Conservationists have reacted angrily to plans by Defra to investigate possible measures to keep buzzards from targeting game birds.

According to the RSPB, Defra is considering options including taking buzzards into captivity and destroying nests in order to protect young pheasants and other game birds on shooting estates. A survey by the National Gamekeepers Organisation in 2011 found that 76% of gamekeepers believe buzzards have a harmful effect on pheasant shoots, and Natural England has received numerous requests to license killing of the birds, which are a protected species.

Although buzzard numbers have increased 146% between 1995 and 2009, the RSPB says that this growth is the recovery of buzzard populations from previous persecution which saw the species eradicated from large areas of the UK.

Both destroying nests and taking buzzards into captivity would be illegal under current wildlife laws as the bird is a protected species, and the RSPB have said that removing buzzards is ‘unlikely to reduce predation levels, as another buzzard would quickly take its place’.

The government report says that the impacts of buzzards on pheasant shoots had not been investigated in detail and the extent of the issues were unclear, although there are a number of sites where buzzards could be contributing to game-bird losses with significant economic impacts for shooting estates.

Defra has defended its plans in a series of Tweets, stressing that its research will consider options which ‘protect young pheasants whilst allowing buzzard populations to thrive’.

Original text from BBC news website. An RSPB press release is available on their website and there is plenty of discussion currently happening on Twitter, see @DefraGovUK.

Wildlife and Countryside Link (‘Link’) have produced a report entitled ‘Targeting Nature’s Recovery’ outlining the group’s analysis of the UK’s progress against its 2010 targets for the conservation of priority habitats and species.

These targets were agreed in 2006, based on a list of priority species identified under the original UK Biodiversity Action Plan from 1999, and gave desired outcomes for 2010, 2015 and longer timescales. Targets were either maintenance targets aimed at ‘holding the line’ – sustaining the size and distribution of existing populations – or expansion targets for ‘restoring lost nature’ – increasing numbers and/or range, restoring former status or making population more resilient to external threats.

Link states that measuring progress towards the 2010 aim of these targets should have been a key way for UK Government’s to assess its achievements against its international commitment under the Convention in Biological Diversity to halt biodiversity loss by 2010. However, the group has been disappointed with the Government’s lack of action on measuring the conservation progress on these individual species targets.

Consequently, Link members decided to carry out their own assessment of progress on targets for a selection of BAP species; looking at 150 targets covering 69 of the original 303 BAP priority species, the group concludes that progress has been patchy:
• Although populations and range are being maintained for 63% of the species assessed, 30% are still declining
• Expansion targets have been achieved for 21% of species assessed, and at least some progress had been made for a further 46% of species. However, for one quarter of species, there has been no progress against targets.

As Link acknowledges, this assessment is not based on a random sample and may not be fully representative of the overall state of all BAP priority species; the group compares its findings to species trend assessments made during a BAP reporting round in 2008, and suggests that their analysis may actually paint a more positive picture than is the true status of all BAP priority species.

Concluding the report, Link stresses the need for urgent implementation of recommendations it made in its response to the revised England Biodiversity Strategy – Biodiversity 2020 – published in 2011:
1. The Biodiversity 2020 implementation plan should include actions to improve the status of all UK priority species
2. Statutory agencies – including Natural England – must proactively adapt their programmes to integrate the needs of priority species into site and habitat conservation activity
3. Assessments should be undertaken for all landscape-scale conservation initiatives and Local Nature Partnerships to identify which priority species will benefit
4. A clear programme of species-specific action must be outlined for priority species most at risk of extinction and/or unlikely to be adequately conserved through a habitat-focused approach
5. Monitoring programmes should be modified or designed to measure progress on priority species.

Link are currently working on producing a list of actions required to achieve these recommendations. For more information on this and Link’s other work, see the website.

The rising level of atmospheric CO2 has led to several studies focussing on changes in terrestrial and water ecosystems that might occur as a consequence. Ocean acidification, which is caused mainly by the increasing amount of CO2 dissolved in sea water, is at the forefront of marine research topics. However, most of the studies focus on calcifying organisms (e.g. corals, crustaceans) and only a few looked at fish and changes in fish behaviour so far.

A recently published paper in Functional Ecology, a British Ecological Society journal, is aiming to fill in a knowledge gap by examining the links between ocean acidification and changes to coral reef fish behaviour based on visual effects. Behavioural studies have demonstrated already that elevated CO2 levels can cause chemosensory and auditory impairment.

Fish use various information to avoid predators. Coral reef fish use auditory and chemosensory cues to decide where to settle. Once settled, chemical and visual information become more important. The study by Ferrari et al. tested the changes in visual risk assessment by exposing juvenile damselfish to the sight of a predator, a spiny chromis. The chromis was put into a watertight bag to avoid the damselfish receiving chemosensory signals.

The researchers found that damselfish showed reduced antipredator behaviour when exposed to 850 µatm CO2 which is equivalent to the CO2 level projected by the end of this century. However, no difference in behaviour was detected for smaller amounts of CO2 (440, 550, 700 µatm) in this study; previous studies showed altered chemosensory and auditory responses at 700 and 600 µatm, respectively. This led to an interesting conclusion that visual risk assessment cannot entirely compensate for the loss of chemosensory or auditory assessment.

Current projections indicate that atmospheric CO2 will reach 500 µatm by mid-century and 850 µatm by the end of this century. This study shows therefore that the latter concentration can alter the behaviour of coral reef fish and may eventually change the dynamics of predator-prey interactions and biodiversity of coral reefs.

The researchers highlight the need for longer term experiments to answer questions about adaptation and selection. However, they proved an extra point on why we should act immediately on reducing CO2 emissions.

Ferrari, M.C.O., McCormick, M.I., Munday, P.L., Meekan, M.G., Dixson, D.L., Lonnstedt, O. & Chivers, D.P. 2012 Effects of ocean acidification on visual risk assessment of coral reef fishes. Functional Ecology. DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2435.2011.01951.x

The original Open Access paper can be downloaded here.

The Royal Society yesterday published ‘People and the Planet‘, a report which marks the end of nearly two years of work by a group including both the British Ecological Society’s current President, Professor Georgina Mace FRS and a past-President of the Society, Professor Alastair Fitter FRS. Speaking to the Radio 4 ‘Today’ programme yesterday morning, Professor Mace warned that we are eroding the earth’s vital support systems through over-consumption and unfettered economic growth and that as a consequence we are not doing a very poor job of ‘gardening the planet’.

The study examines the links between global population and consumption and the implications for our finite planet. The aim of the report is to provide policy guidance to decision makers and to inform interested members of the public. Yesterday’s publication led to very interesting coverage on the Guardian’s environment blog, with members of the working group, including the group’s chair, Nobel Prize-winning geneticist Sir John Sulston FRS, commentators and others offering their views on the content. Some of those commenting contended that the scientists were too negative in their assessment and that economic growth should not always be viewed as having negative consequences for the environment. One suggestion was that economic growth means that natural resources such as timber could be replaced with man-made materials for development purposes, so reducing environmental degradation. Another was that economic growth means technological and scientific advances, with humanity thereby innovating our way out of a crisis.

Aside from any external comment on the project’s conclusions, the overriding message of the study is that we must examine population growth and consumption patterns together and that it is the combination of these two factors that has an effect on the planet. The human population is set to reach 10 billion people, from the current seven billion, by the middle of this century. Over 1.3 billion people currently live in abject poverty, on less than $1.25 per day. It is clearly not desirable to see a world in which both the population increases and inequalities are exacerbated. Inequality must be addressed, people must be lifted out of poverty, but as their wealth and living standards increase, so too will the consumption of resources. Reducing consumption whilst also reducing inequalities and ensuring that those in poverty achieve an adequate living standard is a dilemma, and one which seems intractable.

Yet, speaking to the Today Programme yesterday morning, Sir John Sulston described tackling these pressures on the planet, what he characterised as ‘planning to flourish’, as ‘very simple’. Echoing the conclusions of the report he stated that we need to ‘dematerialise’ our economy, for example by investing in zero carbon forms of energy and by moving beyond GDP as a measure of economic growth to price in natural capital. In addition, tackling population growth will require countries to work together constructively, rather than the developed somehow lecturing the developing world in how to address birth rates. Contraception should be made available to those who want it in Africa, where two thirds of the anticipated growth in population is projected to occur, for example, but representatives of some African nations, such as Kenya, are requesting this, rather than this being imposed from outside.

Top priority is afforded to lifting people out of poverty, in the report’s conclusions. The international community is urged to address inequality through investment in education, family planning and economic development. The other recommendations are (to paraphrase):

- Most developed and developing economies must stabilise and reduce material consumption levels (de-coupling economic growth from environmental impacts and improving the efficiency of resource use, for example);
- Reproductive health and voluntary family planning programmes should be supported by political leadership and financial commitments;
- Population and the environment should not be considered separately. Demographic changes should be factored in to Rio +20 negotiations, for example;
- Governments should invest appropriately in urbanisation, for example supporting waste collection, which has the potential to reduce environmental impacts through allowing resource efficiencies;
- High quality primary and secondary education should be available for all young people;
- Governments should accelerate the development of a comprehensive wealth measure, including improving national natural asset accounting;
- Governments should collaborate to develop socio-economic systems and institutions not dependent on continued material consumption.

Natural and social scientists have an important role to play. The seventh recommendation calls for scientists to increase their research into the interactions between consumption, demographic changes and environmental impacts, providing policy-makers with the information they require in order to ensure that both the planet and the human population under pressure can continue not only to survive but also to thrive.

The persistent dry weather which has led to the current hosepipe ban in South East England is also threatening the future of one of Britain’s rarest amphibians, the natterjack toad.

With fewer than 50 breeding populations remaining in mainland Britain, the natterjack is highly vulnerable to the drying-out of the shallow coastal dune slacks it relies on as breeding habitat. Low rainfall for the past two years means that these wet hollows have begun disappearing before natterjack tadpoles have metamorphosed into toads, causing a significant drop in breeding success.

In response, Natural England has introduced a programme of water saving techniques and pond management across a number of its National Nature Reserves (NNRs), which support a large proportion of the remaining natterjack population. For example, at Saltfleetby Theddlethorpe Dunes NNR in Lincolnshire, staff have created captive pools in which water levels are controlled to allow tadpoles to mature before being they are allowed to escape into the surrounding dunes. Dr Pete Brotherton, Natural England’s Head of Biodiversity is optimistic about the success of the scheme saying ‘we are confident that the toad can bounce back if conditions prove wetter next year’.

Further afield, targeted conservation interventions to protect amphibians are also taking place in Central America. In this region, in addition to the threat of a changing climate, species of frog are being severely impacted by the spread of ‘chytrid’ – a virulent fungal disease. In some regions, the fungus is spreading at a rate of around 20 miles a year and can reduce frog populations by up to 90%. In response, scientists have started a programme of collecting healthy frogs from their forest habitats and transporting them to specially designed ‘arks’ to be held until ongoing research provides a solution to eradicate the fungus. Such a seemingly drastic response is partly due to the considerable potential value of amphibian diversity for human health. For example, a species of tree frog from Australia has been found to produce compounds that destroy HIV cells, whilst the phantasmal poison frog produces a painkiller 200 times more powerful than morphine. Already, the gastric-brooding frog – thought to offer a possible cure for peptic ulcers – has gone extinct.

In order to prevent the loss of further amphibian species with significant human, ecological and intrinsic value, such conservation efforts may need to be become more widely applied in the future.

For more on the natterjack toad, see Natural England’s press release on the subject. Further detail on amphibian conservation and the chytrid fungus can be found on the BBC news website.

Welsh Environment Minister John Griffiths yesterday launched the Welsh Government’s Strategic Framework for Bovine TB Eradication, which outlined a programme of badger vaccination to be introduced in the Intensive Action Area.

The Minister said the decision to pursue vaccination as opposed to culling of badgers was made based on ‘the evidence provided…including scientific and legal advice’ and that, at present, he is ‘not satisfied that a cull of badgers would be necessary to bring about a substantial reduction in cases of TB in cattle’.

A five year programme of vaccination is to be designed by the Chief Veterinary Officer and the Strategic Framework outlines a comprehensive longterm plan including measures for improved management of persistent cases of TB, piloting of an audit technique to assess TB testing, a voluntary scheme to facilitate the sharing of bovine TB data between neighbouring farms, and an advisory service for farmers whose herds are affected by the disease.

In his launch speech, Minister Griffiths emphasised that TB eradication will require longterm commitment and the use of new technological and scientific advances as they become available. A working group of experts, led by the Chief Veterinary Officer, will be created to develop the vaccination strategy.

The full Strategic Framework can be found on the Welsh Government website.

Last week saw the joint meeting of the all party parliamentary groups on Biodiversity, UK’s Overseas Territories and Zoos and Aquariums, at which the BES Policy team was fortunate enough to attend. The meeting was chaired by Andrew Rosindell MP who began proceedings by highlighting his pleasure at the well attended event before introducing Eric Blencowe, chair of the Inter-Departmental Group on Biodiversity in the Overseas Territories. Eric Blencowe spoke of the importance of the UK’s overseas territories and highlighted their high priority status for the UK Government in the form of the UK Overseas Territories Biodiversity Strategy. Defra is to lead on an implementation plan on the biodiversity strategy which, among other things, will seek to reduce the impact of invasive species, with the Lionfish (Pterois volitans) problem in Anguilla cited as an example.

Janice Panton of the UK Overseas Territory Association and UK representative of Montserrat then spoke of her delight at a wonderful morning attending the 20 year anniversary of the Darwin Initiative event held at London Zoo, where £8.5M of funding for 33 new Darwin Projects was announced. Mrs Panton went on to state how important the overseas territories were with regards to biodiversity and how “each territory has a unique ecosystem that is often vital to their economy and a loss of biodiversity to an overseas territory is a loss to us all and help and support from the UK Government is hugely welcome”.

Dr Tim Stowe, Director of international operations at the RSPB, highlighted that although some threatened biodiversity has been recovered, the most recent extinction was only eights years previous with the loss of the last remaining individual cultivation of the Saint Helena Olive (Nesiota elliptica). Dr Stowe went on to suggest that “action is required and that action unfortunately requires money, but in the grand scheme of things, the spending on UK’s Overseas Territories is a fraction of the spend on UK biodiversity”.

Peter Convey, of the British Antarctic Survey, was the next to highlight the unique ecosystems of the UK’s overseas territories, specifically those of the two southern polar regions, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, and the British Antarctic Territory. Both territories have a high level of marine biodiversity, comparable with many temperate and even tropical areas. And although the terrestrial diversity is low there are high levels of endemism creating an overall unique ecosystem. Mr Convey went on to stress that although human impacts on these ecosystems are low at present, there is a high level of vulnerability, in particular to biological invasions, such as has been highlighted previously on this blog.

Alistair Gammell, the UK director for the PEW environment group then spoke of the need to put pressure “on the street” to put pressure on the Government with regards to the fate of the UK overseas territories biodiversity as the situation is “unknown and unheard by the general public”. Mr Gammell stressed that the UK biodiversity of global importance came from its overseas territories which are all unique, specifically citing Pitcairn as an example where there were more endemic species than people. Mr Gammell ended by suggesting that the UK Government should “look upon the overseas territories as an opportunity and not as a burden as the total investment required would be miniscule”.

Dr Colin Clubbe spoke of the long association between the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew and the overseas territories. Dr Clubbe described how recently a new species of daisy had been found on the Falkland Islands and he predicted many more new species would be described in the coming years. Dr Clubbe went on to point out that there was “no technical reason why a plant species should go extinct”. He gave the example of the St. Helena Boxwood, which was considered to be effectively extinct in the wild, has been “brought back” by growing individuals and harvesting seeds in greenhouses at Kew.

Rob Thomas of the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland then spoke to reiterate much of what had been said before and went on to suggest that the three groups present that day had “not three hats but one with many overlapping issues” and that “biodiversity should be woven into everything related to the forthcoming FCO white paper”. Finally, Rachel Jones of the Zoological Society of London described the “astonishing state of the Chagos Marine Reserve where the ecosystem is operating in a near natural state” and that the biodiversity is “off the scale”. 10 endemic species have so far been identified but only 3 per cent of the area has actually been visited and so there are likely to be many more.

The event on an extremely positive networking note with business cards being thrown around like confetti with many promises of future action.

Invasive alien species are considered one of the most significant threats to the unique biodiversity of Antarctica and these aliens are hitching a ride on us! Steven Chown, from the Centre for Invasion Biology at Stellenbosch University and his research team estimated that 70,000 seeds are brought into the continent by tourists and scientists each year. In fact, Chown’s findings indicate that scientists are more to blame than the tourists, even though they should be most aware of the problems caused by invasive species.

Chown and his team collected the clothing, footwear, walking poles, day packs and even camera bags from 853 people, approximately 2% of the annual total number of visitors. Using vacuum cleaners the team collected material from the visitor’s belongings and counted, sorted and identified all plant seeds hitchhikers. Over the course of one year, 7,000 scientists inadvertently brought in around 39,000 seed hitchhikers, whilst over the same period 33,000 tourists imported are far more conservative 32,000 alien seeds.

“Scientists tend to have gear they use more than once and tend also to visit many natural sites” Chown explains. “Often tourists are issued with new outer gear for a visit or make only a single visit to Antarctica and have special gear for the trip”.

The seed hitchhikers were predominantly identified as known invasive species of other cold areas like the Arctic and the islands around Antarctica. By mapping the entry points for these seeds, and comparing this with the localised climates, Chown and his team produced a map of Antarctica that shows the Western Antarctica Peninsula is most at risk from these alien hitchhikers.

Chown does suggest some simple ways of reducing the numbers of future unwanted guests. “Take gear that’s new, and if this is not possible, then clean gear thoroughly. Vacuum clean the pockets, check Velcro very closely and remove seeds. Remove inner linings from camera bags and clean everything out. Wash walking poles, tripods and boots. Easy and very effective”.

Source paper: Chown et al., (2012) Continent-wide risk assessment for the establishment on nonindigenous species in Antarctica. PNAS

Quotes taken from the Not Exactly Rocket Science acrticle

A team of scientists, led by Enric Sala, a marine ecologist with the Centre for Advanced Studies of Blanes in Spain, investigated rocky reefs around Mediterranean shores and the impact of protection level on the health of these marine ecosystems.

In total, 32 sites were surveyed from both marine protected areas and unprotected areas across the Mediterranean. The results showed “remarkable variation in the structure of rocky reef ecosystems” with three distinct groups: (1) high fish and algal abundance, (2) lower fish abundance but high algal abundance, and (3) lower fish abundance and extensive barrens.

In conclusion the team describe protection level and primary production as the only variables significantly correlated with community biomass. “Fish biomass was significantly larger in well-enforced no-take marine reserves, but there were no significant differences between multi-use marine protected areas (which allow some fishing) and open access areas at the regional scale”.

A major insight from the study is that, at least in the Mediterranean, partially protected marine protected areas are not effective in restoring fish populations.

Original source paper

The Environment Secretary, Caroline Spelman, today announced the creation of 12 new Nature Improvement Areas (NIA) across England. NIAs were a flagship policy contained in last year’s Natural Environment White Paper “The Natural Choice”, which set out aims to improve the quality of the natural environment across England, halt the decline in habitats and species, and strengthen the connection between people and nature. Defra launched a competition to fund an initial 12 NIAs in July 2011, judged by a panel led by Professor Sir John Lawton. 76 applications were received and 15 applicants were invited to give presentations to the panel before 12 were selected to receive Government funding. The successful partnerships will begin work in April 2012 each receiving a share of the £7.5 million fund over 2012-2015, provided by the Defra family.

At the announcement of the new wildlife havens, Mrs Spelman said: “Each of these projects has something different to offer – from the urban areas of Birmingham and the Black Country to the rivers and woods of North Devon; from marshes, coalfields and wetlands to woodland and arable chalkland and grassland. The exciting wildlife projects are the result of different organisations all working together with a common purpose – to safeguard our wildlife for generations to come”.

The 12 NIAs will be:
•Birmingham and the Black Country Living Landscape: includes urban, wetland, river and heath habitats. It will create heathland on brownfield sites and 40 hectares of new native woodland;
•Dark Peak: includes moorland and woodland in the Peak District National Park. It will restore habitats such as upland heathland and create 210 hectares of native woodland;
•Dearne Valley Green Heart: is mostly on farmland and former mining settlements with woodland and wetland. It will restore the River Don floodplain and create new wetlands and woodlands
•Greater Thames Marshes: includes agricultural marsh and urban habitats. It will create and enhance grazing marsh, salt marsh and mudflat habitats;
•Humberhead Levels: straddling Yorkshire, Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire, it is mainly wetland, lowland and peat habitats. It will create or restore at least 1,427 hectares of wetland habitat;
•Marlborough Downs: this is predominantly a farmer-led partnership looking to restore chalk and grassland habitats and increase the numbers of farmland birds as well as creating a network of traditional clay-lined dewponds to act as wildlife havens;
•Meres and Mosses of the Marches: incorporates wetlands, peat bogs and ponds in Cheshire. It will aim to reduce diffuse pollution by working with farmers, improve peatlands and restore wildlife areas around the River Perry;
•Morecambe Bay Limestones and Wetlands: the most northerly NIA, this consists of limestone, wetland and grassland habitats. It will restore coast and freshwater wetlands and create 200 hectares of woodland, planting 10,000 native trees and develop habitat for six species;
•Nene Valley: within the River Nene regional park, this project will work with farmers to restore habitats and restore tributaries and reaches of the River Nene;
•Northern Devon: this incorporates river, woodland and grassland. The project will recreate and restore 1,000 hectares of priority habitat and restore the River Torridge so that it can support the critically endangered freshwater pearl mussel;
•South Downs Way Ahead: encompasses key chalk sites of the South Downs National Park. The NIA will restore 1,000 hectares of chalk grassland and encourage the return of the Duke of Burgundy butterfly and several species of farmland birds; and
•Wild Purbeck: is a variety of river, wetland, heath and woodland habitat as well as the largest onshore oil field in Western Europe. This NIA will introduce livestock to manage heathland , restore wetland and create or restore 15 ponds as well as creating 120 hectares of new woodland and a new seven hectare saline lagoon.

Full story available on the Defra website.