Plain language summaries, Research summaries

Bringing back birds to Mediterranean heathlands one cut and one burn at a time

For centuries, the heathlands of Tuscany in north-central Italy were used to graze livestock and to harvest heather for making brooms (the old witch-style ones) and other wares. These traditional land-use practices maintained perfect habitat for birds like the woodlark and tawny pipit – specialists of open and shrubby habitats. But here, and throughout Europe, birds that depend on open habitats like heathlands and grasslands … Continue reading Bringing back birds to Mediterranean heathlands one cut and one burn at a time

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Plain language summaries, Research summaries

What happens belowground when invasive species are controlled?

A better understanding of what happens belowground when restoring coastal vegetation may be useful to better plan restoration. However, little is known about what happens belowground when invasive species are controlled in restoration settings. My students and I used a protected area of sandy coastal vegetation in an island in Southern Brazil as a model to investigate belowground dynamics in plant communities under restoration. These … Continue reading What happens belowground when invasive species are controlled?

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Research summaries

Turning camera-trap overload into actionable wildlife monitoring in African rainforests

To support adaptive management, Magaldi et al. have developed a deep-learning model to analyse ground-level camera traps in African tropical forests. A familiar problem If you work in wildlife research or protected-area management, you’ll know the feeling: camera traps are brilliant at “being there” 24/7 in dense forest, but they come with a hidden cost—an avalanche of photos and videos that someone has to sort, … Continue reading Turning camera-trap overload into actionable wildlife monitoring in African rainforests

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Plain language summaries, Research summaries

How climate change affects carbon storage in Mediterranean pine forests

Reforestation is widely promoted as a way to mitigate climate change by capturing carbon from the atmosphere. However, its real success depends on how trees invest (allocate) the carbon they capture, that is, how much they invest to grow leaves, stems or roots, particularly under warmer and drier conditions. In this study, we analysed how climate affects carbon allocation in large-scale pine reforestations across the … Continue reading How climate change affects carbon storage in Mediterranean pine forests

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Monitoring and methods, Research summaries

Community science complements assessment of extinction risk

Understanding the probability of extinction is critical for effective management and conservation. While such assessment mainly depends on rigorous and standardized monitoring (the best of the best data), recent research from Acevedo-Charry et al (2025) features a complementary way that data gathered from volunteers can help estimate probability of extinction. A version of this post is also available in Spanish here. How do we assess … Continue reading Community science complements assessment of extinction risk

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Monitoring and methods, Research summaries

La ciencia comunitaria complementa la evaluación del riesgo de extinción

Comprender la probabilidad de extinción es fundamental para una gestión y conservación eficaces. Si bien dicha evaluación depende principalmente de un monitoreo riguroso y estandarizado (con los mejores datos disponibles), una investigación reciente de Acevedo-Charry et al (2025) presenta una forma complementaria en la que los datos recopilados por voluntarios pueden ayudar a estimar la probabilidad de extinción. Esta entrada de blog también está disponible … Continue reading La ciencia comunitaria complementa la evaluación del riesgo de extinción

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Agriculture, Human-wildlife interactions, Pollinators, Research summaries

Small fields, big benefits: But only with semi-natural habitats nearby

Pollinators, like bumblebees, are essential for agriculture, yet they’re declining due to landscape simplification and habitat loss. In this blog post, Riho Marja and colleagues tell us more about their study. Riho Marja and his team explored the effect of field size on Bumble bee populations in Austria and Hungary. They explored this by setting up 56 commercial bumblebee colonies in Eastern Austria and Western … Continue reading Small fields, big benefits: But only with semi-natural habitats nearby

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Monitoring and methods

Amidst the resplendence of Munnar’s sky islands

Madhumay Mallik from the Wildlife Trust of India recounts their experience researching grass frogs, and details what is being done to ensure that these and other frog species continue to thrive despite increasing challenges. Far away on the mountain peak were cotton clouds in restless sleep, tossing and turning. Before me, a lush pasture of smooth grass and wild flowers, blanketing a steep terrain and … Continue reading Amidst the resplendence of Munnar’s sky islands

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Conferences and events

Reclaiming Our Common Future

The pursuit of shared purpose in an age of division Reflections on a lecture given by Dr Gro Harlem Brundtland at the Grantham Institute, Imperial College, London, 29 October 2025. Gary Kass, Visiting Professor of Sustainability Science, Policy and Practice, Imperial College; Honorary Professor of Geography, University of Nottingham; Vice-President of IES and Chair of IES External Policy Advisory Group; Member of the Office of … Continue reading Reclaiming Our Common Future

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Research summaries

Scotland’s iconic Red deer threatened by invasive ‘super Sika’

Calum Brown and his team share their findings on managing native and non-native deer species in Scotland and discuss potential solutions. Scotland’s deer numbers are thought to be at an all-time high. Although estimates vary, something like a million deer currently roam the land, around double the numbers present in 1990. This growing population has serious impacts, including limiting the regeneration of our small, fragmented … Continue reading Scotland’s iconic Red deer threatened by invasive ‘super Sika’

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