Rewilding boosts Carbon Storage: How trees channel more Carbon into their roots

Author Nancy Burrell highlights the importance of accurate carbon accounting and describes her team’s latest research into the accuracy of current methods for measuring carbon in scrublands. Traditional methods like the i-Tree Eco model, effective in urban and forestry settings for estimating carbon storage in trees, are based on the growth patterns of plantation trees (trees grown in herbivore-free landscapes). But how does browsing at … Continue reading Rewilding boosts Carbon Storage: How trees channel more Carbon into their roots

Enhancing riparian protection: A call for clear objectives and measurable targets

Lenka Kuglerová, John S. Richardson, Timo Muotka, Darshanaa Chellaiah and Jussi Jyväsjärvi talk to us about their latest perspective article which suggests that locally developed and adjusted targets for riparian buffers must move away from vague objectives. A switch towards quantifiable goals that specify what is supposed to be achieved and protected will help to implement, monitor and evaluate targets. Small streams in a forestry … Continue reading Enhancing riparian protection: A call for clear objectives and measurable targets

Editor’s Choice 60:11 Woodland Expansion in the Presence of Deer

Pip Gullet, Mark Hancock and Sydney Henderson summarise the Journal of Applied Ecology’s November’s Editor’s Choice research article. This study presents 30 years of regeneration monitoring to show a consistent, large-scale expansion of native woodland, largely through natural regeneration alongside deer culling, without the use of fences. Continue reading Editor’s Choice 60:11 Woodland Expansion in the Presence of Deer

Applying remote sensing techniques to wide-scale vegetation inventories

Feature image © InnoTech Alberta Originally posted and adapted from The Alberta Biodiversity Monitoring Institute Blog. Author Sydney Toni describes their latest study that explores a more cost-effective way of using remote sensing to better understand landscapes at larger scale for habitat monitoring and management. Ideally, the information we collect to manage wildlife habitat is many things: high-resolution, consistent and covering all areas of interest. The … Continue reading Applying remote sensing techniques to wide-scale vegetation inventories

Working together to tackle Invasive Alien Species in Argentina

A version of this post is available in Spanish here. Author Priscila Ana Powell shares insights from analysing case studies that use co-management to manage woody invasive alien species in Argentina. “Improving the long-term management of woody invasive alien plants (IAS) in Argentina requires the promotion of shared spaces and communication channels for co-designing and co-implementing IAS management interventions that can better align the objectives of … Continue reading Working together to tackle Invasive Alien Species in Argentina

Trabajando juntos para abordar la problemática delas especies exóticas invasoras en Argentina

Este post también está disponible en inglés aquí. La autora, Priscila Ana Powell, comparte las ideas principales del análisis de estudios de caso sobre experiencias de cogestión para el manejo de especies exóticas invasoras leñosas en Argentina. “Mejorar la cogestión a largo plazo de las plantas leñosas exóticas invasoras (EEI) en Argentina requiere la creación y promoción de espacios compartidos y canales de comunicación para … Continue reading Trabajando juntos para abordar la problemática delas especies exóticas invasoras en Argentina

Drought in Scotland? Projections affect specialist habitats and species

Fairlie Kirkpatrick Baird from NatureScot discusses their latest research that reveals the increasing risk of extreme drought in Scotland and how that may affect key habitats and their species. One of the first things that comes to mind when people think of Scotland, alongside the beautiful mountains and the Loch Ness Monster, is the terrible weather. Scotland is famously wet, and as Highlanders we agree … Continue reading Drought in Scotland? Projections affect specialist habitats and species

Rewild or Restore – how about doing both?

James Bullock and Nathalie Pettorelli summarise their Perspective piece that highlight the potential for integrating restoration and rewilding agendas into whole landscape approaches. As biodiversity continues to decline at an alarming pace, it is becoming more urgent to not only halt these losses but to reverse them. This reversal of losses, now commonly termed ‘nature recovery’, generally requires improving the state of terrestrial and aquatic … Continue reading Rewild or Restore – how about doing both?

Natural recruitment should be a key goal of tree planting projects

Anna Gee, a PhD student at Imperial College London, talks us through ways in which we can help to restore forests through natural recruitment in this standalone piece. How do we decide what trees to plant for forest restoration? The approach of many restoration projects is to find what is known as a reference forest, a forest that has not been disturbed much by humans, … Continue reading Natural recruitment should be a key goal of tree planting projects

Nitrogen-fixing trees: friends or foes of oak-hickory forests?

Nina Wurzburger discusses new research exploring the impacts of nitrogen fixers on tree species in recovering temperate forests. Finding evidence of a detrimental effect of nitrogen fixation on oak-hickory biomass, Wurzburger and colleagues suggest management techniques to manage forest nitrogen cycles. Nitrogen fixation: A crash course Nitrogen-fixing plants are nature’s answer to fertilizer. These plants partner with special bacteria that convert atmospheric nitrogen in exchange … Continue reading Nitrogen-fixing trees: friends or foes of oak-hickory forests?