Every restoration is unique

In the second of our series of blogs to accompany the recently-published Special Feature, Toward prediction in the restoration of biodiversity, Katharine Stuble describes her work in Every restoration is unique: testing year effects and site effects as drivers of initial restoration trajectories. Restoration practitioners are acutely aware that the outcomes of their efforts are strongly contingent on a slew of factors.  Some are well … Continue reading Every restoration is unique

Research, management and local knowledge: an innovative approach to invasive species control

Executive Editor, Marc Cadotte shares his thoughts on Jennifer Firn and colleagues’ new article, Integrating local knowledge and research to refine the management of an invasive non-native grass in critically endangered grassy woodlands and why utilising local knowledge is vital if we’re to provide successful solutions to environmental issues.  While many hurdles hamper the successful application of ecological concepts and theories to developing solutions to environmental … Continue reading Research, management and local knowledge: an innovative approach to invasive species control

For the love of trees: the benefits of vegetation and paddock management for reptiles in grazing landscapes

Following her recent paper in the Journal of Applied Ecology, ‘Remnant vegetation, plantings and fences are beneficial for reptiles in agricultural landscapes’, Stephanie Pulsford explores the balancing act of supporting both agriculture and biodiversity conservation. In a recent study of reptiles in grazing landscapes we demonstrated the importance of maintaining and promoting native vegetation within agricultural land for improved biodiversity conservation outcomes. We also showed that … Continue reading For the love of trees: the benefits of vegetation and paddock management for reptiles in grazing landscapes

Spotlight: Forecasting and preventing the next outbreak – perspectives on infectious disease management

The Spotlight for issue 54:3 is on wildlife diseases. This post is written by Samantha Rumschlag and Jeremy Cohen. All five Spotlight papers are available to read here. In an ever-changing world, the risk of disease emergence is on the rise. As the climate warms, ranges of parasites and disease vectors are predicted to shift, exposing naïve populations to new threats. Humans are put in closer … Continue reading Spotlight: Forecasting and preventing the next outbreak – perspectives on infectious disease management

Testament of cover crops – with Dutch translation

In this post, Janna Barel shares thoughts on the legacies plants leave, the benefits of cover crops and insights from her recent Journal of Applied Ecology paper, Legacy effects of diversity in space and time driven by winter cover crop biomass and nitrogen concentration. Janna has also included a Dutch translation of this post. Journal of Applied Ecology is dedicated to making papers more accessible and … Continue reading Testament of cover crops – with Dutch translation

When to burn and where?

Commentary on Brooke Williams’ article, Optimising the spatial planning of prescribed burns to achieve multiple objectives in a fire-dependent ecosystem by Associate Editor, Cate Macinnis-Ng. Following on from Brooke’s own blog post, Cate gives a personal spin on her own experience of fire events and of editing the paper. This manuscript arrived in my inbox within days of the Port Hills fire outside Christchurch. When it comes to … Continue reading When to burn and where?

Prescribed burns for multiple needs – is optimising spatial planning the solution to conflicting fire management objectives?

Following our recent Editor’s Choice that looked at prescribed burns in African savanna, this latest blog by Brooke Williams turns to fire management and prescribed burns in Australia. The blog supports Williams’ recent paper, Optimising the spatial planning of prescribed burns to achieve multiple objectives in a fire-dependent ecosystem. Fire management is an important aspect of ensuring the safety of Australians living within fire-prone environments. It … Continue reading Prescribed burns for multiple needs – is optimising spatial planning the solution to conflicting fire management objectives?

Wet wetlands restore better

With Plant Conservation Day in mind, Samantha Dawson’s post discusses characteristics of wetland plants and her new paper, Plant traits of propagule banks and standing vegetation reveal flooding alleviates impacts of agriculture on wetland restoration. Many of the world’s wetlands are highly degraded and they are one of the most threatened types of ecosystems. To attempt to halt or reverse this trend, there are lots of … Continue reading Wet wetlands restore better

Mapping risk: new method to synthesize spatial data on human and animal use of coastal waters

In this post Erin Ashe discusses a new article from Esther Jones and colleagues ‘Seals and shipping: quantifying population risk and individual exposure to vessel noise‘ An exciting new paper (Jones et al. 2017) outlines a rigorous and widely applicable framework to predict ship noise levels in coastal waters, assess noise exposure for two seal species, and explicitly incorporate these results into risk assessments and … Continue reading Mapping risk: new method to synthesize spatial data on human and animal use of coastal waters

Designing waterfronts that work for fish and people

In this post Stuart Munsch discusses his new article ‘Effects of shoreline armouring and overwater structures on coastal and estuarine fish: opportunities for habitat improvement‘ Shallow ecosystems facilitate the development and survival of juvenile fish. These areas are productive and provide fish with an abundance of small invertebrates produced in intertidal substrate, backshore vegetation, and the water column. In addition, predators are rare or ineffective … Continue reading Designing waterfronts that work for fish and people