Category: Research summaries

Coastal and marine, Perspectives, Practitioners, Research summaries, Themed collections

Can living shorelines survive the rising seas?

Take a sneak preview into our new issue, which publishes this Friday and turns the Spotlight on conservation in marine habitats. The feature includes a Practitioner’s Perspective on designing climate‐resilient living shorelines, which Molly Mitchell and Donna Marie Bilkovic discuss here. Look out for an additional post bringing together all the papers in the Spotlight soon. Living shorelines are a form of shoreline protection that mimics … Continue reading Can living shorelines survive the rising seas?

Unknown's avatarJournal of Applied Ecology2 Comments
Infographic, Research summaries

What can we learn from pollution trading to help us create biodiversity offset markets that do not undermine conservation goals?

Katherine Needham aims to answer this question following her recent  Commentary, Designing markets for biodiversity offsets: Lessons from tradable pollution permits, published in the journal. At the start of 2018, the UK Government outlined its ambitious 25 Year Environment Plan. The very first action is to embed an ‘environmental net gain’ principle for all future developments, including housing. Reconciling the need to build 300,000 new … Continue reading What can we learn from pollution trading to help us create biodiversity offset markets that do not undermine conservation goals?

Unknown's avatarJournal of Applied EcologyLeave a comment
Forests, Research summaries

How to keep the mycorrhizae? The more hosts you leave, the more symbionts you get

How can tree retention mediate the effects of human-introduced disturbance on ectomycorrhizal fungi? Nahuel Policelli  and Senior Editor, Martin Nuñez discuss the recent article, The significance of retention trees for survival of ectomycorrhizal fungi in clear‐cut Scots pine forests. One of the most important above-belowground interactions is that between plants and mycorrhizal fungi. Acting as symbionts, mycorrhizal fungi are involved in plants’ nutrient uptake and … Continue reading How to keep the mycorrhizae? The more hosts you leave, the more symbionts you get

Unknown's avatarJournal of Applied Ecology2 Comments
Agriculture, Infographic, Research summaries

Sustainable intensification: our quest for the ‘holy grail’

Is it possible to meet food demands and increase production without the damaging costs to the environment? Patrick White et al. tackle this challenge in their recently published research in the journal. As the world population grows, our finite land is put under increasing pressure to meet food demands. Historically we have increased agricultural yields by increasing the intensity of agricultural practices – for example … Continue reading Sustainable intensification: our quest for the ‘holy grail’

Unknown's avatarJournal of Applied Ecology1 Comment
Research summaries

Cross-journal Virtual Issue: Lianas and Global Environmental Change

Together with Functional Ecology and Journal of Ecology, we’re showcasing  some of the top research recently published in the journals on the topic of lianas and global environmental change. Here Ainhoa Magrach brings the papers together and highlights the important roles lianas play in tropical forests. Lianas are a common feature of tropical forests, contributing up to 25% of woody stems. However, these important tropical … Continue reading Cross-journal Virtual Issue: Lianas and Global Environmental Change

Unknown's avatarJournal of Applied Ecology1 Comment
Citizen science, Research summaries, Video

Volunteering time matters for improving amphibian conservation

Salamander bucket brigades represent grassroots volunteer efforts to reduce road mortality of amphibians. Simulations by Sean Sterrett and colleagues found that efforts to move outbound metamorphs are more influential than inbound adults. Find out more about their citizen science efforts. As the last signs of winter diminish; air temperatures rise, icy cover on ponds melts and spring rains begin to warm soils, amphibians emerge from forests … Continue reading Volunteering time matters for improving amphibian conservation

Unknown's avatarJournal of Applied Ecology1 Comment
Agriculture, Research summaries, Video

U.S. policy-based management improves grassland bird nest survival – although finer-scale habitat has superior predictive ability

In a recent study, Justin Shew and colleagues found nest survival improved with policy-based management and establishing native grasses but conclude finer-scale details often have superior predictive ability from a multi-scale perspective. Read more about their findings here. A video summary of their work is also available. Grassland and farmland bird populations have been declining around the world and these declines are primarily attributed to … Continue reading U.S. policy-based management improves grassland bird nest survival – although finer-scale habitat has superior predictive ability

Unknown's avatarJournal of Applied Ecology2 Comments
Research summaries

Long-term European LIFE project key for the recovery of an endangered Egyptian vulture population

In new research, Jaume Adrià Badia‐Boher and colleagues highlight the need for long-term monitoring of conservation programmes. Here, co-author, Ana Sanz‐Aguilar demonstrates one success story of this nature, in conservation of the Canary Egyptian Vulture. The population of one of the most endangered raptors in Europe, the Canary Egyptian Vulture (Neophron percnopterus majorensis), is recovering. This is one of the main conclusions reached by an international … Continue reading Long-term European LIFE project key for the recovery of an endangered Egyptian vulture population

Unknown's avatarJournal of Applied Ecology1 Comment
Research summaries

Grazers and fire management: conservation from a ‘systems’ perspective

How do grazing herbivores like hippos affect the influence of fire? Following a recently published article, Izak Smit demonstrates the need for interdependence between herbivore and fire management. Grazing animals and fire are in direct competition – both of them consume grass. Previous continental-scale studies suggest that grazing animals have the competitive advantage in drier and more nutritious landscapes, whilst fires dominate in wetter and … Continue reading Grazers and fire management: conservation from a ‘systems’ perspective

Unknown's avatarJournal of Applied Ecology1 Comment
Agriculture, Research summaries

Complex landscapes and complex decisions for farmland conservation

In this post, discover how farmland birds and agri-environmental schemes went from dissertation topic, to British Ecological Society Annual Meeting talk, to published paper for one early career researcher. Gergana Daskalova (University of Edinburgh) describes the evolution of Population responses of farmland bird species to agri‐environment schemes and land management options in Northeastern Scotland. Farmland birds: decades of decline and mixed benefits of agri-environmental schemes … Continue reading Complex landscapes and complex decisions for farmland conservation

Unknown's avatarJournal of Applied Ecology1 Comment