The authors of a new EU-funded study into the biodiversity of intensive and extensively managed farmland systems have recommended that efforts to conserve biodiversity be focused on less intensively managed systems.

Researchers compared the richness of plant species with levels of Nitrogen input on 130 grasslands and 141 arable fields across six European countries, including the UK. Intensively and extensively managed sites were assessed and the number of different plant species in each plot counted. ‘Rare’ species were defined as those with less than 1% cover in a study area.

The study found a link between increased Nitrogen inputs and a decrease in species richness, along with a link between the richness of plant species and the richness of invertebrates in the fields. The rare species of plant were shown to be the most vulnerable to increasing land-use intensity and were the most likely to disappear following fertilisation of the fields with Nitrogen.

The researchers found that the decline in species richness with an increase in Nitrogen application was sharper on the extensively managed plots, suggesting that species in these areas are more sensitive to land-use change. This suggests both that efforts to manage such areas sensitively can reap rewards for biodiversity, and also that restoration of biodiversity to intensively managed land will require an enhanced level of effort: lower sensitivity to change will mean that greater change will be needed to get the desired result.

The rate of extinction of species in intensively farmed land is 100 – 1000 times greater than the base rate, and is predicted to increase further in the future. The researchers suggest that the difficulty of restoring biodiversity on intensively managed land following such losses, along with the sensitivity of extensively managed land, means that efforts to preserve biodiversity could best be focused on extensively managed systems.

Original article: EU Science for Environment Policy, 15 January 2009
Research Source: Evaluating Current European Agri-environment Schemes to Quantify and Improve Nature Conservation Efforts in Agricultural Landscapes (EASY) (supported by the European Commission under the Fifth Framework Programme).

The UK Government is expected to give the go-ahead to the development of a third runway at London Heathrow later today, following delays to the announcement due to Cabinet unrest.

A new 200mph rail link between London and Birmingham, with a spur from Heathrow to St Pancras station will also be announced.

The Conservatives and Liberal Democrats have pledged to cancel the expansion of Heathrow if either win the next General Election, however certain legal restrictions may make this costly, necessitating compensation to the airport’s operator, BAA.

Ministers have described the development as ‘green Heathrow‘ and has offered assurances that EU rules on air and noise pollution will not be breached. Concerns have been raised by NGOs, such as Greenpeace, that expansion of the airport will lead to the Government breaching its own stringent targets on greenhouse gas emissions: a reduction of 80% on 1990 levels by 2050.

Today saw the participation of the BES Policy Team in an Opinion Forum organised by the Campaign for Science and Engineering (CaSE), focusing on the impact of the UK science and engineering base. The Forum was the first step towards the publication of a policy document by CaSE, summarising discussion and to be used as a basis for the organisation’s lobbying activities.

Participants heard presentations from Professor Sir Chris Llewellyn-Smith FRS, former Director General of CERN, Dr Graeme Reid, DIUS, and Professor Philip Esler, Chief Executive of the Arts and Humanities Research Council. Interesting points were made regarding the distinction between ‘basic’ (or ‘curiosity driven’) and ‘applied’ research; including whether such definitions were in fact unhelpful. Is ‘basic’ research simply applied research which hasn’t been applied yet?

Basic research was seen as a vital component of the UK research base and participants felt strongly that the increased emphasis on Knowledge Transfer by the Research Councils should not be at the expense of ‘blue skies’ thinking. Basic research has a vital role not only in the possibility it offers of discoveries of enormous economic and practical importance, but also in the contribution it offers to culture and to education: attracting people to science through the often fantastic nature of blue skies endeavours.

Discussion in the afternoon’s break-out sessions highlighted the importance of communication between researchers, industry and Government to capitalise to the development of benefits from research, and to effecting a ‘culture change’ within universities: Knowledge Transfer is important and is something researchers should engage in. Changes are also required in the consumers of research however. Government in particular was singled out as needing to become a more intelligent customer of research. Finally, participants felt that there was the need for the formation of a body to act as an ‘independent broker’ of research, matching researchers to industry and Government need and vice versa. In some respects, this echoes the work of Learned Societies such as the BES, but at a much wider, cross-disciplinary scale.

For further information about the work of CaSE please visit the CaSE website.

Registration has today opened for the inaugural symposium of the ‘Natural Capital Initiative’ (NCI).

The NCI is a new partnership; between the Institute of Biology, Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, British Ecological Society and Science Council, which aims to bring together scientists, policy-makers and other interested groups to discuss how to better value and appreciate the planet’s natural resources.

The three-day symposium will take place at Savoy Place, London, from 30 April – 1 May. The first day will see a number of high profile speakers discuss their views on delivery of an ‘ecosystem approach’, whilst the second and third day take the form of workshops focusing on land use, planning and the marine environment. The diversity of the expected audience is reflected in the diversity of our confirmed speakers, who include: Professor John Beddington (Government Chief Scientific Advisor), Lord May of Oxford, Professor Gretchen Daily (Stanford University), Baroness Barbara Young (Care Quality Commission) and Lucy Neville-Rolfe (Director of Corporate Affairs, Tesco).

Register before 1 February to benefit from a discount to the registration fee. Members of the BES are also eligible for a discount.

Natural Capital Initiative: Valuing our life support systems 30 April – 1 May 2009

George Bush was expected to announce yesterday that he will designate nearly 200,000 square miles of the Pacific Ocean as conservation areas. This announcement will make the US President the leader who has protected a greater area of the oceans than anyone else in the world.

Areas to be designated as marine reserves are the Mariana islands in the Western Pacific, a chain of remote islands in the central Pacific and the Rose Atoll off American Samoa. The Marianas Marine National Monument will protect the Mariana Trench: as deep as Everest is tall. The area is home to a wide variety of species, including many species of corals and some of the most diverse fish populations to be found in the Mariana islands. Other species to be protected by the three conservation areas include sharks, turtles, petrels and the Micronesian megapode; a bird which uses heat from volcanic vents to incubate its eggs.

Commercial fishing, mining and energy exploration will be banned within the protected areas. Recreational fishing will be allowed, but only by permit, with the number of permits to be limited.

Although excited by the proposals, conservationists are disappointed that protection will only extend to a distance of 50 miles from the islands: scientists had recommended a protection zone extending up to 200 nautical miles.

Guardian, 6 January 2009: Bush designates ocean conservation areas in final weeks as President.

A London railway operator, Tube Lines Group, has announced plans to eradicate the invasive Japanese Knotweed (Fallopia japonica) from more than 120 sites across London, using the new chemical herbicide ‘Tordon’. If successful, Tube Line will become the first train company in Europe to eradicate the species.

Japanese Knotweed is an invasive, non-native species that was originally introduced to the UK in the mid-19th century. It is notorious for its ability to grow vigorously from tiny pieces of stem or rhizome and can break through drains, brick wall and tarmac as it spreads. Once established, it easily out-competes the vast majority of British flora and can quickly transform the ecosystem it inhabits.

In addition to altering the native flora and fauna, the knotweed can have a detrimental effect on the economy by decreasing the area of land available for agriculture and infrastructure and making certain areas more susceptible to flooding.

Japanese knotweed is difficult and expensive to control using current techniques and an estimated £1.56 billion would be required to eradicate it from the UK entirely. Until now, eradiation programmes have mainly involved digging out the plant or treating it with herbicides, three times a year, over a period of seven years. However, Tube Lines plans to eradicate the knotweed by spraying the herbicide just once a year for two years.

Picloram, the active agent in Tordon, is harmful to plant species other than the knotweed. The US Environment Protection Agency states it is ‘slightly toxic’ to aquatic wildlife, although, the Environmental Protection Agency states it is “practically non-toxic to birds, mammals and honeybees”.

If this regime proves to be successful, with minimal impact on non-target species, it may be extended to the remaining London underground services and the national railways.

Original article: Guardian, 6 January 2009; New herbicide offers hope in battle against Japanese Knotweed

GLOBE UK will hold a workshop in London on Thursday 22 January on ’space and the marine environment’. Together with partners, including the Advisory Committee on the Protection of the Sea (ACOPS) and the British National Space Centre (BNSC), GLOBE UK will explore the need for mapping and monitoring the marine environment, necessary for setting up marine reserves around Europe. This is a key feature of the Marine Bill, currently passing through the UK Parliament. The speakers will address this and other applications including marine pollution monitoring, fishing, hydrographic surveying, oil and gas exploration, the arctic and carbon sequestration. The event will cover technical, environmental, operation and policy aspects of the contributions of satellites and new systems for the analysis and communication of the data.

The event will be held from 2-6pm in the Boothroyd Room in the Portcullis House, opposite the Palace of Westminster. If you would like to attend this meeting or would like more information, please email globe@parliament.uk.

Applications are now invited for the 2009 BES POST Fellowship.

This fantastic opportunity to work at the heart of Parliament in Westminster, London, should not be missed by those with an interest in science policy. Over the three months of your placement, at the Parliamentary Office for Science and Technology, you will be given the opportunity to research and write a POSTnote for MPs and Peers, to work on a parliamentary inquiry or on the production of briefing materials for parliamentarians. The BES will award you a bursary of £5,000 to cover your travel and living costs whilst undertaking the internship.

If you are in the second or third year of your PhD, in ecology or a related subject, then consider applying. The closing date is 6 April and interviews will be held on 22 April, in London.

For more information, see http://www.britishecologicalsociety.org/articles/publicaffairs/POST/.