Tag: biodiversity

Research summaries

Eyes in the sky see the secrets of the sea

This guest post is by Kylie L. Scales (@KylieScales) on her recent review paper “On the Front Line: frontal zones as priority at-sea conservation areas for mobile marine vertebrates.” The oceans may seem like Earth’s last remaining wilderness, but are in fact teeming with human activity as a result of intense and growing demand for marine resources. Consequently, large marine vertebrates such as seabirds, turtles, … Continue reading Eyes in the sky see the secrets of the sea

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Research summaries

When it comes to reforestation, impacts on seedling growth from competition, herbivory and land-use legacy may be as predictable as a game of Rock-Paper-Scissors

Species interactions are the foundations of ecological science. As early as pre-school, we begin building food webs and discussing the basic principles of species survival and interactions between living and non-living parts of an ecosystem. We know herbivores eat plants and prefer ‘tasty’ ones; plants compete for light, nutrients, water and space; and historical land management impacts on future actions. What we still don’t know … Continue reading When it comes to reforestation, impacts on seedling growth from competition, herbivory and land-use legacy may be as predictable as a game of Rock-Paper-Scissors

Unknown's avatarJournal of Applied Ecology3 Comments
Research summaries

Video: Plant diversity responses to organic farming and heterogeneity

Here’s a fantastic video from Romina Rader about her recently published paper “Organic farming and heterogeneous landscapes positively affect different measures of plant diversity“. Enjoy! You can also read more about the paper in this blog post from Journal Associate Editor Ailsa McKenzie. Continue reading Video: Plant diversity responses to organic farming and heterogeneity

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Do green roofs enhance urban conservation?

The environmental benefits of green roofs in urban landscapes are clear, but do they benefit biodiversity conservation? This article was written by Marc Cadotte and originally posted on The EEB and Flow blog. Green roofs are now commonly included in the design of new public and private infrastructure, bolstered by energy savings, environmental recognition and certification, bylaw compliance, and in some cases tax or other … Continue reading Do green roofs enhance urban conservation?

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Organic farming and habitat heterogeneity benefit functional diversity

Studies comparing biodiversity in conventional and organic farming systems are many and varied. They have studied different taxa, at different scales, in different landscapes and have done so by comparing a very wide range of different metrics. While the results of these studies have been diverse, a recent meta-analysis published in Journal of Applied Ecology by Tuck et al. “Land-use intensity and the effects of … Continue reading Organic farming and habitat heterogeneity benefit functional diversity

Unknown's avatarJournal of Applied Ecology2 Comments
Research summaries

Protecting freshwaters from forest harvesting

Most of us depend on paper, packaging, building materials and fuel wood. Forestry is an important industry, however, the impacts on freshwaters are immense and over the years forest managers have generally come to leave some trees alongside streams to protect freshwaters, i.e., riparian buffers. A new study by Richardson and Béraud shows that the impacts they are trying to protect against are more different … Continue reading Protecting freshwaters from forest harvesting

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