No change in burning of peatland in Eastern Scotland’s moorlands

Author Benedict Spracklen used satellite imagery to better understand the impact of prescribed burning of moorland on ecosystem services. Prescribed burning has long played a role in the management of moorland, both in Scotland and across the UK. In Eastern Scotland, moorland burning (muirburn) is carried out to remove old vegetation and encourage new growth, in the belief this will help red grouse, which are … Continue reading No change in burning of peatland in Eastern Scotland’s moorlands

Drought in Scotland? Projections affect specialist habitats and species

Fairlie Kirkpatrick Baird from NatureScot discusses their latest research that reveals the increasing risk of extreme drought in Scotland and how that may affect key habitats and their species. One of the first things that comes to mind when people think of Scotland, alongside the beautiful mountains and the Loch Ness Monster, is the terrible weather. Scotland is famously wet, and as Highlanders we agree … Continue reading Drought in Scotland? Projections affect specialist habitats and species

Bringing back a peatland butterfly

Author Andrew Osborne describe his team’s study exploring the ecology of a peatland-specialist butterfly to ensure their successful reintroduction following the threat of severe habitat loss and degradation. A landscape scale peatland restoration project is being undertaken on Chat Moss, Greater Manchester, UK, with conservation translocations an important component of the work. Our study was undertaken to support a species reintroduction of the large heath … Continue reading Bringing back a peatland butterfly

Apakah upaya restorasi lahan gambut untuk mengatasi kebakaran dan kabut asap di Indonesia mempengaruhi keanekaragaman hayati dan hasil kelapa sawit di perkebunan rakyat?

Posting ini juga tersedia dalam bahasa Inggris di sini. Drainase lahan gambut untuk memungkinkan budidaya tanaman perkebunan, termasuk kelapa sawit, sebelumnya telah dikaitkan dengan bencana kebakaran dan kabut asap, yang menyebabkan kematian, penyakit, dan kerugian finansial. Dalam penelitian terbaru mereka, Warren-Thomas dan rekan mencari tahu apakah inisiatif restorasi gambut mempengaruhi hubungan timbal-balik antara keanekaragaman hayati dan hasil kelapa sawit di perkebunan rakyat. Lahan gambut tropis … Continue reading Apakah upaya restorasi lahan gambut untuk mengatasi kebakaran dan kabut asap di Indonesia mempengaruhi keanekaragaman hayati dan hasil kelapa sawit di perkebunan rakyat?

Do peatland restoration efforts to tackle fires and haze in Indonesia affect biodiversity and oil palm yields on smallholder farms?

This post is also available in Indonesian here. Drainage of peatlands in Indonesia to enable cultivation of plantation crops, including oil palm, has previously been linked to catastrophic fires and toxic haze, causing deaths, illness, and financial losses. In their latest research, Warren-Thomas and colleagues find out whether peat restoration initiatives affect trade-offs between biodiversity and oil palm yields on smallholder farms. Tropical peatlands – … Continue reading Do peatland restoration efforts to tackle fires and haze in Indonesia affect biodiversity and oil palm yields on smallholder farms?

How do you solve a problem like Molinia?

The increasing dominance of the invasive purple moor grass (Molinia caerulea) on blanket bogs is a growing threat to diversity and carbon storage. In this post, practitioners from Moors for the Future Partnership give their account of the team’s latest research attempting to reverse these effects. Reducing the domination of Molinia caerulea on blanket bogs to a more Sphagnum-rich, characteristically boggy landscape has been a … Continue reading How do you solve a problem like Molinia?

Issue 55:2

Issue 55:2 includes a Spotlight on Decision making under uncertainty. Other topics include urban ecology, population monitoring, tropical forest restoration and more. Here we take a look at some of the articles published in this issue. Decision making under uncertainty Senior Editor, Michael Bode on this issue’s selection of Spotlight papers How does grazing by wild ungulates and livestock affect plant richness? This issue’s Editor’s Choice Jaguar … Continue reading Issue 55:2

The human influences shaping peatland vegetation communities

This blog by Alice Noble discusses peatland protection policy and follows her recent article in Journal of Applied Ecology, Prescribed burning, atmospheric pollution and grazing effects on peatland vegetation composition. As sloping expanses of shrubs, sedges and moss where the only sounds are wind, rain and birds, with no people in sight, blanket peatlands can feel like wild and remote places. In the UK, these upland … Continue reading The human influences shaping peatland vegetation communities

Beyond the Haze: Implications of the recent fires in Indonesia for tropical peatland research

This post was written by members of C-PEAT (Lydia Cole, Ian Lawson, Dave Beilman, Dan Charman and Zicheng Yu) to voice the group’s concern over the consequences of the recent extensive burning of Indonesia’s peatlands for science. C-PEAT (Carbon in Peat on Earth through Time) is a thematic group of PAGES (Past Global Changes), and had its inaugural meeting at Columbia University in New York, … Continue reading Beyond the Haze: Implications of the recent fires in Indonesia for tropical peatland research