Tag: Ecology

Policy and diplomacy

The House of Lords will debate mandatory Swift bricks in England. New homes may be required to build Swift bricks into new homes if the amendment is passed in parliament. The hollow bricks are unobtrusive and are relatively easy to install. The presence of these bricks in new homes would help to revive a rapidly declining Swift population and other red-listed cavity-nesting species such as House Martins and Starlings. Swift populations have declined by more than 60% since the mid-1990s.

The UK government is preparing to revoke the ban on new onshore windfarms, according to reports. New guidance will require action from developers on the concerns and suggestions of residents, and council approval will depend on community support. The new rules will also give local authorities more discretion over the location of new onshore projects. Since 2015, there has been a de facto ban on new onshore windfarms as only a single objection is needed to prevent construction.

African leaders demand more support and financing as the first Africa Climate Summit opens. Africa has a population of 1.3 billion people and is projected to be worst hit by the effects of the climate crisis, despite contributing relatively little to the problem. Consequently, frustration has mounted in some countries at being asked to develop in cleaner ways than richer, more polluting countries.

Climate crisis

Respiratory illness patients are most at risk from climate change, according to an expert report. People with conditions such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and asthma are particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate change. Higher temperatures and more frequent extreme weather events will likely lead to an increase in airborne allergens, air pollution, humidity and mould. Babies and children, whose lungs are still developing, are thought to be particularly at risk.

Groundwater depletion rates could triple in India as climate warms, according to researchers. A recent study by researchers at the University of Michigan has revealed that rising temperatures have led to an increase in the withdrawal of groundwater for irrigation by farmers in India. This could result in tripled groundwater loss by 2080, posing a threat to food and water security, as well as the livelihoods of over a third of India’s population of 1.4 billion.

Science and Technology

Scientists have discovered a technique for turning plastic waste into tiny bars of soap. The researchers found that it was possible to “upcycle” plastic waste into high-value surfactants. Surfactants are a key ingredient in a range of products from lubricants to soaps and detergents. Only around 10% of plastic waste is recycled and so experts are increasingly exploring solutions for turning waste into valuable materials. The technique only produces tiny amounts of surfactant at a time, but the hope is that the process can be scaled up in the future.

Extinction Risk

St Kilda has seen a dramatic fall in seabird numbers. Since the previous census in 1999, there has been a 64% decline in seabirds on the remote archipelago west of Scotland. The National Trust for Scotland conducted the first full survey in 24 years, finding a steep decline in the numbers of Fulmars, Guillemots, Razorbills and Kittiwakes. Kittiwakes were found to have fallen by 84%, Razorbills and Guillemots by more than 35%. Fulmar numbers dropped by over 45,000 on the islands. The dramatic declines are thought to be due in part to climate change and reductions of natural prey.

Conservation

Deforestation in the Amazon rainforest continues to decline according to Brazil’s National Space Research Institute (INPE). This marks the fifth consecutive month of decrease in deforestation in the region. The INPE’s deforestation alert system DETER showed that there was a 66% decline in forest clearing compared to the same month last year. The system has likewise shown a 43% decline in deforestation in the first eight months of 2023 when compared to the previous year. This follows commitments by Brazil’s president Lula da Silva to curtail the enormous forest losses seen over the past four years under the previous administration.

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See our previous biodiversity news stories covering topics from bee-killing hornets to an flooding-earthquake disaster in California.

Science and Research

Mountain treelines are ascending due to climate change. Scientists at the Southern University of Science and Technology in Shenzhen, China, used remote sensing technology to analyse mountain tree cover. The results show that 70% of mountain treelines moved upwards during the period between 2000 and 2010. Trees are moving fastest in the tropical regions at an average of 3.1 meters a year; the movement is accelerating with time. The changes in tree distribution could be catastrophic for some species. Alpine species are especially at risk of being crowded out by the treeline moving uphill.

Climate crisis

Earthquake and rare tropical storm Hilary strike southern California at the same time. The storm brought rains of 10 to 12cm and caused power outages, flooding and mudslides across the region. Southern California, which usually experiences persistent drought, is vulnerable to rainstorms. Flash floods and mudslides hit the region while a 5.1 magnitude earthquake struck near Oxnard north of Los Angles. No immediate reports of damage were reported.

Canada deploys its military forces to tackle extreme wildfires in British Columbia. 35,000 people have been evacuated in the western province in what has been described as a “extraordinarily serious situation” by the country’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Fires are also raging in Canada’s Northwest Territories with its capital city, Yellowknife, under threat and having been evacuated. The world has seen an unprecedented summer of wildfires with sweeping fires in Hawaii and the Mediterranean, prompting calls for action on the climate crisis.

Conservation

Ecuadorians have voted against oil extraction in Yasuní National Park in a nationwide referendum. 5.2 million people voted to prevent further drilling of crude oil in the National Park with 3.6 million voting against. Excavations have been underway since 2016 with 57,000 barrels of oil being produced per day. The protected area is home to a delicate rainforest ecosystem and indigenous communities. Oil spills, road construction and drilling provoked a fierce response from many indigenous and environmental groups culminating in the recent referendum victory. State oil company Petroecuador now has one year to withdraw from the region. Advocates for the drilling including some indigenous communities have argued that stopping the drilling will arrest development in the region and deprive the country of $1.2 billion in revenue.

Mexico announces the creation of 13 new protected areas with three more expected to be declared by the end of the month. The six new national parks and seven protected areas cover 17,918 hectares ranging from the Mexican states of Baja California and Baja California Sur to Oaxaca and Guerrero. The new additions bring the total number of federally protected areas in Mexico to 200.

Kielder conservation efforts see 11 young ospreys fledging this year. The Kielder Osprey Project in Northumberland National Park has helped 114 osprey chicks take their inaugural flights in 15 years. The success comes after ospreys were extinct in England for most of the 20^th century. The recently fledged chicks will practice their hunting and flying skills over the next few weeks as they build up body fat reserves before they begin a 3,000-mile migration to Africa for the winter.

Extinction risk

Reports of bee-killing Asian hornets have risen to their highest point yet in the UK. The invasive hornet kills and dismembers its prey and presents a significant threat to native UK bee species. The hornet species first arrived in Europe in 2004 and has since caused havoc in France where they have devastated national honeybee populations. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) in the UK has launched an eradication program in response to sightings in the UK. Once the hornets have become established, they are nearly impossible to eliminate. Some success has been seen in the Channel Islands where an army of volunteers are working to counter the hornets, employing techniques like triangulation and tiny radio tags to find and destroy hornet nests. However, there are doubts about how effective this action would be over a much larger area like that of the UK. A total of 39 have been spotted in the UK with 16 of those sightings occurring this year including locations as far north as Newcastle upon Tyne.

A tiny river fly has been brought back from the brink after a successful breeding scheme. The critically endangered insect, the scarce yellow sally, is a type of stone fly that was thought to have become extinct in the UK decades ago. However, after several of the flies were discovered in the River Dee, a successful breeding programme was launched at Chester Zoo. Scientists plan to release the tiny insect in the future, but concerns remain about the health of Britain’s rivers. The tiny stonefly requires pristine conditions to survive, however, only a small percentage of Britain’s waterways are considered to be at Good Ecological Status within the Water Framework Directive.

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See our previous biodiversity news stories covering topics from beaver reintroductions to falcon trafficking.

Science and Research 

Scientists in the US have achieved net energy gain in a nuclear fusion reaction for a second time. This comes after a successful initial breakthrough test in December of last year. Nuclear fusion involves using heat energy to fuse two elements into forming a larger element and in the process releasing a burst of energy. If successful, this process could open the door to a potentially near-infinite supply of clean energy. However, scientists have cautioned that the technology is far from solving the climate crisis as significant hurdles remain before fusion power plants can be up and running. 

Researchers are using machine learning to help identify underground fungal networks. Mycorrhizal fungi form an interface with plant roots and play an important role in nutrient and water transfer from the soil. They are also an important carbon store with a predicted 13 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide moving from plants to mycorrhizal networks each year. The Society for the Protection of Underground Networks (SPUN) is working to map mycorrhizal fungal networks across the world and, to aid this, they are employing a combination of remote-sensing technology and machine-learning algorithms. The algorithms are used to predict zones of high mycorrhizal diversity which researchers can then survey and take samples for laboratory analysis.

Climate Crisis 

Oceans have hit their hottest temperature yet spelling dire consequences for marine biodiversity. Temperatures reached 20.96°C beating the 2016 record according to the EU’s Copernicus climate change service.  Changing ocean temperatures can cause shifts in marine species distributions, impacting marine food webs. There has also been widespread coral bleaching as a result of changing temperatures. Rocketing ocean temperatures come after global average temperature records were broken on multiple occasions last month.

Wildfires have swept across the island of Maui with close to 100 deaths and many more missing. The town of Lahaina with a population of almost 13,000 was mostly destroyed in the worst Hawaiian natural disaster in more than 60 years. The incident comes after a wave of wildfires hit the South of Europe in July. Scientists have warned that climate change is creating conditions which make it much more likely for wildfires to spread. Wildfires are common in parts of Hawaii, but the scale of the recent blaze is largely unprecedented.

Conservation 

Three baby beaver kits have been born in Somerset according to the National Trust. The kits were born on two different National Trust sites on the Holnicote Estate near Minehead. Beavers were initially introduced to the site in 2020, more than 400 years since beavers were last seen on Exmoor. The presence of beavers has considerably altered the water levels at the sites encouraging other species such as water voles, amphibians, fish and otters. 

Extinction Risk

Falcon trafficking has soared in the Middle East driving a decline of wild populations in the region. Falconry is a popular sport in the oil-rich gulf countries of the Arabian Peninsula where there is a high demand for wild peregrine and saker falcons which are prised for their hunting abilities. Trade in wild falcons is restricted by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). High poverty rates in Syria, Iraq and Jordan, however, have driven many to the lucrative trade where enforcement by authorities is a low priority following decades of civil war and conflict.

Discoveries

Scientists have found two new types of mole in eastern Turkey. Talpa hakkariensis and Talpa davidiana tatvanensis were confirmed by DNA analysis to be biologically distinct from closely related moles. The two new types of moles live in the mountainous terrain of eastern Turkey surviving extreme temperatures and weather conditions. 

South American frogs may be communicating with each other through the bioluminescence of their skin according to scientists. Fluorescence was first shown to be naturally occurring in amphibians in 2017 which initiated further research into the phenomenon. Researchers captured 528 frogs in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru and found that all 151 frog species tested showed some degree of fluorescence. Fluorescence may make for a more noticeable display during mating calls in low light conditions. Green fluorescence is present in the vocal sac region of the frogs, and as the frogs call this region expands and contracts. Orange fluorescence could act as a warning signal to predators or serve as camouflage.

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See our previous biodiversity news stories covering topics from white-tailed eagle reintroductions to North Atlantic right whales.

Science and Research

An Oxford University study has revealed that eating less meat would be like taking 8 million cars off the road. Low meat-eaters were found to produce 5.37kg of greenhouse gases per day, almost half of the 10.24kg that big meat-eaters produced. Fish-eaters and vegetarians produce 4.74kg and 4.16kg respectively while vegans produce only 2.47kg. The results, which also detail land use, water use and biodiversity impacts, show the benefits that a low-meat diet can have for the planet. It has long been established that meat production has a bigger carbon footprint than plant production, but the level of detail seen in the study is unprecedented according to scientists.

Climate Crisis

Thousands of people have been evacuated from Greece following intense wildfires on the island of Rhodes. Strong winds blew fires that had been raging in the island’s interior towards the coast threatening hotels and tourist areas. Meteorologists have warned that temperatures are forecast to reach a 50-year high for the month of July in Greece, with extremes of up to 45°C. Brutally high temperatures have been seen across southern Europe this July, including Italy where most major cities have been put on red heat alert.

The former head of the UN climate body the IPCC has warned that the world will miss the 1.5°C warming limit target. Leading British climate scientist Professor Sir Bob Watson told the BBC that he is “pessimistic” about even achieving a 2°C limit. The 1.5°C limit was agreed at the UN conference in Paris in 2015 and has become a focus for global efforts to tackle climate change. The IPCC has said that failing to meet the 1.5°C threshold could expose millions more people to losing their homes to rising sea levels, increased water insecurity, and devastating coral reef biodiversity losses. To meet the 1.5°C or 2°C targets, greenhouse gases need to be reduced; however, emissions are continuing to rise.

Extinction Risk

The world’s most endangered large whale is closer to extinction than experts thought. In a blow for whale biodiversity, only a few hundred North Atlantic right whales are estimated to remain in the world’s oceans according to the NOAA. With only 70 reproductively active females remaining, the species is fast approaching extinction. Unexpectedly high mortality since 2017, in large part from human activity, has resulted in a catastrophic decline in right whale numbers. Research by the New England Aquarium has suggested that vessel strikes and fishing gear entanglements are the greatest threat to the 100 ton marine mammal; 86% of identified whales were found to have been caught in fishing gear.

Golden paintbrush has been removed from the endangered species list following recovery efforts. The US Fish and Wildlife Service has taken the flowery yellow plant off the endangered species list after more than 25 years. The flower can be found in the Pacific Northwest where its native range stretches from Oregon to southwestern British Columbia. Golden paintbrush numbers shrunk significantly due to pressure from invasive species, recreational picking and fire suppression. However, following replanting efforts, the number of sites the species is present in has increased from 10 to 48. In a boost for local biodiversity, the plant’s recovery could also benefit associated species such as the Taylor’s checkerspot butterfly and Mazama pocket gopher.

Conservation

The south of England saw its first white-tailed eagle birth in 240 years. White-tailed eagles were once widespread across England but became extinct due to human persecution. The birds, also known as sea eagles, are Britain’s largest birds of prey with a wingspan approaching 2.5 meters (8.2 ft). A Forestry England and Roy Dennis Wildlife Foundation project re-introduced the birds to the Isle of Wight from northern Scotland in 2020. Licensed ornithologists have ringed the chick and fitted it with a tracking device.

In a similarly successful re-introduction programme, pine martens saw a third successful breeding year in the Forest of Dean. The initiative led by the Gloucester Wildlife Trust introduced 35 individuals to the forest between 2019 and 2021 with numbers now swelling to close to 60. Pine martin populations at one point were pushed to the remote corners of Scotland due to hunting and deforestation; however, recent recovery programmes in Wales and England have seen the elusive mammal returning from the brink of extinction south of the Scottish border.

Policy

G20 countries failed to reach an agreement on cutting fossil fuels following recent meetings in India. The summit saw disagreements over a goal of tripling renewable energy capacity by 2030 which Saudi Arabia, Russia, China, South Africa and Indonesia are known to oppose. G20 members account for more than three-quarters of global emissions and so efforts by the group to reduce carbon emissions are essential if global warming targets are to be met.

New Discoveries

A study has found that post-menopause orca mothers protect their sons from other orcas. Using data from the Center for Whale Research’s annual photographic census, researchers found that if a male orca’s mother was still alive and no longer reproducing, the male would have reduced scarring when compared to peers with a mother still reproducing or without a living mother. Females can live up to 90 years in the wild with an average of 22 years after menopause. Previous studies have shown that post-menopause mothers also aid their families by sharing food.

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See our previous biodiversity news stories covering topics from corvid behaviour to capercaillie populations.

Science and research

Dutch scientists have revealed that corvids are using anti-bird spikes to build their nests. Anti-bird spikes are often attached to building ledges to prevent birds from nesting, and this discovery was prompted when nests constructed almost entirely from the sharp metal objects were found in Rotterdam and Antwerp. It has been suggested that the spikes may help protect their nests and could even be used as a display to impress potential mates.

Salinity changes are threatening marine ecosystems, according to researchers at the University of North Florida. Changes in salt content can occur due to land use and climate change and are expected to intensify with warming oceans. Vital estuarine and coastal zones could quickly face ecosystem collapse as groups such as corals, plankton and seagrass are affected by the changes.

Climate crisis

Global average temperatures reached a new high for the third time in a week at the start of July. A record of 17.01°C early in the week was broken twice more with average temperatures reaching 17.23°C on the Thursday. While unofficial, the record points a concerning trend in recent decades of higher year-on-year global temperatures. Scientists have attributed the cause of the unprecedented temperatures to a combination of human-induced global warming and the El Niño climate pattern.

The global shipping industry has agreed to a goal of net-zero by 2050. Industry voices and small island nations have largely welcomed the deal, but it has provoked fury among environmental groups who believe the plan will do little to keep temperatures below the 1.5°C threshold set out as part of the Paris climate agreement in 2015. Shipping is responsible for around 3% of CO₂ emissions and campaigners are warning that emissions targets set out in plan will see the shipping industry exhaust its carbon budget by 2032.

Severe flooding in Spain’s north-eastern city of Zaragoza swept away cars following storms and torrential downpours in early July. Video footage shows people desperately clinging to the top of cars and climbing trees while awaiting rescue by the authorities. The incident follows a worrying trend of extreme flooding seen across the world this summer.

Conservation

One of the UK’s rarest and most threatened birds continues to thrive at Newport Wetlands National Nature Reserve in Wales. This year’s nest sites have seen the fledging of six Bittern chicks due to the provision of high-quality reedbed habitat. Bitterns were previously driven to the point of extinction following persecution and habitat loss. The reserve’s wetlands are managed by Natural Resource Wales in partnership with Newport City Council and the RSPB. Wetlands are also valuable in the battle against climate change acting as important carbon stores.

The launch of a free online hub, which provides free advice for grassroots projects, hopes to mobilise communities for nature recovery. The Wildlife Trusts’ Nextdoor Nature Hub provides a range of ‘how to’ guides which aim to provide information and advice on creating and running nature recovery groups. The Wildlife Trusts is also running a programme of more than 50 events across the UK, coinciding with the release of the Nextdoor Nature Hub.

Extinction risk

Cairngorm Capercaillie numbers have increased for the first time in eight years following this spring’s lek counts. The results from Cairngorms National Park have shown an increase in 19 male birds following a Capercaillie biodiversity action plan involving RSPB Scotland, NatureScot, Forestry and Land Scotland among others. The positive news comes as the previous year’s counts revealed that only 542 Capercaillies were left in Scotland’s fragmented pine forests, a decline from 2015/16’s survey when the population was estimated to be 1114 birds.

Policy

A phasing down of fossil fuels is inevitable and essential, Cop28’s president has said. Sultan Al Jaber has called for a ramping up of renewable energy capacity to enable fossil fuel use reductions. He will host the climate talks which will be held in the United Arab Emirates in November where a Cop28 plan for a target of tripling of global renewable energy production is expected to be announced.