Nancy Burrell: The inadequacy of current carbon storage assessment methods for rewilding

Shortlisted for the Georgina Mace Prize 2024 Nancy Burrell gives an insight into her team’s study investigating how carbon storage is measured and valued in rewilded landscapes. About the Research Overview Our research dives into a critical blind spot in carbon accounting—how we measure and value carbon storage in rewilded landscapes. While tree planting is often championed as the go-to climate solution, natural regeneration and … Continue reading Nancy Burrell: The inadequacy of current carbon storage assessment methods for rewilding

Maja Bradarić: Forecasting nocturnal bird migration for dynamic aeroconservation

Shortlisted for the 2024 Southwood Prize Maja Bradarić details how, alongside colleagues, utilising radar data, weather and phenological variables allowed for the development of seasonal near-term forecasts of low-altitude nocturnal bird migration over the southern North Sea. About the research Overview Our research explores environmental drivers and spatiotemporal patterns of nocturnal bird migration over the North Sea to predict migration intensity for conservation frameworks. The … Continue reading Maja Bradarić: Forecasting nocturnal bird migration for dynamic aeroconservation

Sarah Kingsbury: A new tool for setting biodiversity management priorities adapted from aquatic invasive species management

Shortlisted for the Georgina Mace Prize 2024 Sarah Kingsbury shares insights into her team’s study investigating a new integrated management approach to better assess the effects and risks of aquatic invasive species on Atlantic salmon. About the Research Overview Our idea was to develop an integrated management plan to inform aquatic invasive species and Atlantic salmon management in Nova Scotia, Canada. Atlantic salmon is an iconic fish … Continue reading Sarah Kingsbury: A new tool for setting biodiversity management priorities adapted from aquatic invasive species management

Ying Ki Law: The role of forests in landslide occurrence, recurrence and recovery

Shortlisted for the 2024 Southwood Prize Ying Ki Law explains how her team investigated post-landslide vegetation recovery patterns and the role of forests in occurrence and recurrence probability. About the research Overview Our paper examines how landslides recover and what factors influence their regrowth and landslide risk. While landslide management often focuses on engineering solutions, we emphasize the role of vegetation recovery in long-term stability. … Continue reading Ying Ki Law: The role of forests in landslide occurrence, recurrence and recovery

Fredrick Ssali: Associations between Lantana camara and common native species

Shortlisted for the Georgina Mace Prize 2024 Fredrick Ssali discusses his team’s study on the impact the invasive flowering plant Lantana camara has on common native species in western Uganda. About the Research Overview The shortlisted paper “Associations between Lantana camara L. (Verbenaceae) and common native species in an African savanna” is an output of a team of four Ugandan researchers. We explored associations between … Continue reading Fredrick Ssali: Associations between Lantana camara and common native species

Agostina Torres: The order and timing of removal of invasive species influence community reassembly

Shortlisted for the 2024 Southwood Prize Agostina Torres introduces us to her latest research which evaluated the dependence of community reassembly on inverse priority effects by experimentally removing the target invasives in field and mesocosm communities. About the research Overview The study emerged as part of my PhD doctorate. Along with my supervisors, Drs. Martin Nuñez and Mariano Rodriguez-Cabal, we were trying to understand why … Continue reading Agostina Torres: The order and timing of removal of invasive species influence community reassembly

Ruth Dunn: Marine bird abundance estimates during the non-breeding season

Shortlisted for the Georgina Mace Prize 2024 Ruth Dunn shares her team’s research investigating the number of marine birds that may be undetectable when underwater during at-sea surveys outside of their breeding seasons. About the Research Overview The aim of our paper was to help improve the accuracy of marine bird abundance estimates generated from at-sea surveys. We did this by calculating correction factors that … Continue reading Ruth Dunn: Marine bird abundance estimates during the non-breeding season

Janina Heinen: Diversified cropping strengthens herbivore regulation

Shortlisted for the 2024 Southwood Prize Janina Heinen talks us through her and colleagues’ latest study which explores how agricultural practices impact predation pressure across prey taxa. About the research Overview We explored predator-prey dynamics in agroecosystems by examining how carabid predator diet preferences shift throughout the crop growing season, and are influenced by the availability of prey under different agricultural management practices. By combining … Continue reading Janina Heinen: Diversified cropping strengthens herbivore regulation

Micha V. Jackson: Shorebird habitat selection and foraging behaviour

Shortlisted for the Georgina Mace Prize 2024 Micha V. Jackson discusses her team’s research looking into the distribution of shorebirds and their feeding behaviour within a wetland to better understand habitat selection and quality. About the Research Overview Shorebirds undertake some of the most spectacular migrations on earth, but are also one of the world’s most threatened bird groups – especially in the Australasian region. … Continue reading Micha V. Jackson: Shorebird habitat selection and foraging behaviour

Natália Medeiros: Critical shortfalls for restoration of tropical grassy biomes

Shortlisted for the 2024 Southwood Prize Natália Medeiros explains their latest research into tropical grassy biomes, which involved reviewing the association of restoration techniques and degradation sources, and investigating the diversity of indicators used to monitor restoration outcomes. About the research Overview My shortlisted paper is about where and how ecological restoration of tropical open ecosystems occurs. We conducted a systematic review to map field … Continue reading Natália Medeiros: Critical shortfalls for restoration of tropical grassy biomes