Tag: long-term data

Careers, Citizen science, Monitoring and methods, Research summaries

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?

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Forests, Monitoring and methods, Research summaries

Research stories: How to (almost) double woodland carbon overnight

How much carbon is stored in the aboveground biomass (AGB) of Wytham Woods aka the ‘most studied forest in the world’? Professors Mat Disney and Kim Calders thought this would be very well-known but were surprised to find this perhaps wasn’t the case after all. They discuss how their team approached their latest research. Over the years, a number of studies have estimated the carbon … Continue reading Research stories: How to (almost) double woodland carbon overnight

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Grasslands, Monitoring and methods, Research summaries, Restoration

Mapping 35 years of prescribed fire history

Authors Erin Rowland-Schaefer and Elizabeth Bach describe their latest Data Article presenting a visual record of the long fire history of Nachusa Grasslands, a tallgrass prairie restoration site in Illinois, USA. Fire has played a significant role in the development and management of tallgrass prairie ecosystems since before European colonization. While historically, fire was used by Indigenous communities to manage the movements of bison, today, … Continue reading Mapping 35 years of prescribed fire history

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Grasslands, Monitoring and methods, Practitioners, Research summaries, Restoration, Themed collections, Video

Twenty years of tallgrass prairie restoration in northern Illinois, USA

Elizabeth Bach and Bill Kleiman share their latest findings from monitoring long-term ecosystem restoration on The Nature Conservancy’s Nachusa Grassland preserve. The challenges facing our planet can feel overwhelming and paralyzing. Climate is changing, biodiversity is declining, people are struggling to be in community with one another. However, there are signs of hope. The United Nations declared 2021-2030 as the Decade on Restoration, upholding ecosystem … Continue reading Twenty years of tallgrass prairie restoration in northern Illinois, USA

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Coastal and marine, Human-wildlife interactions, Research summaries

How can movement ecology support marine protected areas in preventing illegal fishing?

In their recently published work, David Jacoby and colleagues combine long-term shark tracking data with that of enforcement patrols to see how behaviour can influence the vulnerability of marine life to illegal fishing in one of the world’s largest marine protected areas. Continue reading How can movement ecology support marine protected areas in preventing illegal fishing?

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Perspectives, The Applied Ecologist community

Field research and ecosystem management also suffer in pandemics – but there are glimmers of hope

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues Ecological Solutions and Evidence Lead Editor, Holly Jones, addresses the impact of the pandemic on ecosystems and the people that research and manage them. Long-term datasets with at least a year gap. Graduate students left wondering if they’ll have enough data to graduate on time. Advanced PhD students and post-docs left in a tailspin of uncertainty regarding job prospects. Early … Continue reading Field research and ecosystem management also suffer in pandemics – but there are glimmers of hope

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Desert and semi-arid, Research summaries

Long-term decline in prey increases predator competition

Bringing together data from a 50-year period to better-understand predator-prey interactions. Associate Editor, Matt Hayward discusses the recently published article, Changes in African large carnivore diets over the past half‐century reveal the loss of large prey by Creel et al. Much of our understanding of ecology comes from systems that are assumed to represent the way life has interacted for millennia. Yet this assumption is … Continue reading Long-term decline in prey increases predator competition

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