BES Facebook pageBES in the News: Recent Press Cuttings
NPR, 25 December 2011
Trees In Trouble: Grim Future For Frankincense
The original Christmas presents were gold, frankincense and myrrh. That's what wise men brought to the baby Jesus, according to the Gospel of Matthew. Frankincense is still used today — for perfumes, incense and traditional medicines — but a new study suggests that its future looks grim.
The trees that produce this fragrant resin are in serious trouble, says Frans Bongers, a forestry expert at Wageningen University in the Netherlands. He says production of frankincense could be cut in half in just 15 years. And in the next 50 years, tree numbers could decline by 90 percent, according to his new study published in the Journal of Applied Ecology .
Wall Street Journal, 23 December 2011
A Shift for the Magi? Frankincense Shortage
Wise men covet frankincense.This isn't a Christmas story, but a market reality as the trees that produce the amber-colored resin are increasingly endangered, which could drive up prices for a product already in high demand .
LA Times, 23 December 2011
Magi turn to myrrh as frankincense struggles and gold stays high
If their trek to visit the baby Jesus had happened this year, the biblical Magi might have been in for a surprise. The market for the gifts offered by the Three Kings -- gold, frankincense and myrrh -- is much changed since the first Christmas thousands of years ago.Frankincense, used in perfumes and incense, is faltering. Fifty Christmases from now, production of the fragrant resin could be down by 90% due to threats from fire, grazing and destructive beetles, according to the British Ecological Society’s Journal of Applied Ecology this week .
Huffington Post, 21 December 2011
Frankincense Future Dim As Boswellia Tree Populations Rapidly Decline, Study Says
Bad news for the three wise men: The future of frankincense production doesn't look promising. A study published in the Journal of Applied Ecology suggests that Boswellia populations, trees from which frankincense is harvested, are declining at such a rapid rate that the production of the aromatic resin will be reduced by half in about 15 years .
The Sun, 21 December 2011
Bankincense:
Shortages to push up price of Xmas resin
It was a gift to the baby Jesus and features in school nativity plays across the country – yet frankincense is at risk of DYING OUT. If the Three Wise Men were alive today they would have to stock up on Christmas supplies of the tree resin — used in incense and perfumes around the world — following grave warnings from ecologists in Holland .
The Independent, 21 December 2011
Who'd be a wise man? Gold's gone through the roof, frankincense is 'doomed', and as for myrrh.
They journeyed from the East to pay homage to the boy king bearing gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. But they would struggle to complete the feat today. Times for wise men have never been tougher. Gold prices are soaring on commodity markets, myrrh crops have been hit by drought – and now frankincense could soon be no more .
Wired, 21 December 2011
Frankincense doomed as Boswellia trees are on the decline
Wise Men beware: frankincense is on the wane. According to ecologists, the Boswellia trees that produce the fragrant resin are in such dramatic decline that production could halve over the next 15 years .
The Guardian, 21 December 2011
Frankincense production 'doomed'
Production of frankincense could be halved over the next 15 years because of steep declines in the number of the trees that make the resin, researchers have warned. Frankincense, used in incense and perfume, and one of the gifts brought by the three kings in the Christmas story, is produced by tapping Boswellia trees .
Daily Mail, 21 December 2011
Will frankincense be wafting away for ever? Number of trees that produce fragrant oil could halve in 15 years
It is a precious part of the Christmas story. But supplies of frankincense could be wafting away for good. Ecologists warn that boswellia trees, which produce the fragrant oil, could halve in number in the next 15 years .
BBC News, 21 December 2011
Frankincense tree facing uncertain future
Mark Kinver and Victoria Gill
Frankincense - a traditional staple of the Christmas story - faces an uncertain future, according to researchers. Ecologists have warned that the production of the fragrant resin could decline by half over the next 15 years. The festive fragrance is produced by tapping the gum of trees in the Boswellia genus. The findings, based on a study carried out in Ethiopia, have been published in the Journal of Applied Ecology .
USA Today, 21 December 2011
Frankincense threatened by conditions in Ethiopia
Elizabeth Weise
The world may still have gold and myrrh, but it's quite possible that frankincense could become a thing of the past, given ecological pressures on the arid lands where it grows in Ethiopia. The storied resin, known to millions as one of the three gifts of the Magi, the wise men who visited Jesus after his birth, is made from gum produced by the boswellia papyrifera tree. Its "bitter perfume" is used as incense in religious rituals in many cultures, as well as an ingredient in perfume and Chinese traditional medicine .
Daily Express, 21 December 2011
Gift from wise men at risk of vanishing
An icon of Christmas is in danger of dying out, a study warned yesterday. Production of frankincense – along with gold and myrrh one of the gifts given by the three wise men to the infant Jesus – could be cut by half in the next 15 years.Frankincense, which is used in incense and perfume, is produced by tapping Boswellia trees for their resin .
Daily Telegraph, 21 December 2011
Frankincense could disappear from church services
Frankincense could disappear from Christmas church services after ecologists warned that trees producing the festive incense could soon be wiped out. The number of boswellia trees, which produce frankincense, could drop by half in the next 15 years and all but disappear in 50 years, figures suggest .
BBC News, 23 November 2011
Seeds survive being eaten twice
The unfortunate lizard in this shrike's beak has a belly full of fruit seeds. And scientists working in the Canary Islands have found that those seeds often survive being "eaten twice", going on to germinate. A study, published in the Journal of Ecology, reveals the extent of this phenomenon in the Canaries. Up to 70 different fruit species are dispersed by lizard-eating birds, which distribute seeds across the islands in their droppings .
Daily Mail, 9 November 2011
Deer should be culled to save bird song because they are wiping out woodland species
Tamera Cohen
Deer must be culled to stop cherished birds such as the nightingale and willow tit from dying out in Britain, experts warn. The populations of these endangered birds have more than halved in a decade, according to the British Trust for Ornithology. It warns that an explosion in deer numbers may be affecting some woodland birds to a greater extent than realised, as they eat the shoots of leaves and shrubs which the birds depend on for cover and nesting sites .
BBC Online, 8 November 2011
Loggerhead turtles take 45 years to grow up
Victoria Gill
Loggerhead turtles take almost half a century to reach maturity, say scientists. A female turtle, the researchers report in the journal Functional Ecology, will not start to lay eggs until she is 45. This estimate, based on examination of several decades of data on the turtles' growth, has implications for conservation efforts. It reveals how long it takes for turtles hatched at a protected nesting site to return to that site to breed .
BBC News, 5 October 2011
Cull 'cannot save' Tasmanian devil
Jennifer Carpenter
Culling does not effectively control the contagious cancer threatening the Tasmanian devil, a new study suggests. The researchers modelled the effect of removing sick animals on the disease's prevalence in a small population. The study, in the Journal of Applied Ecology, seems to confirm findings in wild trials, that selective culling of sick animals is ineffectual at stopping the spread of the disease .
Daily Express, 5 October 2011
Tasmanian devils face cancer threat
An infectious cancer could wipe out wild populations of the Tasmanian devil within 25 years if no way of controlling the disease can be found, experts predict. An infectious cancer could wipe out wild populations of the Tasmanian devil within 25 years . The findings were reported in the Journal of Applied Ecology, published by the British Ecological Society.
Daily Express, 16 September 2011
Greenland goes green
John Ingham
Bats are team players, a Centre for Ecology & Hydrology expert revealed this week. They roost together in tight-knit social groups even though they change roosts every few days. Tom August told the British Ecological Society that Daubenton's and Natterer's bats form long-term companionships in social groups that last for many years.
Daily Telegraph, 16 September 2011
Deer destroying native wildlife
Louise Gray
After being hunted to the edge of extinction in the 18th century, deer numbers have returned to levels not seen in Britain since the Norman conquest. But now so many roam the countryside that they are fast becoming a menace, a Government study warned yesterday . New research presented the British Ecological Society's annual meeting found in certain areas of the country the problem is so bad that widespread culling will have to be introduced.
BBC News, 15 September 2011
Landscape-wide deer management preserves woodlands
Mark Kinver
Woodlands without effective, wide-scale management systems are more likely to be damaged by the UK's growing deer population, a study has suggested. Data from 80 Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs) showed that landowner partnerships over large areas was the best way to deter deer damage. The impact of overgrazing by deer has a knock-on effect that undermines woodland ecologies, said researchers. They were reporting at the British Ecological Society's annual meeting .
BBC News, 14 September 2011
Disease threat leaves UK oaks' future 'at crossroads'
Mark Kinver
The future well-being of the UK's oak trees could be at a crossroads, says one of the UK's chief tree experts. Keith Kirby from Natural England said that oak deaths from pests and diseases in some areas was a cause for concern. In particular, a disease known as Acute Oak Decline in the Midlands has led experts to ask whether it would have a similar impact as Dutch Elm disease. Dr Kirby made the comments ahead of a presentation to the British Ecological Society's annual meeting in Sheffield .
Daily Mail, 13 September 2011
Hair we go: Humans lost their locks so we could run faster to catch food
Ted Thornhill
Swimmers and cyclists have been known to shave their hair to cut milliseconds off their times – now scientists believe our ancestors shed their hair for similar reasons. However, early man needed to go faster to catch his supper, not to win a gold medal, according to Dr David Wilkinson of Liverpool John Moores University and Professor Graeme Ruxton of the University of Glasgow.
Planet Earth Online, 13 September 2011
Bats only roost with their closest buddies
Tamera Jones
Bats prefer to rest with their closest pals rather than with bats they don't know very well, researchers have discovered. They found that although bats change where they sleep every few days, they nearly always roost with the same bunch of bats, forming tight-knit social groups with exclusive membership . The study will be presented to delegates of the British Ecological Society's annual meeting in Sheffield today.
BBC News, 13 September 2011
Urbanisation's varying impacts on ecosystem services
Mark Kinver
Different urbanisation policies have varying impacts on a region's ecosystem services, researchers report. Dense housing leads to an increase in concrete and asphalt, reducing areas' flood mitigation services, they say. And low density housing does not affect flood mitigation services but does reduce land availability for food and carbon storage, the UK team adds. The study was presented at the British Ecological Society's (BES) annual meeting at the University of Sheffield .
Sunday Telegraph, 11 September 2011
Foreign ladybirds devour our native species
Penny Sarchet
Harlequin ladybirds have been spreading across Britain in recent years while native species are declining in number, but now scientists have established why - the invaders are eating their local rivals . Dr Brown and his colleagues, who will present their findings to the British Ecological Society's Annual Meeting this week, studied the change in ladybird distribution in Cambridgeshire over a three-year period from 2006.
Independent on Sunday, 11 September 2011
Short-haired bumblebees to be reintroduced to UK from Sweden
Jonathan Owen
Attempts to bring the short-haired bumblebee back from extinction in Britain with the help of an "expat" colony that survives in New Zealand have been abandoned in favour of using bees from Sweden, according to new research being presented at the British Ecological Society's annual meeting tomorrow
New York Times, 29 July 2011
Herbivores’ Nibbles Affect Climate Tales That Tree Rings Tell
Sindyan Bhanoo
For more than 100 years, tree rings have served as a reliable way to estimate past climate conditions because in warmer years, which usually mean better growing conditions, tree rings tend to be wider. But herbivores that nibble away at trees also have an effect on tree ring size — a phenomenon that was known but never measured. Now, researchers from Norway and Scotland report the significant effect of grazing sheep on tree ring size over a nine-year period. The researchers, whose findings are published in the current issue of the journal Functional Ecology .
BBC News, 20 July 2011
Tremough scientists' fears over Pacific Ocean turtles
Sea turtles are coming under increasing threat from small-scale fishery practices in the Pacific Ocean, Cornwall scientists claim. Findings produced on Tremough Campus in Penryn, suggest many turtles are being unintentionally landed as "bycatch". The study focused on a number of fisheries operating out of Peru. It shows sea turtles from Australia, Costa Rica and Mexico are all being caught up in gear used by the fisheries .
BBC News, 12 July 2011
Urban plants' role as carbon sinks 'underestimated'
Mark Kinver
Plants in cities and towns make a major contribution towards removing carbon from the atmosphere, a study suggests. The authors say the research is the first of its kind in Europe to quantify how much carbon is stored within this urban vegetation. They add that the data are vital because local authorities are key in helping the UK reach its target of cutting CO2 emissions by 80% by 2050. The findings will be published in the Journal of Applied Ecology .
Daily Mail, 29 June 2011
Take a beeline? Not a chance with these intelligent bees as they plan their routes efficiently
Fiona MacRae
It is a term synonymous with going straight to what you want. But even bumblebees do not always take a beeline. When faced with blooms boasting identical amounts of nectar, they quickly work out the shortest possible route from flower to flower, research shows.
BBC News, 24 June 2011
Songbirds eavesdrop on predatory chipmunks
Ella Davies
Ground-nesting birds eavesdrop on chipmunks in order to protect their nests, according to scientists. Ovenbirds and veeries live alongside egg-eating chipmunks in the Hudson Valley, New York, US. Researchers have found that when simulated chipmunk calls are played, the birds nest up to 20 metres further away . The new evidence that some species of bird also listen in on mammals is published in the British Ecological Society's Journal of Animal Ecology.
Wired, 24 June 2011
Ovenbirds consider chipmunk chatter before nesting
Alice Vincent
Nobody likes noisy neighbours, but it's difficult to work out just how much of a nuisance next door's drumming habits, newborn baby or nocturnal activities will be before you move in. Unless, that is, you're an ovenbird .
Texas Tech University, 24 June 2011
Ground-Nesting Birds Eavesdrop to Find Safe Neighborhoods
John Davis
Ground-nesting birds face an uphill struggle to successfully rear their young, with many eggs and chicks falling prey to predators. However, two researchers at Texas Tech have found that some birds eavesdrop on their enemies, using this information to find safer spots to build their nests. The study – one of the first of its kind – was published this week in the British Ecological Society’s Journal of Animal Ecology .
The Independent, 14 June 2011
Climate change puts the heat on Darwin's Chillingham cattle
Tom Peck
The blast furnaces that powered the Industrial Revolution had only just begun belching clouds of carbon into the sky when, in 1860, Charles Darwin encouraged a Victorian nobleman to maintain accurate data on an intriguing herd of cattle living feral in the grounds of his medieval castle. He could not have imagined that 150 years later the behaviour of their descendants would shed light on a problem that his pioneering contemporaries had set in motion – climate change .
Daily Telegraph, 14 June 2011
Cows are having fewer calves because of climate change
Louise Gray
Warmer springs are encouraging cows to breed earlier in the year so their calves are born in the middle of winter, when they have less chance of survival. The changes have been observed in a herd of cattle in Chillingham, Northumberland, which were first studied by Charles Darwin, the biologist. Dr Sarah Burthe, of the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, studied the change in breeding patterns over the last 60 years .
BBC News, 4 May 2011
Trampling the great outdoors
Matt Walker
What better way to embrace nature than to explore the great outdoors?Better still, make a hobby out of it: go mountain biking, hiking, skiing or climbing - anything to keep fit, breathe fresh air and wonder at the world around you. It sounds idyllic, but for the natural world, it could be anything but. By exploring the great outdoors, we may be trashing the great outdoors .
University of Cambridge, 28 March 2011
Forests and global change
The future of forests in a changing world will be debated at an international conference in Cambridge this week. The annual British Ecological Society symposium, on 28-30 March, will convene some of the world's leading experts on forest ecology, management and conservation.
Wired, 24 March 2011
Plastic honeycombs may save disappearing bee populations
Alice Vincent
Ecologists from the University of Wurzburg have developed improved breeding methods to aid research into risks to bees. They detailed the methods in a study released in Methods in Ecology and Evolution, which involve using plastic honeycombs to rear bees in the laboratory.
Sky News, 2 March 2011
Sharks are stunning navigators
Sharks are famed for extraordinary hearing, motion sensing and smell, but new research shows some species can also navigate with pinpoint accuracy over long distances. 'Simply put, they know where they are going,' said Yannis Papastamatiou of the Florida Museum of Natural History who co-authored the study published on Wednesday . The study appears in a British publication, the Journal of Animal Ecology.
BBC News, 2 March 2011
Sharks navigate using 'mental maps'
Richard Black
Some shark species make "mental maps" of their home ranges, allowing them to pin-point destinations up to 50km (30 miles) away, research suggests. US-based scientists analysed data from tiger sharks tagged with acoustic transmitters, and found that they took directed paths from place to place. Other species such as blacktip reef sharks did not show this behaviour. Writing in the Journal of Animal Ecology, researchers suggest this shows a capacity to store maps of key sites .
BBC News, 25 February 2011
Sharp teeth aid bats' fruit diets
Neotropical leaf-nosed bats are the subjects of the first study to measure how the tooth structure of wild mammals is related to their ability to break down natural food sources from insects to fruit. The paper is published in the BES's journal Functional Ecology.
Daily Telegraph, 9 February 2011
Corn buntings make a comeback thanks to farmers
Louise Gray
Corn buntings are making a comeback, according to the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), thanks to a few simple measures to improve the environment on farms .
The Scotsman, 9 February 2011
Corn bunting pays price of £10 million cut in farm funding
Jane Bradley
Conservationists have warned that cuts in government funding for conservation projects could lead to the decline of once-common farmyard bird the corn bunting . The report, published in the Journal of Applied Ecology, showed that measures targeted at supporting corn buntings, including increasing the amount of food available to them and delaying mowing grassland where they were nesting, increased numbers by 5.6 per cent a year.
Farmers Guardian, 9 February 2011
Green schemes boost bird numbers
Alistair Driver
A major research study has shown how agri-environment schemes can help restore populations of threatened farmland birds. The study – published in the Journal of Applied Ecology – focussed on the corn bunting one of the UK’s most threatened farmland birds .
Science Daily, 1 February 2011
Basking in the Sun: How Large Mammals Survive Winter in the Mountains
Sunbathing in sub-zero temperatures may not be everybody's idea of fun but it forms an important part of the strategy of Alpine ibex for surviving the winter. This surprising finding comes from recent research in the group of Walter Arnold at the Research Institute of Wildlife Ecology, University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna. The results have recently been published online by the journal Functional Ecology .
Cordis News, 1 February 2011
The new buzz on bees and pollen
Collecting pollen is one of the most important tasks a bee has. But as they buzz around the flowering plants, what protects plants from losing too much pollen? New research from Switzerland shows how flowering plants complement their structural defence mechanisms by using chemical weaponry to ensure that bees do not collect too much pollen. The findings are published in the British Ecological Society's journal Functional Ecology .
CBC Radio, 11 January 2011
As it Happens - Radio Show
[11 mins 20 secs into part 2 of the show] How do you attract stag beetles? Gingerly. A British scientist finds that, when conducting a census of endangered insects, the quickest route is ginger root.
Daily Mail, 10 January 2011
Bugging the bugs: Scientists use tiny microphones to record the 'rasping' of stag beetle larvae
Scientists involved in a conservation project have been bugging the homes of stag beetle larvae. Tiny microphones are being used to eavesdrop on the white grubs which live in buried rotting wood. The larvae make rasping sounds known as 'stridulation' which experts believe are used as a form of communication .
BBC News, 10 January 2011
Stag beetles 'cannot resist ginger'
Mark Kinver
Stag beetles' love of ginger could be a key ingredient in the effort to conserve Britain's largest known terrestrial beetle, a study suggests.
Researchers found that ginger-baited traps would lure the insects, allowing scientists to get an accurate picture of the beetles' abundance in an area .
