Agriculture, Monitoring and methods, Research summaries

Land sparing outperforms land sharing for Amazonian bird communities regardless of surrounding landscape context

Benjamin Birch discusses the role of wildlife-friendly habitat in the wider surrounding landscape in promoting farmland diversity. Alongside colleagues, Birch modelled strategies of land sparing and land sharing under different levels of production. Background The conversion of natural habitats to agriculture is one of the greatest threats to biodiversity globally. Currently, 40% of the Earth’s land is dedicated to farming, and projections show a further … Continue reading Land sparing outperforms land sharing for Amazonian bird communities regardless of surrounding landscape context

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Grasslands, Monitoring and methods, Policy, Research summaries

No change in burning of peatland in Eastern Scotland’s moorlands

Author Benedict Spracklen used satellite imagery to better understand the impact of prescribed burning of moorland on ecosystem services. Prescribed burning has long played a role in the management of moorland, both in Scotland and across the UK. In Eastern Scotland, moorland burning (muirburn) is carried out to remove old vegetation and encourage new growth, in the belief this will help red grouse, which are … Continue reading No change in burning of peatland in Eastern Scotland’s moorlands

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Agriculture, Research summaries

The landscape of fear in cattle farms? How the presence of barn swallow influences the activity of pest flies

Authors of a research article recently published in Journal of Applied Ecology talk us through how barn swallows are effective biological control agents for lowering pest fly activity in livestock farms. Preamble: Farmland birds, filth flies and the landscape of fear Birds are key suppliers of crucial ecosystem services worldwide, and insectivorous species can consume up to 400 – 500 million tons of prey each … Continue reading The landscape of fear in cattle farms? How the presence of barn swallow influences the activity of pest flies

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Careers, Coastal and marine, Freshwater, Journal news, Practitioners, Restoration, The Applied Ecologist community, Themed collections

Chico Mendes Prize 2023: Winner announced for early career practitioner award

We’re excited to announce Molly Mitchell as the winner of the 2023 Chico Mendes Prize, celebrating the best Practice Insights article in the journal by an author at the start of their career. Winner: Molly Mitchell Article: A marsh multimodel approach to inform future marsh management under accelerating sea-level rise About the research How do you make good decisions about managing resources when those resources are … Continue reading Chico Mendes Prize 2023: Winner announced for early career practitioner award

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Careers, Journal news, Monitoring and methods, The Applied Ecologist community

Georgina Mace Prize 2023: Winner announced for early career researcher award

We’re excited to announce Melanie Dickie as the winner of the 2023 Georgina Mace Prize, celebrating the best article in the journal by an author at the start of their career. Winner: Melanie Dickie Article: Applying remote sensing for large-landscape problems: Inventorying and tracking habitat recovery for a broadly distributed Species At Risk About the research For many species at risk, population declines can be traced … Continue reading Georgina Mace Prize 2023: Winner announced for early career researcher award

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Careers, Coastal and marine, Journal news, Monitoring and methods, Restoration, The Applied Ecologist community

Southwood Prize 2023: Winner announced for early career researcher award

Journal of Applied Ecology is delighted to announce Dominic McAfee as the winner of the 2023 Southwood Prize! The award is given annually to the best article in the journal by an author at the start of their career. This year, Dominic was chosen by the Senior Editors from a strong shortlist of 12 articles.  Winner: Dominic McAfee Research: Soundscape enrichment enhances recruitment and habitat building on new oyster reef … Continue reading Southwood Prize 2023: Winner announced for early career researcher award

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Monitoring and methods, Research summaries, Restoration

Restoring Landscapes: When restoration actions don’t lead to restoration outcomes

As part of the ‘Restoring Landscapes’ blog series, author Jake Williams presents a case study illustrating the value of satellite data in filling the knowledge gap on the effect of passive restoration efforts in different climatic and ecological contexts. With the launch of the ‘Restoring Landscapes’ blog series, it is a timely moment to reflect on the connection between the actions we call “restoration” and … Continue reading Restoring Landscapes: When restoration actions don’t lead to restoration outcomes

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Practitioners, Restoration, The Applied Ecologist community

Restoring Landscapes: Knowledge Exchange Visit in the Cairngorms

In this series, we are promoting knowledge exchange in restoration around the world: from success to failures and anything in between! In this post Taylor Shaw from the Endangered Landscapes and Seascapes Programme shares their experience attending a Knowledge Exchange Visit hosted by Cairngorms Connect in Scotland, where restoration practitioners from across Europe met to discuss how science can support their work. The knowledge exchange … Continue reading Restoring Landscapes: Knowledge Exchange Visit in the Cairngorms

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Careers, Monitoring and methods, Research summaries

Oliver Wilson: Assessing the exposure of UK habitats to 20th- and 21st-century climate change, and its representation in ecological monitoring schemes

Shortlisted for the 2023 Southwood Prize Oliver Wilson explains how he, along with co-author Oliver Pescott, generated a metric of climate change exposure by quantifying the change in observed historical and predicted future conditions. They then compared patterns of climate change exposure in locations sampled by ecological monitoring schemes to random samples from wider habitats. Climate change and ecological monitoring We’re living in a time … Continue reading Oliver Wilson: Assessing the exposure of UK habitats to 20th- and 21st-century climate change, and its representation in ecological monitoring schemes

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Agriculture, Careers, Plant and soil ecology, Research summaries

Iván Raniero Hernández-Salmerón: Native palms and trees mediate drought impacts on dry neotropical pastures

Shortlisted for the 2023 Southwood Prize Iván Raniero Hernández-Salmerón talks us through research, conducted alongside colleagues, which shows that fostering a diversity of native palms and trees has positive effects on the functioning of cattle pastures, especially during dry periods. A larger understanding of the facilitative effects of remnant palms and trees on pastures during seasonal droughts may also help to develop more climate-resilient livestock … Continue reading Iván Raniero Hernández-Salmerón: Native palms and trees mediate drought impacts on dry neotropical pastures

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