Hoopoe – A blog by nhbs – Page 56 – The NHBS Conservation Hub

6th International Berlin Bat Conference – Interview with Christian Voigt

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.

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.

For more information and to register for the 6th International Berlin Bat Meeting, visit the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research website.

Butterfly Conservation Moth Recorders’ Meeting 2021

On Saturday 30th January I attended the first online Moth Recorders’ Meeting of 2021, organised by Butterfly Conservation and chaired by Dr. Richard Fox. Although it was still a couple of months from the time when people would be putting their traps out in earnest for the spring/summer influx of species on the wing, there was a poignant and reflective look back on the strange year that had just been. It was also noted how, through national lockdowns and social distancing measures brought on by the global pandemic in 2020, there had been an indisputable increase in appreciation for the importance of moths and butterflies. It was mentioned that, at the time of the meeting, there had been 14 million impressions across social media platforms using the hashtag #mothsmatter and an insatiable appetite for the Butterfly Conservation hawk-moth identification sheets and for moth traps!

The impact of lockdown on moth recording

The first talk of the morning from Dr. Zoe Randle discussed the connection to wildlife that was kindling in our homes and gardens through 2020, and reported that there was, in the last year, a 62% increase in records submitted to Devon Moth Group, and a 72% increase in recorders! This speaks volumes about a growing awareness and appreciation for moths and provides vital data on the bigger picture of how our native species are faring. There is also evidence to suggest that 2020 was a boom year for the Jersey Tiger moth, with abundant national sightings indicating that the species could be expanding its range further north.

Inevitably, this influx of records requires consolidation by county moth recorders on local levels in order to feed them into the national dataset, and it was these hard working volunteers who were the focus of Zoe’s talk. Specifically she discussed the best ways to support them in their rolls and investigated the demographics of county moth recorders alongside details on the submission status at the time.

The pandemic has resulted in a huge increase in submitted records and email correspondence

This need to streamline the information in support of county moth recorders was echoed and advanced by Dr. Katie Cruickshanks who was next to speak.

Katie spoke about the benefits of this widening pool of public participation suggesting that, not only does it expand our understanding of national biodiversity, but it also connects us meaningfully with wildlife and has positive effects on our own personal wellbeing. Public perception of moths and butterflies is improving through events like Butterfly Conservation’s Big Butterfly Count, which encourages people to log the species they see in their local patch for a set period of time using a dedicated app. The wealth of sightings that come through apps like this and iRecord – alongside information gathered from social media and anecdotal sources – has meant that the recording process is a vast and time consuming activity for volunteers. Katie spoke on how this process currently works and speculated on how it might be streamlined moving forwards.

Data from citizen science projects and moth recording is vital for making conservation decisions, compiling atlases and for directing policy.

As a follow up to the publication of the Atlas of Britain & Ireland’s Larger Moths at the end of 2019, Dr. Richard Fox spoke next on the state of Britain’s larger moths.

The compilation of data for the new State of Britain’s Larger Moths 2021 report was an ambitious project and took into account 50 years worth of accumulated information, providing a unique understanding of moth population trends. To date, it represents the longest-running standardised monitoring of insect populations anywhere in the world. The study divides data to create a more accurate picture of the abundance and distribution of larger moths across the country, and takes into account northern and southern records separately to build a stronger idea of where increases and declines in species numbers are occurring. Overall abundance of larger moths caught in traps over the 50 year survey period points to a concerning 33% decline across the country (with a southern decline of 39% and a northern decline of 22%). There is, however, evidence that moth species in the UK have increased their distribution by 9% over a 47 year period (1970-2016).

Changes in moth abundance over a period of 47 years

Dr. Fox also talked through the understanding we now have of distribution indicators for different habitats including woodland, grassland, moorland and heathland. These indicators suggest that “loss and deterioration of wildlife-rich habitats is probably still the main cause of population declines”.

Distribution indicators for several habitat types

There are, however, many nationwide projects working to correct for this and enrich habitats once again; such as the Highways England roadside verge scheme managed by Butterfly Conservation’s Dr. Phil Sterling, which is working to create improved grassland habitat corridors along roadsides.

Next came a passionate report on moth trapping through lockdown from Luke Phillips (Dorset RSPB). In this personal account of how national restrictions pushed him to connect more keenly with wildlife locally, Luke described some of the star species that visited his patch throughout the long spring and summer season of 2020, including a scarce Alder Kitten (Furcula bicuspis) and an unusual Birch Mocha variant (Cyclophora albipunctata).

Luke has been involved in a number of public engagement activities that encourage individuals and families to embrace the wildlife in their own spaces, including nationwide moth trap reveals and The Big September Sleepout, which sees hundreds of families across the country meeting to camp in wild places and witness the wildlife around them. In the last year these activities have still occurred, but with participants camping in their own gardens and spaces (in accordance with social distancing measures) and then convening virtually to discuss their findings. The uptake on these activities has been really encouraging and, besides the obvious benefits to wellbeing of connecting people and wildlife in these ways, these moth mornings and camp-outs also produce lots more data for Butterfly Conservation!

The final speaker of the day was Dr. David Wagner, a systematist and lepidopterist from the University of Connecticut, who spoke about Insect Decline in the Anthropocene and How Moths are Faring. David discussed our current understanding of anthropogenic impacts on climate through habitat destruction and the intensification of agricultural practices around the world, and how their knock-on effects impact on parts of the tropics that are still feeling little to no direct harm from these practices. As a result of spreading drought conditions through the world’s grasslands and cloud bank diminishment in the tropics it is clear that insect abundance is in decline (although some species are faring better than others, and even increasing in numbers).

Cloud bank diminishment in the tropics over a period of 30 years

David pointed out that the most concerning thing is situations where there are declines in common/abundant species in parts of the world where there is little to no anthropogenic impact. This indicates a systemic problem that we can’t yet see. But in the unique case of the United Kingdom, where we have a vast archive of data collection and large levels of public involvement in monitoring, we can see more clearly the impacts of emerging anthropogenic factors, and this can inform our understanding to a certain degree. This depth of research has still not been realised in most parts of the world which means our global view of how insect populations at large are faring is incomplete.

The morning wound up with an important message to anyone passionate about moth and insect conservation: keep working at collecting the data, keep submitting records, lend your voice as an ambassador for insect surveying where you can, and continue to learn and encourage learning.

An important checklist for anyone passionate about insect conservation

If you would like to get involved in future talks or events with Butterfly Conservation, you can find out more on their website.

NHBS In the Field – Telescopic Wi-Fi Video Endoscope

The Telescopic Wi-Fi Video Endoscope is the latest addition to our range of video endoscopes and is manufactured by the company behind the ever-popular Explorer Premium Endoscope. An endoscope is a fantastic piece of kit for any practicing ecologist, allowing you to inspect hard to reach or inaccessible locations. Typical examples of where endoscopes are used include checking burrows, bird nests and bat roosts, where direct visual access may be limited.

This model features quite a few changes in comparison to its predecessors. Although the camera is labelled as an endoscope, it is really a hybrid between a pole mounted camera and a traditional endoscope. All electrical and optical components of the camera are neatly contained in a cylindrical module measuring just 8cm x 2cm (excluding fixing points) which is quickly and easily mounted onto the included telescopic handle. The camera also comes with a 14cm long flexible arm, which can be connected between the camera and the handle to help when manoeuvring in awkward spaces. As the name suggests, the camera transmits footage over Wi-Fi and allows the operator to view a live feed wirelessly on a smartphone or tablet.

We tested this camera in several locations, including a few typical bat and bird boxes to gauge its overall suitability for different applications.

How we tested

In March 2021 we took a Telescopic Wi-Fi Video Endoscope out into the woods surrounding NHBS and simply attempted manoeuvring the camera into a few awkward and hard to reach locations; such as high up in ivy covered ash trees and over the edges of some of the more unstable riverbanks. Our aim was to try and gauge its effectiveness in extending a surveyor’s reach. We also tried using the camera to inspect several empty bird/bat boxes to see how it would measure up against a traditional endoscope in these situations. Additionally, we captured several images using the camera’s free to use ‘Smartcam Wi-Fi’ app.

It is important to note that it is an offence to disturb nesting Schedule 1 bird species and any bat roost without an appropriate license, hence we only inspected boxes we knew to be empty.

The fully assembled camera is incredibly lightweight, weighing little over a few hundred grams, and it comes with a semi-rigid compact carry case that we were able to fit easily into a rucksack.

The camera is powered by a built-in Lithium-ion battery. We charged the camera, using the included USB-C to USB-A cable, for approximately 70 minutes as indicated by the manual supplied with the camera. On a full charge the camera can operate for a total of 90 minutes which was more than sufficient for our needs.

What we found

Connecting the camera to a phone was quite simple. Once we had downloaded the Smartcam-Wi-Fi app, all we had to do was turn on the camera module and connect to its Wi-Fi signal on our phone. It is helpfully called ‘SmartCam-XXXX’ so it is easy to identify. The app has several controls for the camera, including LED brightness, freeze (holds the image displayed until turned off), capture image and start/stop recording. The adjustable LEDs were a very handy feature and allowed us to maintain the optimum light settings when using it outdoors or inside a nest box. One frustration we had with the app was that it lacks an option to rotate the video feed, meaning that it is often necessary to rotate your phone to maintain the correct orientation. Because of this it would be worth investigating whether there are alternative apps more suitable for using with the camera.

Despite the limitations with the app, we were very pleased with the picture quality of the camera. Certainly, the 720p resolution is noticeably better when compared to an older style Explorer Pro endoscope, which has a slightly lower video resolution of 420p. When fully extended you do have to be careful in holding the camera steady as the image clarity can suffer a bit from camera shake. A nice feature of the camera is that it is waterproof to an IP67 standard, meaning we were able to submerge it briefly to inspect areas of the local river. One thing to note here is that while it was fine operating underwater, the Wi-Fi signal was severely reduced, and it was not able to maintain a stable connection for very long.

Image taken using the Smartcam Wi-Fi app while submerged in the River Dart

Other than when using the camera underwater, the Wi-Fi signal from the camera was very reliable. When testing the camera indoors we were able to maintain a high-quality live feed at a distance of around 15m with a clear line of sight. Certainly, in the field this was somewhat reduced by obstructions, but we found that the signal was still sufficiently strong with a distance of at least 10m between the camera and our smartphone.

The extended reach of 1m was useful, however we felt in most cases a surveyor would benefit from a greater total extendable length. The supplied handle does feature a thread at its base, meaning it would be possible to attach an additional handle to increase the overall reach. We found the flexi arm provided with the camera was sufficiently strong and allowed us to quickly adjust the camera angle or manoeuvre the camera into an awkward area when using it out in the field.

Investigating thick ivy with the endoscope at full extension

When attempting to use the camera with our nest boxes, we found that for boxes designed to suit larger birds (Barn Owls, Tawny Owls, Kestrels etc) the camera was easy to use and the benefits to workers looking to inspect these boxes were clear. However, its usefulness in inspecting bat boxes and garden bird boxes was more limited. The narrow crevice entrances of most bat boxes are simply too small for the camera to access, and a traditional endoscope style camera tube would be more appropriate in these instances. The 20cm diameter camera body could fit through the entrance holes of most bird boxes; however, it was not always possible to angle the camera as required and still fit it through the entrance hole of the box, meaning that the base of the box was not always visible.

Our opinion

Overall we found that, while the Telescopic Wi-Fi Video Endoscope is not always as effective as a more traditional style endoscope and the associated app is limited by certain design flaws, its affordable price, ease of use and versatility make it a great piece of kit for more general ecological surveying.

The Telescopic Wi-Fi Video Endoscope is available on the NHBS website.
To view the full range of endoscopes, along with other survey equipment, visit nhbs.com. If you have any questions or would like some advice on choosing the right product then please contact us via email at customer.services@nhbs.com or phone on 01803 865913.

Author interview with Dean R. Lomax: Locked in Time

Dean Lomax digging up dinosaurs at the Wyoming Dinosaur Center.

Dean R. Lomax is an internationally recognized palaeontologist, author, television presenter, and science communicator. He is currently a visiting scientist at the University of Manchester and is a leading authority on ichthyosaurs. He is due to publish a remarkable popular science book, Locked in Time, that looks at what the fossil record can tell us about behaviours of extinct animals by way of fifty remarkable examples. Leading up to publication, we reached out to Dean and asked him some questions.

Could you tell us a little about your background and where the motivation for this book came from?

My passion for palaeontology stems from my childhood fascination with everything dinosaur. In high school, I was not very gifted academically and my grades were not good enough to attend university so at the age of 18 I ended up selling my possessions – including my cherished Star Wars collection(!) – to help fund a trip to excavate dinosaurs at the Wyoming Dinosaur Center in the USA. That trip changed my life and formed the backbone of my career. Not only did it provide me with the necessary experience I needed to help build a career in palaeontology, but it is where the idea for Locked in Time originated. Whilst looking at the museum displays, one particularly outstanding fossil caught my eye. A trackway with its maker preserved at the very end – an animal that had literally been caught dead in its tracks. I had never seen anything like this fossil before, in books, in museums or in documentaries. This prehistoric story was preserved in time for all to see. I was hooked. It gave me that spark to discover more about prehistoric animals and their behaviours and I even ended up describing this particular fossil in the scientific literature.

In your introduction, you mention the field of palaeoethology (the study of fossils to infer behaviour). How big of a subfield is this in palaeontology? Are there specialised palaeoethologists, or is it more a case of palaeontologists contributing to this field whenever someone finds something?

Palaeoethology is a fascinating subject that allows us to explore the study of behaviours of extinct species through the evidence preserved in fossils. It is a small subfield of palaeontology, due mostly to the rarity of fossils with direct and reliable evidence of behaviours preserved. There aren’t necessarily any specialised palaeoethologists, but rather those palaeontologists who contribute to the field when something is found and described; however, palaeontologists may often be entirely unaware that they are actively contributing to the field because the idea of ethology/behaviour in the fossil record can easily be overlooked. Having said that, there are some palaeontologists that could easily add ‘palaeoethologist’ to their CVs, most notably those who work with amber which often preserve snapshots of behaviours in action. A real pioneer in the field of palaeoethology was Dr Arthur Boucot. He spent years searching for evidence of behaviours in prehistoric animals, writing numerous papers and academic monographs, and even introduced the term “frozen behaviour” for those instances where an extinct organism was preserved in the midst of some type of behaviour. Delving into his history and research was genuinely inspiring. As I have researched and published on multiple specimens and have written this book, I guess this probably qualifies me as a palaeoethologist too.

Ideas about behaviour are important to those who produce artwork depicting prehistoric lifeforms, i.e. palaeoartists. Do you find there is much of an exchange between palaeontologists and palaeoartists to try and depict behaviour in artwork according to the latest science?

The field of palaeoart has grown immensely over the last twenty years. In fact, several palaeoartists have become excellent scientists in their own right, including Bob Nicholls (the artist for this book), who has co-authored multiple scientific studies. Good palaeoartists stay informed of the latest scientific research and discoveries, with several often working very closely with palaeontologists to ensure their reconstructions are scientifically accurate. Subsequently, when based on the latest science, thoroughly researched palaeoart reconstructions are anatomically plausible. However, that said, practically all aspects of behaviour depicted in palaeoart are not based on direct evidence but assumptions. Usually, the best a palaeoartist can do is look at an extinct animal’s anatomy and environment and speculate about its lifestyle and behaviours. This is why fossilised evidence of behaviours, like those contained inside this book, are so precious and important to study and understand. These remarkable fossils tell us that prehistoric creatures were not movie monsters (prehistoric life, especially dinosaurs, are too often portrayed as roaring monsters!) but real animals that behaved in a variety of familiar and surprising ways.

What have technological advancements contributed to this line of inquiry? Are palaeontologists going back to old fossil material to reexamine them with new tools and finding new evidence of fossilised behaviour?

The use of flashy, high-tech computers, scanners and the like have helped to unlock an entirely new world of information contained in fossils. As a result, not only are newly discovered fossils subjected to this technology but much older fossil discoveries, where none of these technologies were previously available, can now be reanalysed with a fresh approach, breathing new life into old fossils as it were. This has led to some exciting discoveries of fossilised behaviours in specimens that have otherwise been deemed as having little to no research value.

Whether dinosaurs or early mammals, prehistoric organisms were faced with many of the same basic challenges as animals alive today. Has the fossil record revealed any examples of behaviours that were unique and now effectively extinct?

These types of questions are what get me excited about unravelling the mysteries of prehistoric behaviour. In many cases, “the present is the key to the past”, as geologist Charles Lyell famously introduced in the 1800s, and this definitely holds true with understanding behaviour. For example, on a basic level, we know that some groups of mammals live in herds today and that some extinct mammals also lived in herds millions of years ago (we have good fossil evidence for this). However, the natural world is filled with so many incredible acts of behaviour that you might expect the fossil record would reveal something unique. As such, perhaps one of the most unusual and apparently unique behaviours was recorded in an ancient roughly 430 million-year-old arthropod nicknamed the ‘kite runner’. The young of this arthropod were literally tethered to the parents via long spines. It appears to be the only known occurrence of this type of brooding behaviour known among fossil or living arthropods.

Rather than body fossils, past behaviour is often deduced from so-called trace fossils or ichnofossils. Nests, fossilised footprints, and trackways must be fairly easy to recognize. But what about the harder-to-identify traces? Do palaeontologists frequently encounter suspected ichnofossils where they don’t know who made them, how they were made, or perhaps even what they represent?

Yes, palaeontologists (or palaeoichnologists) frequently encounter mysterious trace fossils that are difficult or near impossible to identify or decipher. By their very definition, trace fossils represent evidence of behaviour, so we can say with confidence that an ancient animal made a nest, left its tracks or created a burrow, but they generally do not provide all of the tell-tale signs that allow us to identify what organism made it, how it was made or even what the trace might really represent. To find definite answers, we have to go a step further. In much rarer circumstances some trace fossils provide more than a ‘simple’ track or burrow and may be directly related with its maker, such that the body fossil is present inside the burrow or at the end of the track. In other examples, a track might show where the animal walked, stopped, sat down and then walked away, or a burrow might preserve evidence of scratch marks that could indicate how the burrow may have been constructed and by whom. These types of fossils provide much more information about specific moments (and behaviours) in deep time.

Were there any examples of fossilised behaviour that did not make the cut for this book but that you would have loved to include, or any noteworthy recent discoveries?

Having spent a substantial amount of time combing through hundreds of scientific papers and books, and examining specimens in museum collections, my initial plan was to tell the story of prehistoric behaviour through 100 fossils, rather than 50. It was incredibly tough selecting 100 fossils, so cutting this in half was much harder! I had to rank each of the fossils against one another, in terms of the type of behaviour, type of animal and so forth. This meant some really unusual specimens, like the aforementioned ‘kite runner’, did not make the final cut. One fossil that I would have really liked to include, and which has received worldwide media attention recently, is the so-called ‘Dueling Dinosaurs’ fossil, which appears to preserve a Tyrannosaurs and Triceratops locked in combat. I opted not to include the specimen as it has yet to be formally described, although I do make some subtle references to it. I’m very excited to see what research is revealed from this fossil, especially as only one fighting dinosaur fossil has been described, which inspired the book’s cover.

Finally, what are some of the biggest unanswered questions when it comes to fossilised behaviour? What would you love to find?

There are so many ancient groups and species that it would be easy for me to rattle off a list of some of the biggest unanswered questions about fossilised behaviour, but the reality is that we have only really scratched the surface. We have so much to learn when it comes to fossilised behaviour. After all, inferring and attempting to understand behaviour in long-extinct organisms is incredibly hard and is made even more challenging when evidence of behaviours are not preserved. It is also vitally important to remember that, by its very nature, the process of fossilisation is already an incredibly rare event, so to have any form of evidence for ancient fossilised behaviour preserved is genuinely astonishing.

Ooh, what would I love to find! I’m torn between several imaginary fossils, but if I was forced to choose one then it would have to be finding a dinosaur dead in its tracks. The thrill of following in the footsteps of a dinosaur only to find its skeleton lying at the very end of the track would be the ultimate dinosaur detective story.

Locked in Time: Animal Behavior Unearthed in 50 Extraordinary Fossils
By: Dean R. Lomax
Hardback | May 2021

Conservation Land Management magazine

Conservation Land Management (CLM), a quarterly magazine published by NHBS since 2016, is widely regarded as essential reading for all who are involved in land management for nature conservation in Britain. Here, CLM’s Assistant Editor Catherine Mitson introduces the magazine and describes how CLM came to be.

The magazine that went on to become CLM first went to print in the spring of 1993. At this time it was named enact, and was published by English Nature (the forerunner of Natural England). Enact aimed to promote land management for nature conservation and provide easy-to-understand advice on useful techniques; the magazine featured a wide variety of topical articles written by those working in the field, as is still the case today.

English Nature went on to publish enact for a further ten years, but in 1995 production of the magazine was handed to British Wildlife Publishing (BWP). BWP was established in 1989 by Andrew and Anne Branson, and by 1995 had gained a reputation as a well-respected small publishing house specialising in natural history, already well known for publishing British Wildlife magazine (also now published by NHBS).

The cover of CLM 15.3 (Autumn 2017), before its redesign in 2018.

Fast forward to the spring of 2003 and enact was relaunched as Conservation Land Management and received a complete makeover. The themes and topics covered remained the same, but new features such as Briefing (listings of relevant events and publications) and On the ground (updates and advice on the latest products) made their first appearances. Conservation has changed greatly over the past 28 years, and CLM today covers a wider variety of practical conservation issues than did enact. It continues to be an invaluable source of information about good conservation land management practice.

NHBS acquired CLM in 2016, and it was decided in 2018 that the time was ripe for the magazine to be updated once more. CLM was given a complete redesign and volume 16.1, published in spring 2018, was the first to display the new look. But despite the change of appearance, the core aim of CLM is still the same: to continue to serve those people on the ground working to conserve nature in the British countryside.

The articles in CLM focus on a wide range of topics, using up-to-date case studies to support practical solutions. Some places and themes covered by CLM in recent issues have included: considerations for lichens and bryophytes in the management of riparian woodlands; moorland grazing in the heart of Galloway; the options for wildflower seed harvesting; evidence-based decision making in conservation and land management; the development of the ‘amphibian ladder’; raising the standards of veteran tree management in Europe; wilding hedgerows in modern landscapes; conservation of native black poplar using seeds; and many more!

Even just this small selection of previous articles demonstrates the core purpose of CLM, to provide our readers with practical advice. CLM’s readership is diverse – encompassing staff working for statutory agencies and government departments, local authorities, charities, universities and research institutes, as well as ecological consultants, university and other higher education students and lecturers, volunteers, farmers and other private landowners, and individuals with an interest in how best to care for Britain’s wildlife and habitats.

Our upcoming Spring 2021 issue marks the beginning of volume 19 and the selection of articles cover a wide variety of topics and techniques. Here is a sneak peek of what is included:

The new Environmental Land Management scheme: what do we know so far?
Introducing… Beaver Trust
Using location-based evidence to prioritise catchment-wide land management
St George’s flower bank Local Nature Reserve: thirty years of road verge management by a local community
Wet farming in the Great Fen

In every issue you can expect to see Briefing and On the ground, but other features that regularly appear include Viewpoint, a similar length to our main articles, but here authors can voice their own views on various conservation issues; Introducing, a feature focused on organisations involved in conservation, and here they can discuss their aim and describe specific conservation projects they are involved in; and Review, which can include letters from readers or updates from our authors.

CLM is published four times a year in March, June, September and December, and is available by subscription only, delivered straight to your door. Subscriptions start from £22 per year. Previous back issues are also available to purchase individually (subject to availability).

If you are involved in a conservation project and think your experiences could be useful to other practitioners, we would love to hear from you. If you are interested in writing for CLM feel free to contact us – we will be happy to discuss your ideas with you.

BCT Big Bat Skills Workshop 2021

On Friday 12th February the Bat Conservation Trust held their Big Bat Skills Event, which was run online via Zoom and breakout sessions. We were lucky enough to attend several sessions including the Introduction to Kaleidoscope for Bat Analysis run by Wildlife Acoustics – where we learned more about the many uses of Kaleidoscope software, Titley Scientific’s session on their product range and Anabat Insight software, Thermal Imaging by Dr Kayleigh Fawcett Williams and Emergency Bat Care for Ecologists by Maggie Brown. We cover a couple of these in a little more detail below.

We joined the session on thermal imaging run by Dr Kayleigh Fawcett Williams to learn more about how this equipment is being used in ecological consultancy. Most participants were new to thermal imagery, so Dr Fawcett Williams walked us through the basics. She explained that thermal imaging works by picking up thermoelectrics from the environment – infrared radiation, meaning that it is not at all invasive to the animals as the scopes emit no light (as opposed to night vision cameras that use infrared to light up the subjects).

Dr Fawcett Williams went through the benefits and applications of thermal imaging, and provided this helpful link to a copy of her Thermal Imaging: Bat Survey Guidelines published in association with the BCT.

The benefits of this survey method were explained, including: ability to use at all times of day and for long durations and cost effectiveness due to lack of man power needed. Thermal imaging can reduce the risk of false positives when it comes to identification of species and also provide a wider picture of landscape or infrastructure use by illustrating patterns of activity. She also highlighted that it is good for multidisciplinary work (e.g. for firms that work with engineers) as it has a range of applications that are not just ecology based.

Dr Fawcett Williams explained the difference between using thermal imaging as a survey ‘aid’ – assisting normal survey work, with live results, usually with lower end equipment; and using it for the entire survey ‘method’ – where higher accuracy is needed and results are analysed at a later date. When surveying for bats, Dr Fawcett Williams recommended using static detectors alongside thermal imaging but noted that the thermal imaging devices have a much longer detection range than static detectors and will pick up more than the static detectors. It is also vital that the time stamps of both devices are lined up so that they are able to be used in unison.

She also made sure to comment that thermal imaging devices cannot see through solid objects but pick up heat patterns which can often be things other than your target species (such as moisture). Thermal imaging is designed to be used for active animals and is therefore not recommended as a replacement for surveys such as internal roost surveys, especially as thermal imaging devices cannot pick up torpid bats.

It was then time to move onto the next session: Emergency Bat Care for Ecologists by Maggie Brown. This session focused on what to do if you came across an injured bat during an ecological survey.

She explained that bats are protected by law and that while only licensed individuals should be in contact with bats, first aid is considered emergency care and so this can be administered without a license. That being said, you will need to be able to justify any contact you have had with a bat so she strongly suggested that you keep records of the encounter.

Reasons that you would have to perform emergency care for bats were covered, such as when the individual is:

Exhausted or disoriented
Trapped and prevented from returning home
Too badly injured to fly and return home
Disturbed or have lost their roost
A flightless baby and has little or no fur; undeveloped wings but oversized thumbs and toes

Helpful equipment in an emergency bat care kit

She covered how to know when a bat needs food, how to feed them and how to recognise and deal with dehydration. Great emphasis was placed on the fact that you should always wear gloves for any contact with bats due to the potential risk of them having a strain of rabies (EBLV), and that for this reason some vets may refuse to treat them. It is very important to recognise how much care you would be able to provide yourself and when it is best to pass the care onto a long term bat carer or enlist the help of a vet.

If you think that you may end up in a situation where you need to administer emergency bat first aid, I would highly recommend attending one of Maggie Brown’s very informative sessions and, when possible, formal training.

The BCT website is also a useful resource, offering advice on emergency bat care and providing information about the opportunities available for those looking to volunteer.

Overall, the day was very interesting and educational, and it was nice to see such a range of skill sets attending the workshop as well as the enthusiasm shared by all.

You can stay up to date with upcoming BCT events by signing up to the BCT mailing list.

Bloomsbury Wildlife: Publisher of the Month for March 2021

Bloomsbury Wildlife is home to many of our most knowledgeable, eloquent and passionate nature writers. Naturalists, ecologists and academics alike are sure to find something engaging among their extensive range of natural history titles. Alongside the excellent and rapidly growing British Wildlife Collection and the beautifully illustrated and meticulously researched Wildlife Guides, they also offer fantastic nature writing and practical advice on how to make a garden more wildlife friendly.

NHBS are delighted to present Bloomsbury Wildlife as our Publisher of the Month for March.

We have special offers across a large selection of their most popular titles, so now is the perfect time to browse their books.

Heathland
By: Clive Chatters
Hardback | March 2021 | £29.99 ~~£34.99~~
This brand new addition to the British Wildlife Collection celebrates the vulnerable heathland landscape of the British Isles.
Read our author interview here.
Volume 10 in the collection, Butterflies, is due in April

Field Guide to the Caterpillars of Great Britain and Ireland
By: Barry Henwood, Phil Sterling, Richard Lewington
Paperback | March 2020 | £29.99 ~~£34.99~~
This beautifully illustrated addition to the Bloomsbury Wildlife Guides covers caterpillars of the moth and butterfly species most likely to be encountered in the British Isles.

The Brilliant Abyss
By: Helen Scales
Hardback | Due March 2021 | £13.99 ~~£16.99~~
Tells the story of our relationship with the deep sea – how we explore and exploit it. Helen considers humanity’s advancing impacts on the deep, including mining and pollution, and what we can do about them.

The Pocket Book of Bird Anatomy
By: Marianne Taylor
Flexibound | May 2020 | £12.99 ~~£15.99~~
This excellent RSPB guide to bird anatomy looks at the avian body, system by system, and studes how it evolved and how it functions.

The Missing Lynx
By: Ross Barnett
Paperback | July 2020 | £8.99 ~~£10.99~~
Palaeontologist John Russ explores the animals that disappeared from Britain after the last Ice Age, and the potential for reintroduction.

Field Guide to the Bees of Great Britain and Ireland
By: Steven Falk and Richard Lewington (Illustrator)
Paperback | Feb 2015 | £29.99 ~~£34.99~~
A beautifully illustrated and comprehensive introduction to bee classification, ecology, field techniques and recording. Includes a full glossary and information on how to separate the sexes and distinguish bees from other insects.

Bats of Britain and Europe
By: Christian Dietz and Andreas Kiefer
Paperback | Sept 2018 | £23.99 ~~£29.99~~
This concise and definitive guide presents all 45 bat species that regularly occur in Europe (of which 17 are known to breed in the British Isles)

The Butterflies of Britain & Ireland
By: Jeremy A Thomas and Richard Lewington
Paperback | June 2014 | £19.99 ~~£24.99~~
Provides comprehensive coverage of all our resident and migratory butterflies, including information on recently discovered species. This definitive book on the subject includes detailed distribution maps.

Field Guide to the Dragonflies of Britain and Europe
By: Klaas-Douwe B Dijkstra, Asmus Schröter and Richard Lewington
Paperback | Oct 2020 | £19.99 ~~£24.99~~
Hardback | Oct 2020 | £33.99 ~~£39.99~~
Fully revised, the second edition of this guide features updated taxonomic and distribution information, as well as five new species discovered since the first edition in 2006.

British Moths: A Photographic Guide to the Moths of Britain and Ireland
By: Chris Manley
Hardback | Due June 2021 | £37.99 ~~£44.99~~
The most comprehensive collection of photographs of British moths ever published. This third edition has been significantly expanded so that it includes all species on the British list.

Browse all Bloomsbury Wildlife books at NHBS

All prices are correct at the time of this article’s publication.

Wilding for Conservation: new series in British Wildlife

In a short space of time rewilding has grown to become a powerful force in conservation. The idea of giving nature the freedom and space to forge its own path is not just inspiring, but also raises deeper questions about our relationship with the natural world and how we best serve wildlife and ecosystems through a period of enormous challenge for conservation. To explore these and other aspects relating to rewilding, British Wildlife is launching a new series: Wilding for Conservation. The series started with two articles in the February issue, along with an editorial in which Series Editor Rob Fuller and BW Editor Guy Freeman explain how they hope to contribute to the discussion on rewilding and its role in conservation in Britain. An abridged and edited version of the editorial is included below.

Letting nature take back control

Deceptively simple in essence, rewilding resonates with something latent in many of us – a longing for a wilder world. It has captured the imaginations not only of conservationists, but also of landowners, policy-makers and, especially heartening, many young people too. Enthusiasm abounds for the idea that natural processes can be harnessed as solutions to some of our biggest environmental challenges, including climate change and biodiversity loss. Rewilding has rapidly become a central element in this ‘new’ thinking, with many believing that it offers a fresh start for what they see as an ineffective conservation movement presiding over catastrophic declines in nature. But what exactly is rewilding, and what is it not?

Rewilding emerged in the 1990s as a predominantly North American movement, but became strongly embedded in British conservation consciousness somewhat later, partly aided by the publicity surrounding several pioneering projects, such as Oostvaardersplassen, Ennerdale and Knepp. The publication of Feral by George Monbiot in 2013 undoubtedly also helped to fuel interest. In a remarkably short period of time, rewilding has spawned several conferences, bewildering numbers of papers and articles, several influential books and new organisations, notably Rewilding Europe and Rewilding Britain, founded in 2011 and 2015, respectively.

Interpretations of exactly what rewilding means have proliferated and often ranged far from the original concept. Most advocates, however, would seem to argue that it embraces natural processes without defined outcomes, and ideally operates over large tracts of land. In Britain at least, the enthusiasm for rewilding has met with some scepticism, even among conservationists, which may reflect disquiet about the absence of targets, a perceived threat to what has been achieved in the past, or simply confusion over what all the noise is about. One can legitimately ask whether the ideas are actually new or novel. Approaches guided by natural processes were being promoted long before rewilding became mainstream, while the merits of non-intervention versus habitat management have been discussed for decades in British conservation circles. What distinguishes the rewilding ideas that emerged in North America, however, is their focus on wild land on a grand scale, allowing the unhindered movement of animals, including large predators and their prey.

Discussions of rewilding in more heavily modified European landscapes quickly become entwined with questions of what can be classed as ‘natural’, the extent to which we should attempt to re-create historic environments, and the desirability and ethics of using species introductions to try to replicate processes that existed in the past as opposed to allowing ecosystems to develop a new kind of naturalness. Working to create wilder places for both people and nature is an admirable direction for conservation in Britain, but, given the constraints and small scale of many initiatives, ‘wilding’ perhaps captures their essence better than rewilding could.

Existing conservation approaches have not been able to prevent widespread declines in biodiversity over recent decades, although without them things could have been far worse. Some argue that rewilding (or wilding) is a way to set nature on a better course in our islands, but how can we be sure of this? There are severe limitations on land availability for conservation, especially in the lowlands, and the benefits from rewilding may not become apparent for many years. Are we approaching a point at which we need to rethink what kind of nature and wildlife we want?

British Wildlife has effectively been contributing to the ‘wilding debate’ through articles going back to a time when the ‘R word’ was unheard of on this side of the Atlantic. Notable early contributions include two from 1995, one vigorously challenging priorities in British conservation and arguing that greater attention be paid to more natural vegetation, and a second far-sighted article which echoes this from a different perspective and reads like a blueprint for much contemporary wilding. A special issue in 2009 was something of a milestone, containing a set of articles on naturalistic grazing and rewilding, stimulated by Frans Vera’s ideas about how large herbivores shaped pre-Neolithic landscapes. Topics tackled more recently include the nature of past landscapes, the definition of naturalness itself, reintroductions, natural regeneration of woodland and wilding in farmland landscapes.

Over the coming months, British Wildlife will be exploring the many facets of rewilding as they relate to conservation in Britain through a new series, ‘Wilding for Conservation’, a title which, we hope, captures the wide range of approaches to letting nature take back control. We start things off in the February issue with two pieces, one expounding a pure approach to rewilding , the other looking at relationships between traditional conservation management and rewilding . The series will examine some of the questions about rewilding raised in this editorial and bring ideas contained within the expanding scientific and cultural literature to a wider audience, while providing examples of what is happening on the ground in the UK and elsewhere. We hope that readers find the series to be thought-provoking and inspiring.

Articles in the Wilding for Conservation series will appear intermittently through 2021 and beyond. Individual copies of the February issue of British Wildlife are available to buy through the NHBS website, while annual subscriptions start from just £35 – sign up online here.

NHBS In the Field – Bushnell Prime Trail Camera

Bushnell is a renowned brand amongst trail cameras having been used and trusted by specialists and naturalists for decades. The Bushnell Prime is a new camera at the lower price end of the Bushnell range, however boasts good specifications and is great value for money.

How we tested

We placed the camera attached to a wooden post that was facing a known deer track on some scrubby land facing into hedgerows, using the included buckle strap. If you were worried about security, a cable lock such as a Python Mini Lock is compatible and can be threaded through the specific lock hole.

For the first set up we tested the Bushnell Prime trail camera by taking photographs with the following settings:

Mode: Camera
Interval: 5s
Additional set: on
Image Size: 24Mp
Capture Number: 1 photo
Video Size: 1280×720 at 30fps
Video Lengths: 10s
Sensor level: Normal
Field Scan: Off
Flash Mode: Auto
Video Sound: On
Time Stamp: On
Camera Mode: 24hrs

Upon checking the camera footage we realised we had angled the camera too high given the sloping ground. However, we were still surprised at the lack of photographs despite the poor angle. We decided to increase the sensitivity of the sensor from Normal to High and placed the camera lower down on the post (the Prime user manual recommends placing the camera at a height of 1-1.5m but take into consideration your surroundings and target species).

We also decided to put some cut up apples out in front of the camera, that way we would know if there had been any animals feeding that had been missed by the trigger. This new position proved successful so we kept the camera in that position for subsequent tests. For each test session the camera was left for at least 2 days and nights.

After successfully capturing some photos, we changed the settings to record video (Mode: Video) with the above settings but keeping the sensor on High.

What we found

The weather was not good when the camera was set to take photos, and when raining and foggy the photos did look a little hazy as seen in the below images but are still certainly clear enough to identify fauna. It is worth noting that where the camera was situated does often get engulfed in clouds.

However, when there was no cloud bank, even on a dull day the photos were bright and crisp as you can see in the below photos. We were particularly impressed by the close focus as many trail cameras are not designed with close focus in mind and the Bushnell Prime trail camera’s manual recommends that your target monitoring area be no closer than 3m to the camera. Although the bait was put further than 3m away, the animals certainly ventured closer to the camera.

That being said, my preferred photos from the Bushnell Prime trail camera come from dusk and dawn, when the camera is still using the IR flash but there is some natural light illuminating the subject, as seen below.

For our video testing we had slightly better weather though it was still not bright. We again found that the dawn lighting gave the best footage. We were impressed with the quick trigger speed for footage of a rabbit running across the field of view, not having made it halfway before the video started recording. It was clear from the video footage that the deer did notice the glow from the IR flash on the camera but this did not seem to stop them (or any other animals) from frequenting the area. The audio captured was also good, and bird song was picked up in many videos even with howling wind at times. You can see a few of the many video clips we caught in the compilation below.

For all the footage captured, we were pleased that we did not have any false triggers despite having the camera on the highest sensitivity level, meaning we did not have to trawl through lots of empty scenery photos but we did get lots of positive captures. During our testing sessions the majority of the fauna seen were large deer that you would expect the trigger to pick up but rabbits, foxes and birds were also captured low in the grass showing that the smaller fauna would also trigger the camera sensor.

Our opinion

The manual is well laid out and easy to follow, explaining each of the setting options. However, this camera is designed to show 3 basic menu settings (Set Clock/Mode/Interval) so that if you do not want to change any of the more complex settings they are not visible to confuse you. If you would like to fine tune the settings further (as we did) you simply choose to put on the “Additional Set” options which makes the full range of settings visible. This is a great feature for those who don’t need or want to get too technical. You can even simply change the mode (camera or video) by pressing the up arrow without even having to enter into the main menu.

The menu on the camera is easy to work through. It is noteworthy that the manual does mention not to switch between On and Aim (set up mode) modes on the power switch but to always go from On straight to Off (bypassing Aim) as going from On to Aim can cause the camera to freeze. If this does occur it is easily remedied by turning the camera Off then back to Aim mode.

We did miss not having an aiming screen when setting up the camera. However, as we were just using the camera for casual viewing it did not cause any significant issues, especially as the trail camera has an aim and motion test where a red light will flash to let you know that the sensor is being triggered (note this red light does not light up when the camera is in On mode) so we felt confident that we would catch any passing animals even if we could not see what the image area would be.

The bracket on the rear of the camera means that, when strapped to a tree or post, it grips the surface well, making it more stable. It also has a ¼-20 tripod mounting connection.

The bottom loading battery tray makes replacing the batteries in the field easier than old Bushnell models. It has a click mechanism that stops the tray falling out when ejected. This is a great feature to prevent dropping batteries but can be a little stiff to release the battery tray completely.

A potential downside is the lack of a hybrid mode meaning the Bushnell Prime trail camera can take either video or still images, but not both at the same time. However, for naturalists this shouldn’t pose much of a problem. The Bushnell Prime trail camera has other useful settings such as two programmable fieldscans (time lapse) modes.

In general we found that the video captures seemed of better quality than the images, though both were good quality, especially taking in consideration the price point. We started the testing with 6 new lithium batteries and after 2 weeks of constant use in the field, and during cold weather, there was no sign of significant battery depletion.

The Bushnell Prime trail camera provides a great starter trail camera for naturalist or general fieldwork, covering all the basics (and more if wanted), with the price point (currently under £140) lending well to having multiple cameras deployed at once.

The Bushnell Prime is available on the NHBS website and is also available as a starter bundle which includes 8 x Lithium AA batteries and a 32GB SD card.
To view the full range of Bushnell cameras, along with other ranges of trail cameras, visit www.nhbs.com. If you have any questions on camera trapping or would like some advice on the best camera for you then please contact us via email at customer.services@nhbs.com or phone on 01803 865913.

Author Interview: Clive Chatters, Heathland

Heathlands are so much more than simply purple carpets of heather. They are ancient landscapes found throughout Britain that support a complex network of inter-related species and an immense diversity of habitats. They also possess a unique human history defined by the struggle between pastoralism and the competing demands of those who seek exclusive use of the land.

Clive Chatters, signing bookplates for Heathland — Photo by Catherine Chatters

In this latest addition to the British Wildlife Collection, Clive Chatters introduces us to Britain’s heathlands and has kindly taken some time to answer some questions concerning this important habitat.

Heathland might mean different things to different people; how did you go about defining ‘heathland’?

Heathlands defy ready definition. The diverse places that we call heaths are cultural landscapes which are overlain with the language of ecology. It is unnecessary to reconcile these different perspectives as both traditions offer a path to understanding what makes our heathlands special.

Heathlands are one of a handful of British landscapes that have been recognised by English- speaking people for as long as we have had a written history. Sadly, many of the places that early ecologists were describing had already been depleted of much of their diversity and wonder.

This book seeks to challenge those narrow definitions and to promote an understanding of heathland that would be familiar to our forebears, as well as respecting the experience of modern people whose livelihoods are bound up with the heath.

Literature and historical accounts have addressed heaths: these landscapes can also be found in literary works, in poems and romanticised histories. When did their ecological value start to be recognised?

There is a remarkable body of literature surviving from medieval England, with many references to heathlands. Narrative poems that pre-date the Norman conquest give us an indication of how heaths were viewed by Anglo-Scandinavian story-tellers.

Heathlands at the end of the Tudor period were places where people could gather on the margins of settled society and by the seventeenth century there are the beginnings of natural histories that go beyond the enumeration of commonable livestock or illusory wild beasts. The antiquarian John Aubrey gives an account of a lichen heath in his Natural History of Wiltshire. Herbalist, Thomas Johnson published two accounts of the flora of Hampstead Heath, which include over 120 flowering plants. By tabulating a sample of these records, and ordering them by habitat association, we can gain an insight into the character of a Southern Heath in the early seventeenth century.

Throughout history there has been people who have valued heaths as a source of their livelihood. It was not until the early twentieth century that ecologists started to describe heaths and then it took many more decades before their importance to nature conservation has been expressed by conservationists. In the meantime, we have lost so much of the diversity and wonder in British heaths. What my book sets out to do is explore those riches and consider what has sustained them, where they persist.

What are your primary hopes and fears for the long-term future of Britain’s Heathland?

It is not inevitable that the catastrophic losses of the recent past are the destiny of our remaining heaths. Whilst there are still significant challenges to overcome, we know enough about these habitats to secure their place in the countryside of the future, as an integral part of British culture and home to a wealth of species that occupy ecosystems of immense richness.

If we are to rejuvenate heathland as a commonplace element in the British countryside, then we need to be comfortable with knowing what successful rehabilitation looks like. The wildlife of our richest heaths is the fortuitous by-product of millennia of pastoral farming. Over the span of human history, it has been pastoralism that has provided continuity for ecological processes pre-dating agriculture and reaching back into evolutionary time.

If we are to have working heathland landscapes, with all the advantages they bring, then the pastoralists will need to be properly funded and rewarded.

A successful heathland needs to have scale. Heathlands are landscapes that can be remarkably robust in delivering the multiple objectives that we ask of them, but they must be measured in multiples of square kilometres rather than in tens of hectares. We need not be shy about seeking to create a new generation of heaths that are large enough to serve the needs of nature alongside the ambitions of the modern age.

Heathlands are so much more than ‘just’ heathers: could you summarise their importance for a diverse range of fauna and flora?

Heathlands are a great deal more than just carpets of heathers. A heathland landscape can embrace habitats as diverse as rocks and lakes and bogs, even temporary stands of arable and wartime concrete. The component habitats of a large functioning heathland are naturally dynamic, with species dependant on all sorts of habitat formations, from bare ground to the decaying of cowpats. The great antiquity of heathland ecosystems is reflected in the network of interdependent species, many of which are associated with large herbivores, fire and occasional gross disturbance of the soil. Whilst charismatic birds and reptiles have traditionally claimed the limelight, the biological wealth of the heath is better expressed through its invertebrates, lichen and wildflowers.

Until recently, the State implemented conservation initiatives; this is no longer the case and the withdrawal of central government from practical conservation management has placed greater demands on the work of local government. Has this had a significant impact for heathland?

Heathlands are not capable of sustaining ever-intensifying levels of recreational use, no matter how benignly intended. There are numerous examples of habitats that have been degraded and species that have been lost through the complex interactions of wildlife and informal recreation. Our affection for heathlands is no safeguard against them being loved to death.

Dogs, for example, are ecological proxies to natural predators but are present at much higher densities than would occur in the wild. And large heathland ponds are frequently developed for recreation with dire consequence for wildlife.

It is reasonable for people to expect a choice as to where they can go in the countryside; regrettably, in some heathland regions, the heaths are not used for recreation as a matter of choice but because they are the only greenspaces that are available.

This is your second book in the excellent British Wildlife Collection series; the other being Saltmarsh. After all the work researching and writing that and now Heathland what is next for you? Are there plans for further books, or maybe a well-earned rest?

There are germs of ideas for future writing which I hope will take shape in the next few years. Books are daunting ventures; ‘Heathland’ summarises forty years of study and took three years to write, maybe next time I’ll look at something a little simpler.

Heathland
By: Clive Chatters
Hardback | March 2021 | £27.99 ~~£34.99~~

In this latest addition to the British Wildlife Collection, Clive Chatters introduces us to Britain’s heathlands and their anatomy.

Most of our heaths are pale shadows of their former selves. However, Chatters argues, it is not inevitable that the catastrophic losses of the recent past are the destiny of our remaining heaths. Should we wish, their place in the countryside as an integral part of British culture can be secured.

All prices correct at the time of this article’s publication.