Author: Journal of Applied Ecology

Research summaries

Silent Spring redux? Insecticides cascade up a food chain to poison carnivores

In this post, Ian Kaplan discusses a paper he recently handled by Margaret Douglas, Jason Rohr and John Tooker “Neonicotinoid insecticide travels through a soil food chain, disrupting biological control of non-target pests and decreasing soybean yield.“. The authors have also written a practitioner summary  and a press release “Insecticides foster ‘toxic’ slugs, reduce crop yields” for this paper. Despite being published >50 years ago, almost everyone … Continue reading Silent Spring redux? Insecticides cascade up a food chain to poison carnivores

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Can’t see the puffins for the auks? Estimating population size with imperfect species identification

In this post, Alison Johnston (@ali__johnston) talks about her paper published today “Modelling the abundance and distribution of marine birds accounting for uncertain species identification”. Ecological surveys balance the competing goals of data quality and data quantity. We can intensively survey a small area, or cover a larger area with less detail and precision, for example in large-scale citizen science surveys. Recently there has been … Continue reading Can’t see the puffins for the auks? Estimating population size with imperfect species identification

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Energy production and wildlife: using syntheses for evidence-based decisions

In today’s post Chris Elphick (@ssts) discusses the recent review paper by Torre Hovick et al. and the importance of evidence-based syntheses for making informed decisions. This autumn, I saw my first Cape May warbler in the state where I live. Unfortunately, the sighting occurred when a colleague walked into my lab and handed me the corpse. Every year during migration, the ground around our … Continue reading Energy production and wildlife: using syntheses for evidence-based decisions

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Virtual Issue: Conservation evidence, decision-making and the role of scientific publications

At Journal of Applied Ecology, we’ve put together this Virtual Issue on Conservation evidence, decision making and the role of scientific publications to complement a one-day symposium on Conservation Evidence: informing decision making being held today by the British Ecological Society’s Conservation Special Interest Group and the Field Studies Council. All 16 papers are free to access and are brought together in an Editorial introduction by … Continue reading Virtual Issue: Conservation evidence, decision-making and the role of scientific publications

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Bringing land sparing and land sharing to the city

This post was written by Jonathan Rhodes, @j_r_rhodes, on the recent paper by Masa Soga et al. on land sharing and land sparing in urban systems. In agricultural landscapes the idea of choosing between strategies that intersperse intensive land-uses with areas set aside for biodiversity (land sparing) versus less intensive agriculture without set-asides (land sharing) to maximise biodiversity is relatively well developed (Green et al. … Continue reading Bringing land sparing and land sharing to the city

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Perspectives, Practitioners, The Applied Ecologist community

Are biologists just “tourists with binoculars”? Exploring the knowing-doing gap in tropical countries

Today’s post is a fascinating perspective on the knowing-doing gap from Anne Toomey. Anne also has her own blog: Science and the Community – Adventures in the Bolivian Amazon. In a recent issue of Journal of Applied Ecology, editor Philip Hulme wrote a piece on the increasingly discussed knowing-doing gap, in which there is a “clear mismatch between ecological knowledge generated by researchers and that … Continue reading Are biologists just “tourists with binoculars”? Exploring the knowing-doing gap in tropical countries

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Forest certification can benefit cork oak woodlands

In this guest post, Filipe S. Dias provides a summary of his recent paper “Effects of forest certification on the ecological condition of Mediterranean streams“. In Mediterranean regions, streams and riparian habitats support dense and productive forest ecosystems that contrast strongly with the adjacent semi-arid habitats. During the hot and dry Mediterranean summer these habitats provide food and water to several animal species and harbour … Continue reading Forest certification can benefit cork oak woodlands

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From economy to ecological management: Portfolio theory enlightens the performance of social-ecological systems

This guest post from David Angeler (@DGAngeler), Associate Editor for Journal of Applied Ecology on the paper “Performance of salmon fishery portfolios across western North America” by Jennifer Griffiths et al. (@JenAquatic @mark_scheuerell @SteveLindley831) Ecologists and managers are well aware of the reciprocal dependence of systems between people and nature. However, the linkages between social-ecological systems are complex and therefore difficult to measure. This limits … Continue reading From economy to ecological management: Portfolio theory enlightens the performance of social-ecological systems

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Eyes in the sky see the secrets of the sea

This guest post is by Kylie L. Scales (@KylieScales) on her recent review paper “On the Front Line: frontal zones as priority at-sea conservation areas for mobile marine vertebrates.” The oceans may seem like Earth’s last remaining wilderness, but are in fact teeming with human activity as a result of intense and growing demand for marine resources. Consequently, large marine vertebrates such as seabirds, turtles, … Continue reading Eyes in the sky see the secrets of the sea

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