News and Opinion - British Ecological Society

Natural seed banks cannot protect biodiversity from the effects of climate change

Researchers have found that natural soil seed banks are not as effective in northerly plants - meaning they lack a survival strategy in our warming climate.

Robotic bird created to study animal communication

Researchers have created a hyper realistic bird to study communication in zebra finches

Flower strips and hedges combine to boost bees in orchards

New research finds hedges and perennial flower strips are complementary in supporting wild bees in orchards

Feeding wildlife drives artificial selection of harassment behaviour

Feeding wild animals could drive artificial selection for harassment behaviour and poses a serious risk to human and wildlife well-being.

Agri-Environmental Strategy Could Boost Crop Productivity and Pollination

Green infrastructure near agricultural land is essential for pollinator conservation and boosting crop productivity.

Warmer autumns could spell bad news for butterflies, suggests study

New research finds that longer and warmer autumns make it less likely that green-veined white butterflies will survive winter to emerge in spring.

Rolling wildflower blocks: benefits for biodiversity

Rolling wildflower blocks could be the more effective compensation measurement against insect decline than flower strips.

Dog faeces and urine could be harming nature reserves, according to new study

New research finds that dogs in nature reserves contribute a significant amount of nutrients to the environment, which could harm biodiversity.

Managing agricultural biodiversity takes time

A three-year research project shows how functional traits drive pollinator and predator responses to semi-natural grassland strips embedded in agricultural landscapes.

Tree species diversity is no protection against bark beetle infestation

Ecologist from Freiburg investigates pest infestation in forests with mixed and monoculture tree stands.

Lack of prey reduces breeding success in puffin populations

New research finds that a lack of prey around breeding colonies in the northeast Atlantic is leading to puffin population declines.

Changes in ecosystem properties after postfire management strategies in wildfire affected Mediterranean forests

New research into Mediterranean forest fires finds that postfire management treatments can be effective in promoting multifunctionality and plant diversity.

Climate warming linked to tree leaf unfolding and flowering growing apart

Climate warming is linked to a widening interval between leaf unfolding and flowering in European trees.

More frequent and extreme marine heatwaves likely to threaten starfish

Common starfish cannot survive amplified marine heatwaves projected at the end of the century and experience lasting negative effects from current heatwaves, according to new research.

Saving your data together helps bird research

Researchers publish the first scientific paper from the SPI-Birds network, a large‐scale initiative connecting data on wild populations of birds.