Should we care if angler participation patterns are different?

Fisheries management approaches need to consider angler behaviour, or there could be knock-on effects once practices are implemented. Synchrony – an emergent property of recreational fisheries by Kaemingk et al. is published today in Journal of Applied Ecology. Understanding how people use natural resources in space and time is challenging, but necessary for proper management.  Biologists often face difficult and urgent management decisions; these decisions may … Continue reading Should we care if angler participation patterns are different?

How to recover endangered raptor species: the Spanish imperial eagle as a case study

Rounding up our Endangered Species Day series, Miguel Ferrer demonstrates how scientists and managers can work together and succeed in conservation efforts. Ferrer et al.’s paper, Reintroducing endangered raptors: A case study of supplementary feeding and removal of nestlings from wild populations, was our Editor’s Choice article for issue 55:3.  Recently, we published a paper about supplementary feeding of large raptors as a method to increase productivity … Continue reading How to recover endangered raptor species: the Spanish imperial eagle as a case study

Stress on the ski slope: individual capercaillies show different coping styles

As part of our cross-journal series for Endangered Species Day, Journal of Applied Ecology Associate Editor, Marc-André Villard considers Coppes et al.’s research around human-induced stress, and what this means for vulnerable populations. The full article, The importance of individual heterogeneity for interpreting faecal glucocorticoid metabolite levels in wildlife studies is available in Journal of Applied Ecology. Ecologists have long been aware that individual animals vary … Continue reading Stress on the ski slope: individual capercaillies show different coping styles

Infographic: Impacts of underwater noise – a helping hand

In their new Practitioner’s Perspective, Guiding principles for assessing the impact of underwater noise, published today (16th May 2018), Faulkner et al. present practical solutions for mitigating the effects of underwater noise on marine wildlife. See their work presented as an infographic here. Underwater noise pollution poses a global threat to marine wildlife, from charismatic ocean giants like the blue whale to ecosystem cornerstones such as … Continue reading Infographic: Impacts of underwater noise – a helping hand

A win-win for wine

Inter-row vegetation in vineyards can help tackle soil erosion without sacrificing the quality of grapes. Associate Editor, Peter Manning (Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Centre) discusses the recent Review by Winter et al., Effects of vegetation management intensity on biodiversity and ecosystem services in vineyards: A meta‐analysis When we think of intensive agriculture most of us conjure images of factory farmed chickens or wheat fields spayed with litres … Continue reading A win-win for wine

Juvenile natural mortality is a hard parameter to estimate, but it can be done with pop-up archival tags

New research published today (9th May 2018) uses electronic tags to highlight the risk of shark mortality through unintentional capture in fishing gear. Associate Editor, Andre Punt, comments on the new paper by Benson et al., Juvenile survival, competing risks, and spatial variation in mortality risk of a marine apex predator. One of the most influential parameters in any population dynamics model is the rate of … Continue reading Juvenile natural mortality is a hard parameter to estimate, but it can be done with pop-up archival tags

Issue 55:3

From fisheries management, to reintroductions and land use policies, here are some highlights from issue 55:3: Addressing global fisheries management challenges in a changing world Our latest Spotlight, showcasing high-quality and topical research Targeted supplementary feeding supports reintroduction of endangered raptors This issue’s Editor’s Choice Is environmental legislation conserving tropical stream faunas? Looking beyond the trees in tropical forest landscapes Evaluating the temporal effectiveness of marine reserves Species recovery … Continue reading Issue 55:3

Video: Riverine ecosystem service quantification

Dalal Hanna et. al.’s paper, A review of riverine ecosystem service quantification: Research gaps and recommendations features in issue 55:3 of Journal of Applied Ecology. Watch this video to find out more. ‘Rivers provide numerous ecosystem services, including drinking water and irrigation. They also provide habitat to some our favourite food sources like fish, and places to go for fun recreational activities like swimming. To ensure … Continue reading Video: Riverine ecosystem service quantification

Where should we build wildlife crossings?

With wildlife crossing locations difficult to pinpoint, how do we know where to build crossing structures? Associate Editor, Manuela Gonzalez-Suarez explains how Bastille-Rousseau et al.’s new method and recent article, Optimizing the positioning of wildlife crossing structures using GPS telemetry help answer this question. There are over 40 million km of roads in the world (100 times the distance from the moon to Earth), with many millions … Continue reading Where should we build wildlife crossings?

Fertilising with nutrient residues: a short-sighted solution for semi-natural grassland productivity?

Lauri Laanisto discusses their recent Commentary, Fertilising semi‐natural grasslands may cause long‐term negative effects on both biodiversity and ecosystem stability. Community ecology was once famously described as ‘collecting stamps’ by John Lawton, as every community is so different and unique in so many ways. Therefore, instead of making generalisations, one can only study unique communities the way a collector studies their unique collection – a very … Continue reading Fertilising with nutrient residues: a short-sighted solution for semi-natural grassland productivity?