Cheap microclimate sensor networks in the wild

Shortlisted for the Georgina Mace Prize 2023 Author Lina K. Mühlbauer summarises her team’s latest study exploring the use of Arduinos as a novel cost-effective method for microclimate monitoring in remote systems. Why measure microclimate? A great challenge of our times is to predict and mitigate the impacts of global climate change on the world’s ecosystems. To do so, a lot of information is needed … Continue reading Cheap microclimate sensor networks in the wild

Adaptive staged-scale restoration practices for upland prairies

Shortlisted for the Chico Mendes Prize 2023 Claudia Muzychko shares her latest Practice Insights which documents current on-site activity on Violet Prairie, USA, and provides a management planning reference for prairie restoration. A version of this post is available in Italian. Sometimes in land management we can focus so intently on direct problems complicating our practices that we may not have the space or time … Continue reading Adaptive staged-scale restoration practices for upland prairies

Southwood Prize 2022: Winner announced for early career researcher award

Journal of Applied Ecology is pleased to announce Paula Prist as the winner of the 2022 Southwood Prize! The award is given to the best article in the journal by an author at the start of their career and was picked from a shortlist of 12 articles.  Winner: Paula Prist Research: Roads and forest edges facilitate yellow fever virus dispersion About the research Much has … Continue reading Southwood Prize 2022: Winner announced for early career researcher award

Eleanor Warren-Thomas: Blog re-look: Tropical peatland restoration

Shortlisted for the Southwood Prize 2022 In this blog re-look, Eleanor Warren-Thomas tells us about conducting research on the restoration of tropical peatlands, as well as the experiences of an early career ecologist. You can find the original blog post discussing Eleanor’s research in English here and in Indonesian here! The research process Can you summarise your research and how it advances the wider field? … Continue reading Eleanor Warren-Thomas: Blog re-look: Tropical peatland restoration

Chronic declines and Red Listing: Are hazel dormice Endangered?

Shortlisted for the Georgina Mace Prize 2023 Ellie Scopes describe her team’s latest article re-assessing the extinction risk and conservation status of hazel dormice (Muscardinus avellanarius) using long-term monitoring data. Threats assessments and conservation priority often become entangled, despite different aims. Whilst threat assessments focus on the proximity of the species to extinction, usually with objective guidelines, conservation priority is more subjective and will involve … Continue reading Chronic declines and Red Listing: Are hazel dormice Endangered?

Douglas Cirino: A distribuição espacial equilibrada das áreas verdes cria paisagens urbanas mais saudáveis

Finalista do Southwood Prize 2022 Este post também está disponível em inglês aqui. Douglas Cirino discute o artigo dele e de colegas de pesquisa que explora como as paisagens urbanas são mais saudáveis aquelas que compartilham o espaço da cidade com a vegetação. São Paulo Ao chegar pela primeira vez em São Paulo, a maior metrópole do mundo fora da Ásia, fiquei chocado com a … Continue reading Douglas Cirino: A distribuição espacial equilibrada das áreas verdes cria paisagens urbanas mais saudáveis

Douglas Cirino: Balanced spatial distribution of green areas creates healthier urban landscapes

Shortlisted for the Southwood Prize 2022 This post is also available in Brazilian Portuguese here. Douglas Cirino discusses his and research colleagues’ article which explores how healthier urban landscapes are those that share city space with greenery. São Paulo Upon arriving in São Paulo, the largest metropolis in the world outside of Asia, I was shocked by the amount of concrete used to build the city. As a … Continue reading Douglas Cirino: Balanced spatial distribution of green areas creates healthier urban landscapes

Chongzhe Zhang: Leveraging functional traits of cover crops to coordinate crop productivity and soil health

Shortlisted for the Southwood Prize 2022 In this blog post, Chongzhe Zhang talks us through his and colleagues’ research involving a trait-based field experiment in which cover crops were measured to evaluate soil health, crop productivity and agricultural ecosystem sustainability. Trait-based ecology The grand challenge of feeding a growing population while preserving biodiversity and ecosystem sustainability is a daunting task for humanity. To achieve a … Continue reading Chongzhe Zhang: Leveraging functional traits of cover crops to coordinate crop productivity and soil health

Mahmood Soofi: Quantifying the relationship between prey density, livestock and illegal killing of leopards

Shortlisted for the Southwood Prize 2022 Mahmood Soofi talks us through his research project which saw him and colleagues use ranger-collected data on illegal leopard killings in Iran and an N-mixture model to quantify relationships between livestock, prey density and illegal killing. Overexploitation and carnivores Overexploitation is one of the major threats to biodiversity in many parts of the world, which is driving many species … Continue reading Mahmood Soofi: Quantifying the relationship between prey density, livestock and illegal killing of leopards

Deqiang Ma: The consequences of coastal offsets for fisheries

Shortlisted for the Southwood Prize 2022 Deqiang Ma talks us through his and colleagues’ research article which uses a case study of mangrove and seagrass habitats in Queensland, Australia to consider different policies regarding offsetting impacts on fish habitats. The issue Globally, ecosystem services are imperiled due to development, especially in coastal and marine areas. To achieve no net loss of ecosystem services through offsetting … Continue reading Deqiang Ma: The consequences of coastal offsets for fisheries