Category: Research summaries

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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Research summaries

Quarries and garbage dumps inside the Galapagos National Park: How can we restore them?

Anna Calle-Loor, co-author of a new publication, shares her team’s experience assessing the survival of plant species in the Galapagos to inform decision-making amongst stakeholders. When you think of the Galapagos Islands, what comes to mind? Perhaps volcanic landscapes, giant tortoises and other unique wildlife, scenes that could easily belong in a nature documentary. But behind this iconic scenery lies a less picturesque reality: the … Continue reading Quarries and garbage dumps inside the Galapagos National Park: How can we restore them?

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Pollinators, Research summaries

Beaver wetlands create a buzz and a flutter for pollinators

Patrick Cook discusses the impacts of beaver wetlands on pollinator communities, summarising recently-published research. Can beaver wetlands create a buzz and a flutter for pollinators? That’s a question that has occupied my mind since 2022. It began one evening sat at the edge of a beaver wetland looking at Greater Spearwort and wondering what pollinators visit the yellow flowers of this gigantic buttercup! Subsequently the … Continue reading Beaver wetlands create a buzz and a flutter for pollinators

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Research summaries

Project to restore and expand Scotland’s ancient forests provides a boost to moth biodiversity

Patrick Cook and his team share their experience investigating how moths respond to a landscape-scale woodland expansion project at Mar Lodge Estate in the Scottish Highlands. Background Upland landscapes in Scotland have a low cover of native woodland yet provides an excellent opportunity to expand woodland cover for biodiversity. For instance, native pinewood now covers less than 18,000 hectares in 84 small areas and an … Continue reading Project to restore and expand Scotland’s ancient forests provides a boost to moth biodiversity

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Research summaries, Restoration

Field Diaries: Using remote sensing to help restore landscapes

In our ‘Field Diaries’ series, The Applied Ecologist is sharing stories from a range of different fieldwork experiences. In this post Guilherme Castro shares his research on using remote sensing to better understand how to restore landscapes. About the Author Guilherme Castro, he/him Affiliation: Royal Holloway University of London & Royal Botanic Gardens Kew Ecology interests: Landscapes, restoration, remote sensing Overview of fieldwork I am a PhD student … Continue reading Field Diaries: Using remote sensing to help restore landscapes

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Research summaries

Restoring Forests, Engaging Landowners, Advancing Science – All in One Place

What would it look like to combine scientific research, public education, and ecosystem restoration all in one place? By Anna Funk, Holden Forests & Gardens Less than fifteen kilometres from Lake Erie’s southern shore, researchers, land managers, and educators have teamed up to create a forest that is simultaneously a restoration project, living research laboratory, and forestry demonstration site. This 27-hectare forest is the Working … Continue reading Restoring Forests, Engaging Landowners, Advancing Science – All in One Place

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Research summaries

Could the Freshwater Network help to solve the freshwater biodiversity crisis?

Three authors of a new paper from Freshwater Habitats Trust explain how a new approach to managing the whole freshwater environment – the Freshwater Network – could help us reverse the decline in freshwater biodiversity across England, Wales and beyond. What is the Freshwater Network?The Freshwater Network is: 1. A conceptual framework which recognises the interconnected and interdependent nature of freshwater ecosystems across habitat types. … Continue reading Could the Freshwater Network help to solve the freshwater biodiversity crisis?

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Journal news, Plain language summaries, Research summaries, The Applied Ecologist community

The launch of Plain Language Summaries: Journal of Applied Ecology

Following author feedback collected as part of our recent Editorial on how we can make research published in Journal of Applied Ecology more accessible, we are delighted to announce the launch of Plain Language Summaries. What are they? Plain Language Summaries, also referred to as lay summaries, are simple short-form overviews of published academic articles. Their main aim is to ensure that research is made … Continue reading The launch of Plain Language Summaries: Journal of Applied Ecology

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Research summaries

Listening to solitary bees to learn about their activity patterns

Susič et al. share their experience studying solitary bee activity at nesting boxes using passive acoustic monitoring and analysing the data using neural networks. There are thousands of species of solitary bees and they play important roles in their ecosystems, the best known being the pollinators of various plants. Several species choose holes in wood to make their nests – they fill each chamber they … Continue reading Listening to solitary bees to learn about their activity patterns

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Research summaries

Don’t forget the little guys: improving monitoring efforts for African small carnivores

Small carnivores are ecologically important species and key indicators of environmental change. However, for many of these species, we lack robust information on their conservation status, geographic distribution, and tolerance to anthropogenic threats. In this post, researchers from Nelson Mandela University share their experience with an emerging camera trapping method aimed at improving monitoring efforts for African small carnivores. For a wide array of species, … Continue reading Don’t forget the little guys: improving monitoring efforts for African small carnivores

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