BES Facebook pageBES in the News: Press Cuttings from 2010
BBC News, 20 November 2010
Poo and paws help in tiger count
Mark Kinver
A system that uses paw prints and faeces offers scientists a fresh way to determine how many tigers are left in the wild, a study has suggested. Scientists hope the new technique will provide a low-cost and reliable way to accurately assess big cat numbers .
Daily Telegraph, 19 November 2010
Paw prints and poo could save the tiger
Stephen Adams
At the moment wildlife agencies frequently spend tens of thousands of pounds using cameras to monitor their presence at just one site. Such surveillance is essential to determine whether numbers are rising or falling, and to locate the strongholds that humans should leave alone. However, now Indian experts have discovered that mapping tiger paw prints and their faeces together produces results that are just as good as using cameras .
BBC News, 10 November 2010
Model offers fish eyes' view of colour
Mark Kinver
A maths model that mimics how a fish sees colour offers an insight into how markings help females choose mates. A team of scientists say sticklebacks' eyes are sensitive to ultraviolet light, invisible to humans, that is reflected by marking on males. The model provides clues how more colourful markings, produced by pigments known as carotenoids, help females select the most suitable mate. The findings have been published in the journal Functional Ecology .
Planet Earth, 10 November 2010
Ecologists get fisheye view of sexual signals
Tamera Jones
Female sticklebacks' vision is finely-tuned to spot how good a father a male is likely to be, scientists have shown . Females use carotenoid colours to assess the quality of a potential mate, with more colourful males generally being regarded as the most attractive,' explains Dr Tom Pike from the University of Exeter, lead author of the study, published in the journal Functional Ecology.
Times of India, 10 November 2010
Flashy males, the most attractive mates
A study has revealed that the flashier a male, the more attractive a mate he is. "Females typically use carotenoid colours to assess the quality of a potential mate, with more colourful males generally being regarded as the most attractive," said Dr Tom Pike of the University of Exeter.
BBC News, 28 September 2010
'Pollination crisis' hitting India's vegetable farmers
Mark Kinver
A decline in pollinating insects in India is resulting in reduced vegetable yields and could limit people's access to a nutritional diet, a study warns. Indian researchers said there was a "clear indication" that pollinator abundance was linked to productivity . The findings were presented at a recent British Ecological Society meeting, held at the University of Leeds.
Daily Telegraph, 22 September 2010
Victorian plant collectors could hold clue to climate change
Louise Gray
Plants picked up to 150 years ago by Victorian collectors could hold the key to understanding climate change, according to a new study. Recent studies using fresh specimens have shown that plants flower six days earlier for every 1C (1.8F) of global warming. Now ecologists from the University of East Anglia and the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew have shown that pressed flowers back up the data.
Daily Mail, 22 September 2010
How dried flowers picked 150 years ago could give scientists clues about how plants respond to climate change
Daily Mail Reporter
Plants picked by Victorian collectors could become a powerful new source of data for studying climate change, according to new research. A team of ecologists found that plants pressed up to 150 years ago tell the same story about warmer springs resulting in earlier flowering as observations made nowadays.
BBC News, 22 September 2010
Pressed plant collections 'hold climate clues'
Mark Kinver
Plant cuttings in herbariums around the world could hold vital clues to how the natural world will respond to future climate shifts, say researchers. Until now, reliable long-term data on plants' natural cycles, such as when they come into flower, had been scarce. A UK team found that plants pressed 150 years ago offered "virtually identical" data to more recent observations. The findings appear in the Journal of Ecology, published by the British Ecological Society.
BBC News, 14 September 2010
Ecological understanding of mosquitoes 'must catch up'
Mark Kinver
We need to learn more about the ecology of malaria-spreading mosquitoes to capitalise on molecular biology's recent advances, a top scientist says. Charles Godfray, the British Ecological Society's president, said a lot was still unknown about Anopheles gambiae. Evidence of insects becoming resistant to current treatments meant new methods had to be explored, he said .
Sunday Telegraph, 5 September 2010
Migratory birds decline in UK due to low African rain
Richard Gray
Ornithologists have found that species including the turtle dove, willow warbler, tree pipit and redstart are struggling to find enough food in the weeks before they set off in the spring to fly to the UK.The scientists believe that years of poor rainfall in sub-Saharan Africa have reduced supplies of the seeds, fruits and insects which the birds rely on to build up vital energy supplies.The finding could explain a steep decline which has led to many migratory birds being listed as threatened species in the past decade.Conservationists had been searching for an explanation, with some blaming farming practices in the UK including the removal of hedgerows and the widespread use of pesticides. Researchers at the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO), who will present their results at the annual conference of the British Ecological Society on Tuesday, looked at populations of 16 bird species over the past 40 years, during which time some have declined by as much as 85%.
BBC News, 7 September 2010
Inbred bumblebees 'face extinction threat'
Mark Kinver
Some of the UK's rarest bumblebees are at risk of becoming extinct as a result of inbreeding, research suggests.The lack of genetic diversity is making the bees more vulnerable to a number of threats, including parasitic infection, say scientists in Scotland.They warn that some populations of bees are becoming increasingly isolated as a result of habitat loss.The findings are being presented at the British Ecological Society's annual meeting at the University of Leeds .
BBC News, 8 September 2010
HD video to assess wave energy device impacts
Mark Kinver
High definition (HD) video can offer scientists a unique insight into how wave energy devices will affect the ecology of coastal areas, say researchers. A team from South-West England have designed a system that includes mounting HD video cameras on a floating array, allowing it to operate in most conditions. It will be used at the site of the Wave Hub, located off the coast of Cornwall. The findings were presented at the British Ecological Society's annual meeting, which is being held at the University of Leeds .
The Guardian, 8 September 2010
Cardiff ecologist takes winning photos
A Cardiff ecologist has snapped up two UK photography awards. Adam Seward, an ecologist at Cardiff university, won in two out of five awards in the British Ecological Society photographic competition
BBC News, 8 September 2010
Bird studies lead to Cardiff student's photo award
A Cardiff post-graduate student's fieldwork into bird populations has led to a photography award. Keen photographer Adam Seward was at the remote Fair Isle, Scotland, when he took the images of a puffin and two wheatears. They have now won British Ecological Society awards
BBC News, 8 June 2010
Crocodiles 'surf' long distance on ocean currents
Katia Moskvitch
Saltwater crocodiles enjoy catching a wave and can travel hundreds of kilometres by "surfing" on ocean currents, a study suggests. Australian researchers used sonar sensors and satellite transmitters to monitor 20 reptiles' movements. They found the crocodiles undertook numerous trips of over 10km (6.2 miles), but only when a current flowed in their direction of travel. The results of the research appear in the Journal of Animal Ecology …
Daily Telegraph, 8 June 2010
Crocodiles 'surf' to cross seas
The discovery answers how the saltwater crocodile, the largest living reptile, was able to colonise a number of South Pacific islands separated by vast stretches of water. It could also account for reports of large crocodiles being sighted far out to sea …
Nature, 8 June 2010
Crocodiles go with the flow
Natasha Gilbert
Crocodiles are bad long-distance swimmers. Instead, their talents lie in surfing, according to a study published today in the Journal of Animal Ecology .
Daily Mail, 8 June 2010
Crocodiles 'surf' on waves to cross oceans
Crocodiles 'surf' waves to cross many miles of ocean, scientists have learned. The discovery explains how the saltwater crocodile - the world's largest living reptile - came to colonise numerous South Pacific islands separated by huge stretches of water. It may also account for reports of large crocodiles being sighted far out to sea .
The Independent, 8 June 2010
Crocodiles 'surf' the seas, study finds
John von Radowitz
Crocodiles "surf" waves to cross many miles of ocean, scientists have learned. The discovery explains how the estuarine crocodile - the world's largest living reptile - came to colonise numerous South Pacific islands separated by huge stretches of water. It may also account for reports of large crocodiles being sighted far out to sea .
Time, 8 June 2010
Report: Crocodiles Travel by Surfing Ocean Currents
Nate Jones
Crocodiles who surf? What's next, Tyrannosaurs in F-14s? Unfortunately for people who like awesome things, the report from a team of Australian scientists finds that saltwater crocodiles (Crocodylus porosus) surf for business, not pleasure .
USA Today, 8 June 2010
Giant crocodiles surf to far-flung habitats
The estuarine crocodileis a bad swimmer. So how has it managed to colonize northern Australia, eastern India, part of southeast Asia and multiple South-east Pacific islands separated by enormous swaths of ocean? Easy, a team of researchers in Australia has found. They surf .
Oxford Mail, 3 May 2010
Wytham Woods: 60 years of ecological research
Andrew Ffrench
If you go down to Wytham Woods today. you will probably find a bunch of scientists measuring trees. For scientists have been keeping tabs on the wildlife in the Oxford wood for the past 60 years - and they haven't finished yet. On Thursday, ecologists gathered at the site to celebrate 60 years of scientific discovery - and a new book about monitoring the natural habitat .
Scientific American, 15 April 2010
Don't eat that: Endangered quolls my benefit from aversion therapy
John Platt
Eat something that's bad for you and you get sick, effectively teaching you to never eat that thing again. But if you eat something that kills you, there's not much room left for learning, is there? .
CBC, 14 April 2010
Marsupials learn to avoid poisonous toads
The fairy tale Little Red Riding Hood has inspired Australian scientists to invent a new weapon in the fight to save endangered native marsupials from being poisoned by cane toads. Cane toads have driven the northern quoll to extinction in many parts of northern Australia and they are threatening to invade Western Australia's Kimberley region, one of the quoll's last strongholds .
LA Times, 14 April 2010
Teaching an Australian marsupial to choose life
Amina Khan
Scientists working to save the endangered (and voracious) quoll came up with a clever solution: They trained it to hate the taste of toad so it can avoid getting poisoned .
The Times, 14 April 2010
It's raining toxic toad sausages in lifeline to the quoll
Hannah Devlin
Anyone witnessing toads raining down from the sky would be forgiven for assuming that freak weather or biblical wrath were responsible. In northern Australia, however, aerial deployment of toads is a radical way of trying to save a bushy-tailed marsupial from extinction .
ABC news, 18 February 2010
Scientists up ante to give toads a caning
Sarah Collerton
Native meat ants and cat food can help control the spread of cane toads, scientists have found. University of Sydney biology professor Rick Shine and his colleagues, Georgia Ward-Fear and Greg Brown, used cat food to help lure the native meat ants to kill baby cane toads . Professor Shine says the cat-food bait research, funded by the Australian Research Council and published in the Journal of Applied Ecology, is one way scientists are trying to curtail the cane toad population.
Press & Journal, 17 Februrary 2010
Raven unfairly blamed for drop in wading birds
Joanna Skailes
It is associated with death, superstition and the security of the British Crown - but now the reputation of the much-maligned raven has been given a boost. The portentous bird's cunning and wily nature has led to it becoming steeped in myth, legend and folklore but concerns that it is responsible for dramatic declines in the numbers of wading birds are unfair, says a new report . The research, published in the British Ecological Society's Journal of Applied Ecology and funded by Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH), found little evidence of an association and that changes to habitat, and increases in other predators, could be responsible instead.
BBC Online, 16 February 2010
Ravens 'not behind' wader decline
A large crow considered one of the most intelligent native British birds has been ruled out as the cause for a decline in the number of wading birds . The new study, published in the British Ecological Society's Journal of Applied Ecology, will help SNH when considering applications to legally kill ravens to protect other species.
