Call for proposals: Innovation in Practice

The British Ecological Society journals Ecological Solutions and Evidence and Methods in Ecology and Evolution are seeking proposals for its new cross-journal Special Feature: “Innovation in Practice“. Applied ecological management relies in part on the application of technology to help mitigate anthropogenic impacts and facilitate the recovery of populations and ecosystems. In the past few decades, new and advanced technology has been applied to solve … Continue reading Call for proposals: Innovation in Practice

Fishing for mammals: using environmental DNA from rivers to monitor mammals on land

New research by Sales and colleagues looks at the monitoring of terrestrial mammal communities and compares the efficacy of landscape-level monitoring using environmental DNA (eDNA) to that of conventional methods. Here the authors summarise their findings. Accurately and effectively monitoring biodiversity is a key consideration in this rapidly changing world. Consistent and regular monitoring of species communities is pivotal for ongoing management, conservation and policy … Continue reading Fishing for mammals: using environmental DNA from rivers to monitor mammals on land

Peer Review Week: Supporting our Editors and Reviewers

As part of Peer Review Week 2017, and the topic of transparency in peer review, we take a look at some of the ways in which the British Ecological Society publications team aims to make the peer review process a little clearer for our Editors and Reviewers. Supporting Editors Joining an editorial board for the first time can mean seeing the peer review process from … Continue reading Peer Review Week: Supporting our Editors and Reviewers

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

Forests in 3D

In this post Markus Eichhorn discusses his new article ‘Effects of deer on woodland structure revealed through terrestrial laser scanning‘ About the video: Three-dimensional reconstruction of a transect from Wyre Forest, an area of high deer density. The central 10 X 50 m plot is surrounded by a large number of points which were not used in the analyses. Survey apparatus is still visible. Points … Continue reading Forests in 3D

Editor’s Choice 54:1 – A new tool for rapid eradication assessment

The Editor’s Choice for Issue 54:1 is written by Associate Editor Ayesha Tulloch. The article chosen by the Editors as this issue’s Editor’s choice article is ‘Optimizing confirmation of invasive species eradication with rapid eradication assessment‘ by James Russell and colleagues. Invasive species are one of the leading causes of biodiversity declines and extinctions globally. Efforts are increasing around the globe to manage and in … Continue reading Editor’s Choice 54:1 – A new tool for rapid eradication assessment

What does the mean mean anyway?

In this post Senior Editor Phil Stephens discusses a paper he recently handled by Angela Brennan and colleagues ‘Managing more than the mean: using quantile regression to identify factors related to large elk groups’ Recently, a colleague and friend left his UK university job and returned to his native Australia. As I gaze out of my window at the inky darkness of the northern afternoon, … Continue reading What does the mean mean anyway?

Satellite-tagging the black kite

In this post Fabrizio Sergio discusses his recent paper ‘No effect of satellite tagging on survival, recruitment, longevity, productivity and social dominance of a raptor, and the provisioning and condition of its offspring’ Ecologists are using ever smaller and more sophisticated electronic devices to track the movements of animal species, even small songbirds and butterflies, all around the globe. These studies are producing leapfrog advances … Continue reading Satellite-tagging the black kite

With rapid advances in camera trap technology, researchers should “hurry up and wait”

In this post Pen-Yuan Hsing discusses the recent paper from Cole Burton and colleagues ‘Wildlife camera trapping: a review and recommendations for linking surveys to ecological processes’ and the exciting new advances in camera trap technology. Camera traps have come a long way since first entering the ecologist’s toolbox more than a hundred years ago. Early iterations involved bulky film cameras powered by lead acid … Continue reading With rapid advances in camera trap technology, researchers should “hurry up and wait”

Managing uncertainties associated with global declines of apex predators

Over three days we have posted a collection of blog posts on a topical Forum discussion published in Issue 2 about the methods used in wildlife conservation and in particular the role of dingoes in conservation. Following acceptance of a peer-reviewed Forum critique of another article in the Journal it is the Journal’s process to invite the original authors to write a peer-reviewed response to … Continue reading Managing uncertainties associated with global declines of apex predators