BES Facebook groupInvasive Species
Secretary: Robert Francis
Aims
- To promote knowledge exchange between researchers, policy makers and practitioners with interests in invasive species
- To provide a forum for debate on invasive species
- To facilitate networking, collaborations and complementary research to further understanding of invasive ecology (especially UK BRAG priorities)
- To develop links with national and international groups/organisations that focus on invasive species (e.g. Non-Native Species Secretariat, IUCN Invasive Species Specialist Group)
- To encourage an awareness and interest in invasive species among students, young ecologists and the public
Background
Invasive species are of global importance due to their environmental and economic impacts, and are of interest to researchers and practitioners in many disciplines. In recognition of this, the BES Invasive Species Group was set up in 2003. The Group was successfully re-launched with an informal meeting at the BES Annual Meeting 2008. We are currently working to establish the group.
Contact:
If you are interested in joining the committee, suggesting or hosting an event or would just like to get in touch, please email us on invasive @ britishecologicalsociety.org. An email list, BES-INVASIVE, has been established which we encourage you to join to keep up to date with Group activities and news.
Of Interest
Call for Papers: RGS & BSG session on Understanding and Managing Urban Rivers
On the afternoon of Thursday 2nd September 2010, an interdisciplinary session on Understanding and Managing Urban Rivers will take place as part of the joint Royal Geographical Society Annual Conference 2010, and the British Society for Geomorphology 50th anniversary ‘Grand Challenges’ conference. Anyone who has registered for either conference can attend the session.
We are currently encouraging submissions of papers on the theme of urban rivers, and the session abstract is given below. The session is sponsored by the British Ecological Society and papers submitted in advance (prior to 2nd September 2010) will be considered for publication in a special issue of the international journal Urban Ecosystems, subject to peer review.
Anyone interested in contributing to the session should submit a 250 word abstract to the session organiser, Rob Francis. The deadline for abstract submissions is 30th June 2010.
Conference registration details
Session abstract:
Urban rivers represent some of the most heavily engineered and degraded freshwater ecosystems in the world, and are prime sites for restoration, rehabilitation and reconciliation efforts at a range of scales. Although they cover only a small proportion of the Earth’s surface, their provision of direct and indirect ecosystem services and their place within centres of human society makes them very important systems, both environmentally and socially. Nevertheless, they remain relatively poorly researched, which limits the potential for the implementation of restoration efforts.
Successful environmental improvements at any scale rely on a sound understanding of the underlying biophysical system, which is generally lacking for urban rivers. Alongside this, urban rivers are those most likely to be subject to societal pressures as well as frequent and varying social interpretation and interaction by urban residents, which in many countries incorporates the majority of the population. An understanding of urban fluvial geomorphological, ecological and hydrological processes should therefore be supported by awareness of social and cultural factors that may impact the likely success of river improvement techniques. This session broadly covers both biophysical and socio-cultural aspects of global urban rivers, and invites research papers that address either sphere or are interdisciplinary in nature, and that contribute to our understanding of how these degraded systems may be improved.
Recording Invasive Species Counts (RISC) project
Along with the Non Native Species Secretariat, the Biological Records Centre and Anglia Ruskin University, the National Biodiversity Network (NBN) has launched a project to engage the public in recording invasive non natives.
For more details please visit the NBN website
Fact sheets for the project are available at the Non Native Species Secretariat website
Please do get involved in this important data collection project.
RISC at the BES Annual Meeting 2010
The team involved in RISC will be running a workshop at the BES meeting on 8th September, called “Non Native Species – the importance of data”. It will take place from 09.00 – 10.30 in the Roger Stevens Lecture Theatre 13.
Committee
Rob Francis (Secretary)
Nicola Randall
Helen Bayliss (Postgraduate Rep)
