Conservation Concepts – Video Series
Our former BES President and leading scientist, Bill Sutherland has created a series of clear 2-minute explanations of concepts in ecology and conservation.
These short, concise videos can be used in the classroom/lectures or as extra material for students.
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Video Content List
Why ecology underpins conservation
PATTERNS OF DIVERSITY
Distribution of Biomes. The broad climate patterns can be explained by the angle of that latitude to the sun combined with the rainfall patterns resulting from the three global air circulation cells. These climate patterns broadly explain the distribution of biomes, such as deserts or forests.
Habitat specialism is driven by competition. For example, salt-tolerant species can occur in areas where competitors cannot. They can occur in areas without salt if the competitors are excluded.
Effects of area and isolation. Large areas have more viable populations as more likely to be colonised and less likely to go extinct. Less isolated areas are more likely to be preoccupied. Landscape-scale conservation combines these.
Microclimates. The climate of patches may vary enormously depending on a range of factors including slope, direction, soil and vegetation cover. This is important for maintaining species with particular demands, maintaining a diversity of species and providing resilience to change including climate change. This shows the insights from using an infrared thermometer.
Alpha, Beta and Gamma Diversity. Ecological diversity can be considered as alpha diversity (the species in an site), beta diversity (how species varies as move between sites) and gamma diversity (the total species in a geographical region resulting from the alpha and beta diversity). Conservation planning often consists of determining how to protect beta diversity.
Alpha, Beta and Gamma Diversity
STRATEGIES FOR SURVIVAL
Plant protection against grazing. The structure of plants reveals the herbivores in their original habitat.
PLANT PROTECTION AGAINST GRAZING
Host-jumping pathogens: the amazing story of oak mildew. Host jumping is a trick by which pathogens diversify the groups they infect. Oak powdery mildew Erysiphe alphitoides, first appeared on oaks in Europe early in the 20th century, spread rapidly and is now global it jumped from mangos and has recently jumped onto Wisteria – a member of the pea family. As plants are spread around the world at ever increasing rates and scales there is likely to be many more surprising host jumps.
Insect migration. We used to think of most insects as resident but it has now become clear that some, such as hoverflies, migrate at scale. Perhaps we then need to think about how we protect such species across the migration route.
Hemiparasites and diversity. Whether diversity increases or decreases with adding hemiparasites, such as yellow rattle, depends on whether the parasite selects or avoids the dominant species.
Plant strategies: annual or perennial? Dormancy or not?
Ancient woodland and grassland indicators. Poor dispersers, for example species who largely expand through rhizomes or bulbs, can be indicators that the area is ancient.
ANCIENT WOODLAND AND GRASSLAND INDICATORS
Bulbs are an adaptation for short growing seasons. For example, in woodland they can grow quickly in the spring but reclaim resources in the bulb once tree cover makes it too dark to photosynthesise effectively.
BULBS ARE AN ADAPTATION FOR SHORT GROWING SEASONS
Meristems, monocotyledons and dicotyledons. The meristems (growth points that produce stems, leaves and flowers) of monocotyledons (grasses etc) are basal or intercalary (at leaf nodes) while dicotyledons (herbaceous plants) have apical meristems (at tip). Cutting or grazing is thus more damaging for dicotyledons: this explains why lawns are grassy.
MERISTEMS, MONOCOTYLEDONS AND DICOTYLEDONS
Climbing plants. Climbers parasitise the structure of trees and other plants. Darwin described five ways in which climbers grow. They can have a considerable consequence for the ecology and community.
Meta-populations. For species in ephemeral habitats we need to think of the birth (colonisation) and death (extinction) of populations just like we usually think of the birth and death of individuals in a population.
How arctic-alpine plants persist in refuges. These remnants from the ice age occur on line-rich soils that exclude the competitors in combination with habitats that have stayed relatively tree free since the ice age.
HOW ARCTIC-ALPINE PLANTS PERSIST IN REFUGES
Grimes CSR triangle. Useful to distinguish between strategies of Competitors (dominate and exclude others), Stress tolerators (persist where conditions are difficult) and Ruderals (short-lived annuals or biennials who grow in short-lived habitats)
Archaeophytes and neophytes Archaeophytes arrived between Neolithic times, and 1500 AD while neophytes arrived after 1500.
Leptokurtic dispersal The dispersal of seeds, pollen or animals follows the same general pattern: many barely move, some move short distances but a few move considerable distances. This pattern, with a long tail, is called a Leptokurtic distribution. The tail of long-distance dispersers delivers change: ranges are expanded, islands are colonised; sites get new genetic material.
Why are some forests so diverse? Although still subject of active research, there is good evidence for species differing in habitat both at a large scale and small scale, that the dynamics are important such as their response to gaps caused by tree falls, by competition, by herbivores and seed predators, by pathogens, by soil microorganisms and by chance.
WHY ARE SOME FORESTS SO DIVERSE?
Lusitanian flora and fauna A perplexing group of species occur both in Iberia and South-west Ireland. In Ireland they were thought to perhaps have survived the last ice age in a refuge and then expanded. Recent research shows many of these species were probably introduced by humans, sometimes in prehistory. The strawberry tree (Arbutus unedo) is the most famous member of this group and seems to have been introduced by humans 4000 years ago to provide wood for copper smelting.
The physics and ecology of tides. As worked out by Isaac Newton, the pattern of tides depend on the gravitational pull of the Moon and the Sun. The pull of gravity is proportional to the mass of the object divided by the distance away squared. So the Moon has more gravitational pull as, although smaller, is closer, and distance matters more. With the movement of the earth and moon can then understand why there are two high and low tides a day, why there are larger (spring tides) and smaller (neap tides) each month and especially high tides in late March and September at the time of the equinox. These patterns of the tides are central in driving the ecology of coastal systems.
The physics and ecology of tides
CONSERVATION CHALLENGES
Shifting baselines: each generation accepts a poorer environment, such as fishers accepting smaller catches comprising fewer and smaller fish, unaware of what was once possible.
Umbrella and flagship species. Umbrella species: protect the high profile species, such as the bittern, and numerous other species gain from sharing the umbrella.
Flagship species: one selected to spearhead the protection of a particular habitat or project.
Diseases mimic competition. Grey squirrels replace red, but this is due to the spread of squirrel pox, which affects red but has minimal effect on grey, who spread it.
Problems with Invasives. Some invasive species can have devastating consequences.
Extinction debt. Extinction debt is the future extinction of species due to events in the past, such as habitat loss.
Immigration credit is the future gain in species likely to eventually appear after habitat restoration.
Species-area relationships can be used to predict the magnitude of extinction crisis
Causes of extinction. Small populations make be more likely to go extinct for a range of reasons. Small populations are more likely to be inbred, which can cause problems. Small populations are vulnerable to demographic stochasticity (randomness). Environmental disasters may be catastrophic for depleted populations; larger extensive populations may be more resilient. Allee Effect: species perform badly when rare.
Bird predation and vegetation structure. Grazing not only changes the community present but also may determine the structure. Grazed shrubs may be more dense and so better protection for nesting birds. This idea could benefit from being tested
BIRD PREDATION AND VEGETATION STRUCTURE
What do species really require? We thought we knew the requirements of purple emperor butterflies, turtle doves and peregrine falcons. But creating the habitat at Knepp has shown they thrive under very different conditions. The important lesson is that the final range of a species may not be the habitat they most prefer.
WHAT DO SPECIES REALLY REQUIRE?
HABITATS
Upland streams. Rivers or streams on steep slopes are fast moving, oxygen-rich, with sediment washed away leaving rock or gravel. Lowland rivers are slow, oxygen poor and muddy. This radically affects the species that occur in each.
Bogs. Bogs are rainfed wetlands that are saturated and acidic so the vegetation does not rot but becomes peat, which accumulates and eventually becomes a raised bog.
Fens are wet, ground-fed, base-rich habitats. The seeping water moves slowly so the soil surface has little oxygen – is anaerobic- so the vegetation rots slowly forming peat. This, in turn, means fens are low in the key nutrients of nitrogen, phosphate and potassium, as these are locked up in the peat. The diversity in geology, hydrology, topology, fertility and disturbance results in a mix of open water, low habitats, dense vegetation and woodland, which provides a huge diversity of habitats and species.
Wood pasture and ancient pollards. Wood pasture is a traditional management combining grazing and pollarding. Pollards are trees whose branches are cut every few years. To prevent grazing of the regrowing shoots these are cut at 2-3 metres giving a classic stumpy shape. As these wood is obtained by repeated cutting rather than felling when mature, pollarded trees are often old, sometimes many hundreds of years old. As a result wood pasture is famous for a community of insects, fungi and lichens.
WOOD PASTURE AND ANCIENT POLLARDS
Oligotrophic upland lakes. Mountain rocks are usually acidic with lakes that are deep and cold. The cold acidic landscape is typically infertile with any nutrients diluted if the lake is deep. Phosphorus, typically the most limiting nutrient, may be further inaccessible due to the coprecipitation with aluminum under acidic conditions. They are thus oligotrophic (low nutrient) cold, clear, acidic lakes. With little sediment the shores tend to be stoney. Plants are few, but some specialised flowering species grow. The specialised animals typically have low metabolism and grow slowly.
Temperate rainforests. Temperate rainforests occur in mid-latitude, temperate zones, with high rainfall, such as western United Kingdom. The very damp woodlands are characterised by ‘epiphytes’ – plants that grow on other plants, especially mosses, lichens and ferns.
Mountains and arctic-alpines. Mountains are cold, wet and windy. Plants that occur here must tolerate low temperatures, strong winds and a short growing season and thus possess a range of adaptations include forming mats or cushions to reduce water loss, thick and waxy leaves, being hairy – acting like a fleece, shallow root systems and the capacity to photosynthesis at low temperatures. There is thus a characteristic community of arctic-alpine species.
Limestone pavements. These result from a bed of limestone scraped clear during the last ice age leaving behind a bare flattened surface, which is then colonised by woodland. If the limestone has been under pressure – say near a geological fault, it cracks – creating joints. Carbon dioxide dissolved in rainwater produces dilute carbonic acid, which penetrates these joints under the woodland and slowly dissolves the limestone, gradually creating metres-deep fissures. The woodland is cleared, and grazed, resulting in these bare tops called Clints but with soil remaining in these deep, dark, damp, lime-rich, crevices called grikes (GRikes in GRound: CLints face CLouds). They resemble pavements – hence limestone pavements. With very different habitats occurring together they are highly diversity and contain many species that are rare in the uk.
Carcases. A few minutes after an animal dies. digestive enzymes break down tissues – a process called autolysis, which results in putrid-smelling chemicals, such as putrescine and cadaverine. Bacteria multiply producing gases, such as ammonia and methane, resulting in a bloated corpse: this is putrefaction. Necrophagous species feed directly on the flesh and juices of the decomposing corpse. They can identify corpses soon after death from the putrid smell. Flies lay large numbers of eggs, the resulting larvae – the maggots – feed on the decaying flesh. Beetles can feed on the decaying flesh but many are also predators on the flies. Large scavengers such as vultures not just remove chunks of flesh but open up the carcass making it accessible to others. The carbon and nutrients are then recycled into the system.
Ecology of dung. Flies and dung beetles are excellent at detecting fresh dung. They are an important source of invertebrates and recycle the dung into the soil.
Chalk Streams Four fifths of the world’s chalk streams are in the UK. Chalk is pressed remains of marine plankton and such has considerable gaps to hold water. This ensure water flow is reasonably constant and the water temperature is consistent at about 15C. Acidic rain disolves the chalk resulting in high nutrient water. The chalk filters the water while runoff (with sediment and organic matter) is reduced if the surrounding land is chalk and much of the water is absorbed so the water in clear – ‘gin-clear’. All of this makes chalk streams rich in life including many specialised species. It is one of the UKs most important habitats. They are sensitive to pollution and lowering the water table, but where in good condition, they are still important and beautiful. The River Lark, Suffolk. Featuring gudgeon, minnows, chubb, roach and dace.
Kelp. Plants use chlorophyll to photosynthesise, to convert sunlight into chemical energy. Chlorophyll does this by absorbing blue and red light – so plants are green. But water absorbs red light – hence water looks blue. So seaweeds in deeper water are red or brown. Brown seaweeds have the pigment fucoxanthin, which absorbs the blue and green light, so looks brown, and passes the energy onto chlorophyll. Kelp is a group of brown algae in order Laminariales. At the base is the holdfast, which looks like a root but is only for attaching the plant to the substrate, a stipe (or stem) and the leaf-like blades . Kelp is restricted to shallow water, as attached to rock or firm sand, needs clear water to photosynthesis and has to be nutrient rich – so thrive where upwellings. They are fast growing and giant kelp can grow half a metre a day and be over 50m long. Kelp forests are hugely productive, in some estimates are productive than grasslands or forests. Kelp forest is a very appropriate name as, like a forest, it provides shelter for a whole community.
Novel ecosystems With more introduced species we are seeing novel ecosystems comprising a mix of introduced and native species. These are likely to increase over time as more species arrive, invasives spread, climate change affects communities and some native trees suffer from diseases.
Urban ecology. Half of the world population now live in towns and cities, so urban conservation is increasingly important. Urban ecology can often be much like the rural equivalent but the main difference is acknowledging the fundamental role of humans within the system. Camley Street Natural Park, in London was a coal dump since the 1800s but the London Wildlife Trust, with the community, converted it into an area for nature and the community.
CONSERVATION STRATEGIES
Surrogate herbivores proxies. Many large herbivores have gone extinct locally (bison) or globally (giant elk). Their roles are now replaced by substitute proxies.
Definitions of sustainable exploitation. The six definitions given here have very different consequences
DEFINITIONS OF SUSTAINABLE EXPLOITATION
Regenerative agriculture. With increased concerns about managing for soils, water, nature and society, there is increasing interest in regenerative agriculture that restores the land. Marina O’Connell’s Huxhams Cross Farm shows the power of this way of thinking.
UNDERSTANDING POPULATIONS
Community level stability: patch level dynamism. General predictors of community structure may successfully describe the expected diversity and composition in a site while the actual species may vary and keep changing.
Community level stability: patch level dynamism
Distinction between microparasites and macroparasites. Microparasites, such as viruses and bacteria) breed within the host, have a short lived infection, can kill host, the surviving hosts often have immunity. Macroparasites, such as tapeworms, usually reproduce outside host, are long lived and sometimes are debilitating if high infection.
DISTINCTION BETWEEN MICROPARASITES AND MACROPARASITES
Geometric mean (multiply together and take the root) is better for understanding populations variation between years than the arithmetic mean as it accounts better for the occasional extreme event, such as severe winters.
METHODS
Telling the age of a conifer. Count the number of whorls of branches. Does not work for older individuals where no longer a lead growing tip.
Pollen analysis and stratigraphy. Pollen persists in low-oxygen peat bogs as the pollen coat is made of resistant sporopollenin. Pollen grains can be identified to species. Stratigraphy is the idea that lower sediments are older – so we can interchange space and time. The combination of pollen analysis and stratigraphy means we can learn about previous environments. For example, Cors Fochno (Borth Bog) was once an estuary, then reed bed, alder wood, birch, pine, then the peat bog we see today. This research was done in 1932 by Bill Sutherland’s Grandmother, Florence Nelly Cambell-James, and the video explores some challenges of working then.
POLLEN ANALYSIS AND STRATIGRAPHY
Forest dynamics plots The first Forest dynamics plot was established in 1980 on Barro Colorado Island, Panama, by Stephen Hubbell and Robin Foster. The same design has been adopted around the world with every tree above 1cm diameter at breast height (1.3m), tagged, identified and measured. In this 25 hectare plot at Baishanzu forest plot, China, they have monitored 207 thousand trees of 156 species. These plots have considerably improved our understanding of the functioning of forests and how they are changing. The consistent monitoring design makes it possible to examine global patterns.
CONSERVATION IN PRACTICE
Saving the world’s rarest conifer. The fir tree Abies beshanzuensis was only known from the pollen record until 1963 when a forester discovered seven growing in Baishanzu National Park at 1700 metres. There are now just two mature individuals left.
SAVING THE WORLD’S RAREST CONIFER
Saving rare plants through citizen science – The Breckland Floral Group. Breckland in eastern England holds a range of plants that are rare in Britain. The Breckland Floral Group is a set of volunteers who carry out surveys to look at the status, reasons for changes and response to actions. This video shows surveys for red-tipped cudweed Filago lutescens These studies show how some species are more abundant than previously thought but that others, such as sand catchfly Silene otites, are declining rapidly. This is a project in collaboration with Plantlife
SAVING RARE PLANTS THROUGH CITIZEN SCIENCE – THE BRECKLAND FLORAL GROUP
Managing archaeological sites. Archaeological sites can also be important for conservation. Some have exposed the chalk underneath and have become excellent chalk grasslands. A problem if there is a lack of grazing or cutting can be that scrub can dominate areas and the soil then makes it hard to return to grassland. Here I suggest we explore experimentally exposing sections of the original so setting back succession.
Importance of conserving roosts. Many species roost communally, such as birds, monarch butterflies and bats. Shorebirds as an example are dependent on roosts, but these can be created.
Importance of Conserving Roosts
Dates added
- Umbrella species and Flagship species: 4.04.2024
- Distribution of biomes. 7.04.2024
- Area, isolation and landscape-scale conservation: 8.04.2024
- Strategies: annual or perennial? Dormancy or not? 13.04.2024
- Ancient woodland and grassland indicators. 13.04.2024
- Bulbs are an adaptation for short growing seasons, 20.04.2024
- The dynamic state of communities 2.05.2024
- Habitat specialism is driven by competition. 4.05.2024
- Geometric mean 5.05.2024
- Differences between monocotyledons (who have basal or intercalary meristems) and dicotyledons, who have apical meristems.10.05.2024
- Diseases mimic competition 11.05.2024
- Causes of extinction 17.05.2024
- Community level stability 18.05.2024
- Hemiparasites and diversity 18.05
- Extinction debt. 19.05.2024
- Species-area relationships 20.05.2024
- Plant protection against grazing 23.5.2024
- Telling the age of a conifer. 23.05.2024
- Grimes CSR triangle. 26.05.2024
- The distinction between microparasites and macroparasites 26.05.2024
- Upland streams. 27.05.2024
- How have arctic alpine plants persisted 28.05.2024
- Why ecology underpins conservation 29.05.2024
- Surrogate herbivores proxies for ancient herbivores 30.5.2024
- Problems with Invasives 06.06.2024
- Meta-populations. 9.06.2024.
- Archaeophytes and neophytes 10.06.2024
- Sustainable exploitation 10.06.2024
- Microclimates. 29.06.2024
- Fens 29.06.2024
- Wood pasture and ancient pollards 30.06.2024
- Leptokurtic dispersal 07.07.2024
- Oligotrophic upland lakes 15.07.2024
- Temperate rainforest 17.07.2024
- Mountains and arctic-alpines 20.07.2024
- Limestone pavements 21.07.2024
- Pollen analysis and stratigraphy 22.07.2024
- Carcases 25.07.2024
- Ecology of dung 25.07.2024
- Bird predation and vegetation structure 25.07.2024
- Clemensian and Gleasonian succession 27.07.2024
- Alpha, Beta and Gamma Diversity 27.07.2024
- What do species really require? 28.07.2024
- Insect migration 28.07.2024
- Bogs 01.08.2024
- Kelp 04.08.2024
- Climbing plants 12.08.2024
- Urban ecology 17.08.2024
- Managing archaeological sites 18.08.2024
- Novel ecosystems 24.08.2024
- Forest dynamics plots 31.08.2024
- Lusitanian flora and fauna 01.09.2024
- Chalk Streams 01.09.2024
- Why are some forests so diverse? 04.09.2024
- Saving the rarest conifer. 7.09.2024
- Saving rare plants through citizen science 8.09.2024
- The physics and ecology of tides 21.09.2024
- Importance of conserving roosts 22.09.2024
- Host-jumping pathogens: the amazing story of oak mildew 24.09.2024
- Regenerative agriculture. 7.10.2024
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