News and Opinion - British Ecological Society

Logging tropical forests jeopardizes fisheries important for food and livelihood

Logging activity in Solomon Islands is associated with lower coral cover and structural complexity on adjacent reefs, new research has found.

BES response to the UN’s Global Biodiversity Outlook report

The forgotten fauna: introduced seed predators are no surrogate for extinct seed-eating animals on islands

A new study led by Dr Jo Carpenter has shown that it’s not just the loss of mutually beneficial species like pollinators or seed disperses that have a severe impact on island ecology, the loss of “negative” interactions such as destroying seeds or parasitism is also important.

Insect diversity boosted by combination of crop diversity and semi-natural habitats

To enhance the number of beneficial insect species in agricultural land, preserving semi-natural habitats and promoting crop diversity are both needed, according to new research published in the British Ecological Society’s Journal of Applied of Ecology.

When landscapes change, conservation strategies must change as well

New research published in Journal of Applied Ecology explores the complex ways agriculture impacts biodiversity. Looking at Gran Chaco, a global deforestation hotspot, researchers find that trade-offs between agriculture and biodiversity change when the landscape changes, with species responding differently to the same level of agricultural intensity, depending on how much forest is left.

Snowshoe hare carcasses feed more then the usual suspects, study shows

Scientists document 24 different species scavenging snowshoe hare carcasses in the Yukon.

New study reveals rarity of the Spirit Bear and gaps in their protection in the Great Bear Rainforest

New research has identified that the small genetic change responsible for Spirit bears - a rare, white-coated form of black bears – is up to 50% rarer in the Great Bear Rainforest than previously estimated. The study also indicates that geographic hotspots, where the Spirit bear version of the gene was especially prominent lack adequate protection from resource extraction.

Wild bees depend on the landscape structure

A Research team led by University of Göttingen finds flower strips, organic farming and small crop fields combine to encourage bees and hoverflies.

How fish got onto land, and stayed there

Research on blennies, a family of fish that have repeatedly left the sea for land, suggests that being a ‘jack of all trades’ allows species to make the dramatic transition onto land but adapting into a ‘master of one’ allows them to stay there.

Adapting to climate change: how do we know if it’s working?

Research shows recovering pine marten population benefits red squirrels, but the grey squirrel still poses a problem in urban areas

Research led by Queen’s University Belfast has found that whilst red squirrels are responding positively to the increased presence of the pine marten across Ireland and Britain, its ability to control the grey squirrel is limited by the lack of forest cover and the presence of urban refugia.

Birds, bees and butter – new study underlines importance of biodiversity for crop production and West African livelihoods

Shea trees are in important crop in Senegal and Uganda and they benefit from bees pollinating their flowers to produce fruit. New research finds that in sites with low tree and shrub diversity, fruit production is severely limited by a lack of pollination.

How lockdown is changing the ecology of our cities?

With much of the world still under lockdown and people unable to venture far, many of us have been paying more attention to the seemingly more abundant and diverse wildlife on our doorsteps. Rana El-Sabaawi, associate professor of biology at Canada’s University of Victoria considers how our absence is changing the ecology and biodiversity of our cities.

Lack of insects in cities limits breeding success of urban birds

Urban insect populations would need to increase by a factor of at least 2.5 for urban great tits to have same breeding success as those living in forests.

How does an increase in nitrogen application affect grasslands?

Researchers at the University of Bern share the first results of the largest biodiversity-ecosystem functioning experiment in Switzerland