News and Opinion - British Ecological Society

Roaming cats prey on their owners' minds

Owners often dislike their feline companions’ compulsion to catch wildlife but feel unable, or unwilling, to control it.

Hen harriers and red grouse: Finding common ground in a persistent conflict

Conflicting management views between hen harrier conservationists and red grouse shooting organisations in England.

More “heatwave” summers will affect animals

Overheated birds have smaller offspring with lower chances of survival.

Monitoring urban biodiversity with machine learning

A new algorithm monitoring biodiversity in urban environments could improve our understanding of how cities can best support plant and animal life.

Landscapes full of maize harm bumblebee colonies

Göttingen scientists analyse growth and foraging behaviour of insects.

Soil moisture matters, even in tropical rainforests

Growth rates shape species distributions of tropical tree seedlings on a soil moisture gradient.

New research shows pretend porpoise sounds are helping conservation efforts

Playing back porpoise sounds to an acoustic logger can be used to assess the detection area of the device.

Ice cave reveals environmental forcing of long-term Pyrenean treeline dynamics

Subalpine forests were generally more widely distributed during the last 5700 years, when summer temperatures were warmer than today.

Rewilding may be a risk worth taking for landowners after Brexit, say Sussex experts

Leaving the European Union could make rewilding an attractive option for landowners across the UK, according to a team of experts led by the University of Sussex.

Maximizing the carbon and biodiversity benefits of restoration along rivers and streams

Forests store tremendous amounts of carbon in the trees and soil, and they can provide valuable habitat for wildlife.

Scientists take to Twitter to study flying ants, starling murmurations and house spiders

The retrospective analysis of social media has been used widely to detect earthquakes or political sentiment, but not so much in ecological research.

Study uses herbarium samples to understand link between climate change and insect herbivory

A new Journal of Ecology study used herbarium specimens to track insect herbivory across more than a century.

Predicting forest areas with potential of natural regeneration

Prioritizing natural regeneration of Brazilian forest areas.

New study reveals reasons for huge decline of rare seabird

Lack of food drives loss of Arctic skuas

Mangrove expansion and climatic warming may help coastal ecosystems keep pace with sea level rise

Biologists have documented that coastal wetlands in the southeastern United States are responding positively to rising temperatures.