Category: Research summaries

Editor's Choice, Research summaries

Editor’s Choice 60:8 Twitter, Covid-19 lockdowns and a systematic review

This blog post is also available in Spanish here. Authors Kevin Tkach and Maggie Watson recall how they kept their focus when lockdowns in both countries prevented their meeting in-person to work on a PhD project. Instead, over a three-year period, they worked together on a systematic review trying to understand how conservation genetics tools were applied to conservation problems. How the project begun Before … Continue reading Editor’s Choice 60:8 Twitter, Covid-19 lockdowns and a systematic review

Unknown's avatarJournal of Applied Ecology2 Comments
Coastal and marine, Human-wildlife interactions, Monitoring and methods, Research summaries

Drone-induced flight initiation distances for shorebirds in mixed-species flocks

Joshua Wilson discusses recent research at Moreton Bay, Australia which saw Wilson and colleagues conduct over 200 drone approaches of shorebird flocks to measure how the birds respond to drones. Particular attention is paid to the critically endangered Eastern Curlew. Stress responses Imagine you’re resting in your bed when, out of the corner of your eye, you see something scuttling along the roof towards you. … Continue reading Drone-induced flight initiation distances for shorebirds in mixed-species flocks

Unknown's avatarJournal of Applied EcologyLeave a comment
Agriculture, Human-wildlife interactions, Pathogens and disease, Research summaries, Translation

Rumslig och tidsmässig isolering av rapsfält minskar förekomsten av skadeinsekter och skador på grödan

Det här blogginlägget finns även på engelska här.
Fabian Boetzl berättar för oss om sin och sina kollegors forskning om landskapsbaserade strategier för att minska trycket från skadeinsekter och skador på grödor. Continue reading Rumslig och tidsmässig isolering av rapsfält minskar förekomsten av skadeinsekter och skador på grödan

Unknown's avatarJournal of Applied Ecology2 Comments
Agriculture, Human-wildlife interactions, Pathogens and disease, Research summaries

Spatiotemporal isolation of oilseed rape fields reduces insect pest pressure and crop damage

This blog post is also available in Swedish here. Fabian Boetzl talks us through his and his colleagues’ new research on landscape-based strategies to reduce insect pest pressure and crop damage. The problem Systemic neonicotinoid insecticides are detrimental to a wide range of beneficial biodiversity, with wild bees as the most prominent example. Due to these observed negative side-effects, systemic neonicotinoid insecticides have been banned … Continue reading Spatiotemporal isolation of oilseed rape fields reduces insect pest pressure and crop damage

Unknown's avatarJournal of Applied Ecology2 Comments
Monitoring and methods, Pathogens and disease, Research summaries

Let’s improve disease metrics in wildlife: an example with Darwin’s frogs infected by the deadly chytrid fungus

Hugo Sentenac discusses theirs and colleagues’ recent research article which uses data from a fungal pathogen and Darwin’s frogs to assess the magnitude of prevalence bias, as well as illustrate how it can impact disease risk assessment. Infectious diseases: Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis Certain infectious diseases have wrought havoc in nature. One dramatic example is the amphibian chytridiomycosis caused by the chytrid fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis.  It has … Continue reading Let’s improve disease metrics in wildlife: an example with Darwin’s frogs infected by the deadly chytrid fungus

Unknown's avatarJournal of Applied Ecology1 Comment
Freshwater, Human-wildlife interactions, Monitoring and methods, Research summaries

Expansion of hydropower plants drives the risk of extinction of an imperiled and endemic freshwater turtle

André Luis Regolin talks us through the latest research from themselves and colleagues on conserving the rare Williams’ side-necked turtle. The study uses a new methodological approach to evaluate how current and future scenarios of hydroelectric generation affect the species’ distribution. The problem The Williams’ side-necked turtle (Phrynops williamsi) was only described to science in 1983 and since then little attention and research efforts have … Continue reading Expansion of hydropower plants drives the risk of extinction of an imperiled and endemic freshwater turtle

Unknown's avatarJournal of Applied Ecology2 Comments
Agriculture, Human-wildlife interactions, Monitoring and methods, Research summaries, Translation

Beste managementpraktijken om opbrengstverlies door ganzen te verminderen

Monique de Jager bespreekt recent onderzoek met collega’s dat probeert te begrijpen wat de meest kosteneffectieve manier is om gewasverlies als gevolg van grazende ganzen te verminderen. Na het uitvoeren van een model met verschillende begrazings- en schrikscenario’s, bleek dat de beste beheeroptie is om ganzen te laten grazen. Continue reading Beste managementpraktijken om opbrengstverlies door ganzen te verminderen

Unknown's avatarJournal of Applied Ecology3 Comments
Agriculture, Human-wildlife interactions, Monitoring and methods, Research summaries

Best management practices to decrease goose-related yield loss

This blog post is also available in Dutch here. Monique de Jager discusses recent research with colleagues that seeks to understand the most cost-effective way of decreasing crop loss as a result of grazing geese. After running a model with several different grazing and scaring scenarios, it was found that the best management option is to leave geese to graze. Introduction The rebound of the … Continue reading Best management practices to decrease goose-related yield loss

Unknown's avatarJournal of Applied Ecology3 Comments
Human-wildlife interactions, Monitoring and methods, Pathogens and disease, Practitioners, Research summaries

Research stories: Using accelerometers to uncover wildlife behaviour

How can we study wildlife behaviours associated with disease transmission without altering those behaviours ourselves, via our presence? Authors Van de Vuurst and Alexander share their latest Practice Insights that explore a new method to overcome this problem. Wildlife research is a job made of calluses, sweat and patience. From sample gathering along stream banks to telemetry surveys across frozen tundra, all wildlife professionals are … Continue reading Research stories: Using accelerometers to uncover wildlife behaviour

Unknown's avatarAER | ESE2 Comments
Forests, Plant and soil ecology, Research summaries

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?

Unknown's avatarJournal of Applied Ecology1 Comment