of most of the hundreds of thousands of other species of pollinators is even less well developed. But I do have some optimism that pollination services to most plant species will be maintained under moderate climate change because we know from experimental work that we’ve carried out that the majority of interactions are relatively generalised and interchangeable: a range of pollinators can pollinate most plants, and vice versa. It’s the more specialised interactions that are likely to be less robust to climate change, especially in places like South Africa where I have been fortunate to work. The key to conserving pollinators, as it is for all biodiversity, is creation, restoration, linking-up, and protection, of natural habitats. As I argue in the book, we have to go far beyond “planting for pollinators” and putting up a few bee hotels if we are serious about conserving pollinators in our rapidly changing world.
While professional scientific research, alongside informed policy change, will obviously be key in directing the future of pollinators around the world, you also mention the importance of amateur naturalists and citizen scientists in collecting data and providing some of the legwork behind sustained long-term studies. What advice would you give to a non-professional individual who wishes to get involved with pollinator conservation? (eg. volunteering, donating to charities/organisations, lobbying for policy change etc.)
Yes, all of what you list there is important, and I would add that individuals can do a lot by thinking carefully about what they plant in their gardens and how they manage them (i.e. not using pesticides) and lobbying local councils about how parks and road verges are managed. They could also get involved in initiatives such as the UK Pollinators Monitoring Scheme. Similar schemes have been set up in other countries. Adding observations to iRecord is also important.
When hearing about the decline of pollinators, many people (fuelled by frequent media stories) will immediately be fearful about the future and security of our food production. Is there a valid reason for concern, and are there any precautionary steps that you believe the agricultural industry should be taking to deal with a potential collapse in pollinators?
First of all, I don’t think that pollinators are going to disappear from agricultural landscapes completely, that’s hugely unlikely. But there are a couple of things that should concern farmers and governments. There’s growing evidence that the yields of some crops, in some places, are limited by availability of pollinators, and that’s likely to get worse if pollinator populations decline. We also know that there are crops which, although they can self-pollinate, produce a higher quality of fruit or seeds if they are outcrossed by pollinators. So there’s a clear financial benefit for farmers to take pollinator declines seriously. Globally, most of the staple crops are either wind pollinated grasses (rice, wheat, etc.) or are propagated by tubers (potatoes, yams) so food security in terms of populations starving is unlikely to be a consequence of pollinator decline. However most of the fruit and vegetables that provide the essential vitamins and minerals in our diets need pollinators either for the consumed crop or, as in the case of onions, for the seeds that produce the crop. So food security in the sense of having a healthy diet is definitely something that we should take seriously. Things that farmers and the agricultural industry should be doing include the obvious such as restoring and creating natural habitat on their farms, not over-managing grasslands and hedgerows, and reducing the amount of biocides that they are using.
I discovered lots of interesting things from your book that I previously didn’t know – such as the fact that there are pollinating lizards! In all of your years of study, what is the most fascinating fact that you have learned about pollinators?
Oh, wow, that’s a tough one! Every research project that I’ve undertaken has turned up new information and observations that have intrigued and excited me, and even blown my mind. That’s one of the reasons why I do what I do, there’s so much still to discover. I estimate that we’ve got some kind of information about the pollinators of only about 10% of the 352,000 species of flowering plants that there are in the world. Even in Britain and Ireland the reproductive ecologies of most of the plants have hardly been studied. So there are always new things to discover. Citing a single fascinating fact is difficult, but if I had to choose one it would be the calculation that I made for a review article in 2017 when I worked out that as many as 1 in 10 insect and vertebrate species may visit flowers as pollinators. That did astound me and I had to double check my maths!
2020 was a year that was largely dominated by the Covid-19 crisis, a fact that you touch on briefly in your book. How has the pandemic affected your working life and, as a researcher who relies on time spent in the field, how have you dealt with the challenges of lockdown and restricted movement?
Ughh, yes, it’s been difficult. I was supposed to take a group of students to Tenerife in April for our annual field course and that had to be cancelled. It’s the first year since 2003 that I’ve not made the trip and it curtailed some long-term data collection that I’ve been undertaking. Perhaps the universe is telling me that it’s time to publish the data….? But on the plus side, once we knew that we’d be in lockdown for some months, I sent out an email to my network of pollination ecologists to suggest that we use the time to collect data on flower-pollinator interactions in our gardens. The response was phenomenal! It’s generated over 20,000 observations from all over the world. We’re writing up a paper describing the data set at the moment and we will make it freely available to PhD and early career researchers who were not able to collect data last year and whose funding and time are limited.
Finally, what are you working on currently, and do you have plans for further books?
So back in October I stepped down from my full-time professorship to work independently as a consultant ecological scientist and author – my new website has just gone live in fact: www.jeffollerton.co.uk. Although I will miss teaching students, I really needed some new challenges and wanted to work more closely at the conservation and advisory end of the field, and start to make more of a difference on the ground. I still have a Visiting Professorship at Northampton where I’m completing some externally funded projects and supervising a couple of PhD researchers. And I’ve recently been appointed Visiting Professor at the Kunming Institute of Botany in China where, vaccines willing, I will be spending part of the summer on a climate change and pollinators project. As for further books, yes, there are another three that I want to complete in the next few years. I’m talking with Pelagic at the moment about the next one and they are interested, but I’d like to keep the topic hush-hush for now – I’m referring to it as “Project B”! But it does deal with pollination, I can tell you that.
In this addition to our UK Identification Guide series, we are taking a look at some of our most common garden birds.
Very little is required by way of equipment to watch birds. However, a decent pair of binoculars or scope and a good field guide can go a long way to enhancing the experience and improving your skills. (If you’re looking for suggestions, we’ve included a few of our most popular field guides at the end of this post.)
If you’d like to contribute to the understanding of birds and research into garden wildlife, why not take part in either the BTO’s Garden BirdWatch (all year round) or the RSPB’s Big Garden Birdwatch (annually in January).
Where and when to look for birds
One of the things that makes birdwatching such a great activity is that birds can be found at all times of the year. Although their numbers may swell and decrease at various times of year, due to the arrival and departure of various migrants, it is a rare day that you will venture outdoors and fail to see even one of our winged neighbours.
Autumn and winter are particularly good times for garden birdwatching, as this is the time that birds will benefit most from extra nuts and seeds provided in bird feeders; many will flock to gardens to take advantage of this additional source of food. A well positioned bird feeder also allows you to watch birds from the comfort of an armchair, accompanied by a hot cup of tea!
ID notes: The Great Tit is the UK’s largest tit species. It has a yellow breast with a central black stripe, a green back, black head and prominent white cheeks.
ID notes: An incredibly colourful bird, the Blue Tit has a yellow breast, green back, blue wings and a blue patch on its head. The face is white and a slim black stripe runs horizontally through the eye.
ID notes: The Great Spotted Woodpecker has a striking black and white body and wings and is roughly the size of a blackbird. Males have a red patch on the back of the head, and juveniles also have a red crown. They fly with a distinctive swooping up and down style and can often be heard drumming while clinging to a tree trunk.
ID notes: The cheeks and breast of the Chaffinch are rust-red (male) or buff-grey (female) coloured and the wings have two distinctive white bars on a dark background. Although they don’t regularly feed openly on bird feeders, they can often be found on the ground beneath and elsewhere in the garden.
ID notes: This brightly coloured finch has a vibrant red face and a yellow wing bar. The black tail has white spots and the rump (visible when in flight) is white.
ID notes: A robust looking bird with a bushy plumage. Feathers are streaked brown and black. Male sparrows have a black bib and eye region and the bill is black during breeding. Females often have a buff-coloured ‘eyebrow’.
ID notes: Male blackbirds are incredibly striking and have black feathers with a bright orange beak and eye ring. Females are brown and often have spots or streaks on their breast.
ID notes: The Coal Tit has a black head, white cheek patches and a white wing bar. The back of the head features an oval white patch. Its back is blue-grey and the underside is buff.
ID notes: The Siskin is a small finch which has a black and yellow streaked body and a distinctly forked tail. The male has a black crown and a lot of black in the wing.
ID notes: Fairly similar to a House Sparrow, the Dunnock has brown, streaked upper parts and a blue-grey head and breast. This shy bird is often seen creeping around near cover such as bushes or flower beds.
ID notes: This small raptor has short, broad wings and a long tail. Adult males are smaller than females and have grey upper parts and rust coloured cheeks and breast. The larger female has grey upper parts and greyish brown breast.
Measurements: Length 28-38cm, wingspan 55-70cm.
Preferred food: Small to medium birds, occasionally bats.
Covering Britain and Europe, this beautifully illustrated book provides all the information needed to identify any species at any time of year, with detailed text on size, habitat, range, identification and voice.
A bestselling guide since it was first published, Britain’s Birds has established itself as the go-to photographic identification guide to the birds of Great Britain and Ireland – the most comprehensive, up-to-date, practical and user-friendly book of its kind.
This guide is designed to help identify the majority of species likely to be found in a garden throughout the year. The choice of ‘top 50’ is based on the relative abundance of species recorded in the UK by the BTO Garden BirdWatch survey.
During the winter months, cold temperatures and a lack of food can make survival challenging for many species. Some animals, particularly birds, solve this problem by migrating to a warmer location where food is more plentiful. Other animals utilise a different solution and enter a period of torpor or hibernation as a way of conserving energy throughout this time.
During hibernation, the animal will slow their heart rate and breathing while at the same time lowering their metabolism and body temperature, all of which vastly reduce the amount of energy they require. Throughout the hibernation period, the animal may become active again briefly, either for a bathroom break, to eat some food, or if the temperature becomes too low for them to survive without moving. As preparation for a period of hibernation, as much food as possible will be consumed and a suitable refuge or hibernacula found (or built).
Which animals hibernate in the UK?
Dormice, along with bats and hedgehogs, spend the winter months in hibernation. Image by Bruce Detorres via Flickr.
Mammals
Although many small mammals, including mice, shrews, badgers and rabbits, enter short periods of torpor throughout the winter, the only mammals in the UK that truly hibernate are bats, dormice and hedgehogs. Bats utilise hollow trees, roof spaces, caves and bat boxes and will usually spend the entire winter, from November to April, in hibernation. Dormice choose the seemingly riskier solution of making a nest using natural items such as logs and leaves on the floor of forests and woodland. Hedgehogs build hibernacula using dead leaves, twigs, log stacks and compost heaps and, although evidence shows that they rouse several times during their hibernation, they rarely leave these nests. The only exception to this is when the temperature drops too low – at this point they may depart their existing nest and build a completely new one with better insulation! In general, hedgehogs hibernate from November to April, but depending on the temperature and weather, this can vary from year to year.
Reptiles and Amphibians
All reptiles in the UK hibernate. Typically this will begin in October in response to reduced daytime temperature and shorter day length, but it can vary depending on the year and species. In general reptiles will use dry and sheltered spots, often utilising tree roots, abandoned animal burrows or compost heaps.
All species of amphibian in the UK also hibernate, although not all individuals will do so on any given year. In mild winters newts may simply enter a state of low activity rather than complete hibernation. Most amphibians will choose a quiet location in the soil, a compost heap or rockery, or even a garden shed to spend their hibernation. A small number of frogs, however, will hibernate at the bottom of a pond.
Insects
Bumblebee colonies die off in the autumn with only the new queens surviving. To make it through the winter, these queens burrow into the soil where they are protected from the cold and weather for up to nine months! Honey bees use a different strategy and do not hibernate as such – instead they survive as a reduced-size colony which huddles together with the queen at the centre. The bees rotate their positions so that each takes its turn on the outside where the temperature is lowest.
Most butterflies spend the winter in larval form. Several species however, including Brimstone, Peacock and Comma will hibernate as adults, using either vegetation such as bramble and ivy, or outdoor structures such as garden sheds and barns.
Ladybirds survive the cold winter by hibernating in rotting logs, under leaf litter or even inside houses. They like to hibernate in colonies, often forming groups containing thousands of individuals.
Ladybirds emerging from hibernation. Image by Dr. Mary Gillham Archive Project via Flickr.
Climate change and hibernation
Most animals that hibernate rely on a combination of cues such as day length and temperature to know when it is the right time. As climate change continues to affect local and global temperatures and weather patterns, many animals are hibernating later in the year and becoming active again earlier in the spring, as temperatures during the winter are now often much warmer. Hibernating for a shorter period can put pressure on food availability and can cause a mismatch in the timing when animals require a resource and when that resource is available. For example, bees emerging from hibernation require a ready supply of nectar. If they emerge earlier than usual however, before flowering season, this food source may not be available to them.
Always make sure to check your bonfire for hibernating animals! Image by Ian Carroll via Flickr.
How can I help hibernating animals?
• Leaving some areas of your garden that are untidy and overgrown will provide plenty of space for animals to hibernate over the winter. Piles of logs, long grass and compost heaps all provide safe places for animals such as snakes, hedgehogs and other small mammals.
• If you’re celebrating bonfire night, don’t forget to check the bonfire for hibernating animals before you light it – particularly if you have built the structure several days or weeks before the big night.
• Providing artificial hibernacula in your garden, such as a bat box, hedgehog house, or insect box, will help to provide suitable hibernation spots for these species.
• If you find a butterfly that has chosen to hibernate inside your house, it’s best to gently relocate it to an unheated building outside, such as a shed or garage. (Central heating is extremely damaging to a hibernating butterfly and will desiccate their delicate wings and bodies).
• Don’t forget those animals that don’t hibernate over winter. Birds in particular will benefit from a variety of foods such as peanuts, mealworms, fat balls and seed.
Professor Jeff Ollerton is a researcher, educator, consultant and author, specialising in mutualistic ecological relationships – in particular, those between plants and their pollinators. Now one of the world’s leading experts on pollinators and pollination, he has conducted field research in the UK, Australia, Africa, and Tenerife, and published a huge body of ground-breaking research which is highly-cited and used at both national and international levels to inform conservation efforts. Jeff currently holds Visiting Professor positions at the University of Northampton in the UK and Kunming Institute of Botany in China.
While professional scientific research, alongside informed policy change, will obviously be key in directing the future of pollinators around the world, you also mention the importance of amateur naturalists and citizen scientists in collecting data and providing some of the legwork behind sustained long-term studies. What advice would you give to a non-professional individual who wishes to get involved with pollinator conservation? (eg. volunteering, donating to charities/organisations, lobbying for policy change etc.)
I discovered lots of interesting things from your book that I previously didn’t know – such as the fact that there are pollinating lizards! In all of your years of study, what is the most fascinating fact that you have learned about pollinators?
Finally, what are you working on currently, and do you have plans for further books?
