Feed aggregator

EU directives have helped to protect an array of animals – even though agricultural policy has sometimes had a negative effect

From the sea to the land to the air, EU directives on habitats and birds have protected and enabled the recovery of wildlife, including dolphins, orchids and butterflies and the booming marsh-dwelling bird the bittern.

But, with the intensification of farming having seriously harmed wildlife in past decades, the impact of the EU’s huge common agricultural policy (CAP), has often been in the opposite direction.

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Worth crowing about? Birds that can problem-solve do best in cities. Gypsytwitcher/shutterstock.com

Life in the city can be stressful – for birds just as much as people. For humans, cities are expressly designed to put roofs over heads and food within easy reach, but the opposite can be true for many urban birds. They can find food and shelter harder to come by in the concrete jungle – with some notable exceptions.

For any species in any habitat, survival is about problem-solving and adapting to the environment. So what street smarts do city birds need? And why do some species, such as lorikeets, crows and ravens, seem to dominate our urban landscapes?

In general, urban birds must be bolder than those that remain in natural habitats, as can be seen by the boldness (or “habituation”) with which some species will forage for food with people nearby. But they also need to be able to avoid or retreat from unfamiliar objects or situations if they seem dangerous.

City birds also need to withstand exposure to a wide range of pathogens. A study of birds in Barbados found that urban birds have enhanced immune systems relative to their country counterparts.

While we have changed the environment in which some birds live, reducing resources in terms of food and shelter and increasing the number of pathogens that may impact their health, some birds have largely benefited from the new way of life.

Winners and losers

Within the urban ecosystem, there are winners and losers in the bird world. The suburban landscape, for example, now provides more nectar from flowers than native vegetation due to the gardens that people have established. This is a big help to nectar-feeding parrots such as Rainbow Lorikeets.

A recent study in Sydney found that the lorikeets benefit from the increased abundance of flowers in urban areas, and their numbers were higher in the leafy suburbs than in bushland.

But if urban areas are such a rich source of nectar, why are some nectar-feeding species declining?

The Regent Honeyeater feeds mainly on nectar and other plant sugars. It has been seen in orchards and urban gardens, but is listed as critically endangered by the federal government.

This is partly because widespread clearance of woodland habitat has led to the increase of the aggressive Noisy Miner and Red Wattlebird. These species find it easy to “bully” other birds in open habitats. Noisy Miners have been observed pulling apart Regent Honeyeaters' nests as they were being built.

Regent Honeyeaters, in contrast, are less adaptable to changed landscapes, because they are migratory and rely on detailed knowledge of existing food sources. If these resources are changed or removed, they may not have enough interconnected patches of habitat to move safely towards new resources – potentially leaving them vulnerable to cats, foxes and aggression from other birds.

Habitat loss can threaten some bird species or even leave them at risk of dying out if they do not locate alternative resources. The ability to find new food sources therefore becomes a valuable survival skill.

What’s more useful: flexibility or intelligence?

For some bird species, flexibility in finding food is crucial in making a successful switch to urban environments. One example is the Grey-crowned Babbler, which is endangered in Victoria, but my colleagues and I have documented it living in a suburban area in Dubbo, New South Wales.

This species usually nests in coniferous woodland and forages in the leaf litter beneath the trees. But in Dubbo, we saw these birds feeding on lawns, in playgrounds and even in leaf litter along a train track at the back of urban housing, sometimes visiting backyards along the way. This suggests that these birds can survive the loss of their woodland habitat by being sufficiently adaptable to life in the suburbs – as long as they can continue to find enough food, disperse between nearby groups and have access to native nesting trees.

For other species, such as crows and ravens, intelligence seems to be the key. These species can survive anywhere in the urban sprawl, including places where trees are scarce but rubbish bins are everywhere. Crows and ravens can literally pull food out of a bin and eat it – clearly a learned behaviour that has resulted from problem-solving.

These birds are highly opportunistic and social, allowing them to learn new ways of adapting to the almost complete removal of their natural environment.

Survive and thrive

What we can deduce from these examples is that some birds, like Rainbow Lorikeets and Grey-crowned Babblers, can adapt successfully to the urban sprawl as long as some characteristics of their habitat still remain. Other species, such as crows, have gone a step further and worked out how to survive purely on urban resources – effectively making a living in an environment that is completely unnatural to them.

This suggests that the more we urbanise an area without natural aspects, the less bird diversity we will have – and the more our urban areas will come to be dominated by those few species that are hardy, clever or adaptable enough to thrive.

Luckily, some councils in Australia and cities throughout the world are bringing the natural aspects of the forest back into the concrete jungle, so that a wider range of birds might survive here. More research is needed to work out exactly what each species will need, but planting more native plants is always a good start.

Kathryn Teare Ada Lambert does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond the academic appointment above.

Drastic cuts to hit remediation work – the process of detoxifying soil, with plans to phase it out by 2017, MPs on environmental audit committee find

The government has drastically cut funds needed to encourage new building on “brownfield” sites, despite claiming that such sites would be key to solving the housing crisis.

Many sites that have previously held buildings or other developments need remediation – a process to remove potentially dangerous toxins from the soil – in order to be considered for new houses, of which the government plans to build hundreds of thousands a year to ease the pressure on the UK’s over-stretched stock.

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Prime minister Stefan Löfven should keep his election promise of clean energy and not let state-owned Vattenfall sell its coal mines to EPH

The history of the fossil fuel industry can feel like it is told in complicated deals the public isn’t meant to understand. This is what is happening in Sweden. The government-owned energy company, Vattenfall, is demanding the sale of its coal mines and power plants based in Germany to a Czech company, EPH. The deal includes some of Germany’s largest coal mines – and three of the top 10 most polluting coal plants in Europe. They are going to a deeply unattractive buyer – EPH, a company hell-bent on burning as much coal as possible.

In the next couple of weeks, Swedish prime minister, Stefan Löfven, is facing a stark choice. On one hand, he could approve the sale of the most climate-destroying assets in Europe, breaking his own election promises in the process. Or, he could promote a transition to keep coal in the ground – and support a liveable climate – in an unprecedented decision by a government to keep fossil fuels in the ground. Coal is the most polluting of all fossil fuels, and lignite or ‘brown coal’ is the most polluting type of coal and the greatest threat to EU climate goals.

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Widdybank Fell, Teesdale Vivid bird’s-eye primroses survive and bloom in the bleak grandeur of the north Pennines

A skylark rose from among the dry grasses and heather beside the footpath, spiralling higher and higher, showering us with song until it was lost from view in an almost cloudless sky.

In dozens of visits here on May mornings over the past 40 years this was the most perfect day we could recall: still air, warm sunshine and crystal-clear visibility. Bitterly cold wind is expected and horizontal sleet not uncommon at this time of year in one of the last places that spring reaches in the north Pennines.

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Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders in marine science program gives students insight into reality of the field

Jackie Makie never thought of becoming a marine biologist.

If statistics are anything to go by, that’s not surprising. Indigenous students make up 3% of the total population but less than 1% of students at university.

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The Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders in marine science program has been reconnecting Indigenous children to the Great Barrier Reef and a world that is central to their traditional culture. It enrols about 40 children from schools along the reef coastline and introduces them to the world of marine science

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The move comes two years after opposition Liberal National party banned mentions of climate change impacts from planning policy

The Queensland Labor government will bankroll projects by coastal councils to mitigate the effects of rising sea levels, less than two years after its Liberal National predecessor banned mentions of climate change impacts from planning policy.

The Palaszczuk government has set up a modest $12m fund, launching it in Redcliffe, north of Brisbane, which it said was “one of the communities on the frontline in the battle against the worst predicted effects” of rising sea levels.

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Drum lines were set in the wake of the attack on Ben Gerring and a 4.2m-long great white was caught shortly afterwards

Western Australia’s fisheries department has trapped and killed a large great white shark in baited drum lines close to the site where a surfer suffered life-threatening injuries in an attack.

The authorities took samples from the 4.2m-long shark to see whether it was responsible for the attack which left a 29-year-old fly-in fly-out worker, Ben Gerring, fighting for his life.

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MPs warn that continued soil degradation risks putting some of the UK’s most productive agricultural land beyond profitable use within a generation.

Springtails come in variety of shapes and sizes. Springtail image from www.shutterstock.com

You’ve probably never heard of them, let alone seen them, but it’s likely you have some in your home. Springtails are only 1-2 mm long but are ubiquitous, found in every habitat except the oceans.

Springtails are closely related to insects – they have six legs and a head, thorax and abdomen – but are not insects because they lack wings and have soft bodies and hidden mouthparts. Springtails are known scientifically as Collembola.

Collembola are unique in carrying a jumping organ beneath the abdomen, held in place with hooks. When released, the jumping organ springs free, hitting the ground and forcing the animal to leap into the air, hence their common name.

In the wild, springtails can be found in leaf litter, soil, under bark, in sand, under stones, in tree canopies and even in caves and ant and termite nests. In termite nests they may control fungal growth. Most importantly, springtails have been shown to be useful bioindicators of environmental change.

Some male springtails perform a complex mating dance to attract the female. Other species are carried by insects for dispersal or feeding purposes.

A springtail mating dance as shown in David Attenborough’s Life in the Undergrowth.

In Australia, there are several thousand species, most found only in this country. In any garden compost heap there will be millions of individuals belonging to about ten species. Native springtails may be brightly coloured and patterned; white, if living in soil; or black if living in exposed habitats such as mountain tops, beaches or coral reefs.

Native springtails can be brightly coloured - this is Acanthanura from Tasmania. Copyright Andy Murray Another Tasmanian springtail, Temeritus. Copyright Andy Murray Springtails in the home

Three species are commonly found inside buildings, all with an elongated bodies and belonging to the family Entomobryidae. These are introduced species, which were probably brought to Australia in soil and animal fodder before quarantine controls were put in place.

If you put sticky or water traps in a garage or shed, for instance, after only a day or two springtails should appear floating on the water or trapped in the glue. You might have to use a magnifying glass to see them.

Cellars invariably harbour several species. One unusual example was in a doctor’s surgery, where every morning springtails were found floating in the then-cooled water of the steriliser, having emerged overnight from their hiding place and fallen in.

This Entomobrya springtail is from the family often found in homes. Andy Murray/Flickr, CC BY-SA

Springtails are dispersed involuntarily in several ways. They can be transported in air currents and in flowing water in drains, as well as being carried in timber, packing materials and footwear, by domestic animals and on fresh vegetables and house plants. Species on vegetables could only become established in pot plant soil.

Household springtails feed on fungi and other microorganisms, which can be present in clean, relatively dry habitats such as within walls and under floors.

One species of springtail is sometimes found in baths and basins, having crawled up drain pipes. This species is most commonly observed in summer when conditions outside are particularly hot and dry, but cooler, moister conditions exist indoors.

Springtails only very rarely become a nuisance, not because they cause allergies or bite, but because they sometimes become extremely numerous in domestic situations. The few records of springtails being found on the human body have almost all been shown to be a case of mistaken identity.

If springtails become too numerous in a house, it is best to use normal cleaning methods, such as vacuuming carpets and sweeping floors to reduce populations. But if the source population is in walls or under floors, this won’t work.

Chemical methods may not be successful as, on the whole, these animals are resistant to pesticides. Instead, the source of the population should be found, which could be pot plant soil, adjacent garden soil, or debris under the floor, and the habitat cleaned out.

Domestic springtails are harmless to us and do not carry diseases. In the natural environment they are considered “goodies” as they are detritivores and contribute to nutrient cycling by breaking down organic matter by grazing on microorganisms on dead leaves and in logs.

In the home, therefore, springtails are not to be feared. In the wild, they play a valuable ecological role and many species are colourful and have intriguing habits.

This article is part of a series profiling our “hidden housemates”. Are you a researcher with an idea for a “hidden housemates” story? Get in touch.

Penelope Greenslade does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond the academic appointment above.

Sugarcane waste, drones, solar-powered alumina refining and strata-owned solar: which Arena R&D projects could make a big difference to Australia’s energy sector?

Although there are numerous innovative projects seeking to improve the sustainability of Australia’s energy sector, one of the main barriers to making them happen is – as with most things – money.

With the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (Arena) set to lose $1.3bn in unallocated funds, the agency has announced a raft of grants for green projects, including $17m for nine research and development projects that “have a pathway to being fully commercial” through industry partners.

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The killing of tourist Cindy Waldron by a saltwater crocodile while swimming north of Cairns on Sunday has reignited the debate about how to keep people safe from crocs. Federal MP Bob Katter has called for a bigger crocodile cull, although the Queensland government has once again ruled this out. There are very good reasons for this decision.

The evidence suggests that calls for complete deregulation of croc hunting are based on flawed arguments. The easiest way to keep people safe is to make sure they understand the risks.

What have we been doing about crocodiles?

Crocodile populations have been managed in northern Australia since the early 1970s. Before that, it was open season: three decades of hunting wiped out 95% of wild crocodiles, although getting them all proved impossible.

Many hunters grew to respect these unequivocally Australian “beasts”, supporting their subsequent protection. Yet their numbers bounced back much faster than anyone expected. Questions were soon being asked about the wisdom of allowing their recovery.

Sub-adult saltwater crocodile basking on a tidal mud bank, a popular sight for the many tourists who visit northern Australia each year. Adam Britton

Recognising the value of crocodiles to people and ecosystem health, the Northern Territory government changed tack. Crocs became tourism icons, their eggs and skins were harvested sustainably to create local jobs and a fledgling industry, and safety issues were managed by the targeted removal of “problem” crocodiles, alongside visible media campaigns about staying safe. Despite differences between states and territory, the same basic approach is still used.

Has it been effective in saving lives? The first subsequent recorded fatal attack in Queensland happened in 1975, when Peter Reimers was killed while wading in a creek near Mission River. This was only a year after the crocodile population had been protected because it was on the verge of disappearing. Three decades of unregulated hunting hadn’t saved Reimers' life.

The latest statistics as compiled by CrocBITE show 112 attacks between 1971 and May 2016, 33 (30%) of them fatal. That’s an average of 2.5 non-fatal attacks per year and 0.7 fatal attacks per year across Western Australia, the Northern Territory and Queensland. The rate has increased slightly over the past decade, but crocodile attacks remain extremely rare in Australia.

Number of reported saltwater crocodile attacks per country (April 2007 to April 2014). Fatal proportion in red, percentage shows fatality rate. Adam Britton / CrocBITE

The average size of crocodiles is increasing as the population continues to mature towards full recovery. However, given the very low number of attacks, it’s difficult to assess if this has had any impact on the fatality rate.

Attacks usually happen because people get in the water with crocodiles. Such an obvious cause should be easy to prevent, and indeed this is the case.

Attack risk in Australia is low, largely because of the success of long-running campaigns to warn people of the dangers of swimming in crocodile-populated waters.

What lurks beneath? If you’re in crocodile habitat and you find water, always assume that it harbours a crocodile. Adam Britton

Those who live locally are generally most keenly aware of the dangers. Sadly, a disproportionate number of attack victims are visitors who aren’t as aware of the risks. The real problem can therefore be interpreted as a failure to communicate risk, and therein lies the solution.

How to not get eaten by a crocodile

Crocodile attacks are traumatic, unfortunate and potentially tragic incidents that generally can be avoided. Australia has an excellent track record in saving people from crocodile attack. Despite having more saltwater crocodiles than any other country, we have low fatality rates because our management and education program is world-class.

Other countries with crocodiles come to Australia for advice on how to manage their crocodile populations and prevent conflict with people.

But there’s still a grey area for many people. How do you know whether it’s safe to swim in northern Australia? What’s the risk of doing so?

We make decisions every day to assess risk, whether we’re driving, walking down the street, swimming in a pool, or taking a boat out on the water. We’ve been trained to minimise the risks we face.

The same is true of going into the bush and facing potential dangers from snakes, mosquitoes or other animals. Sometimes accidents will happen, often because someone decided to push their luck.

Distribution of saltwater crocodiles throughout their range, including northern Australia. Green are viable populations, orange are recently extirpated populations and blue represents their potential for movement within and between countries. Brandon Sideleau / CrocBITE

But with crocodiles the rules are simple: don’t enter the water in crocodile habitat. In these areas, stay away from the water’s edge, don’t disturb water consistently in the same place, don’t approach or tease crocodiles, camp at least 50 metres from the bank, and don’t go out in small, unstable boats.

Warning signs about crocodiles are there for a reason, to allow you to make an informed decision about your personal safety. Ignore them and you may get away with it, but eventually you will not.

The name ‘saltwater crocodile’ is misleading. They are equally at home in freshwater habitats. Adam Britton

There’s little doubt that Australia knows how to manage wild crocodile populations. The risk of being attacked by a crocodile here is vanishingly small because crocs and people are managed effectively.

We already have a limited cull of crocodiles; the targeting and removal of specific animals that, through their actions, pose an elevated risk to the public. A wider cull won’t gain anything, at the cost of local livelihoods and our natural resources.

This article was co-authored by Erin Britton, a biologist at Big Gecko Crocodilian Research in Darwin.

Adam Britton received funding from Charles Darwin University to develop the technology for the CrocBITE database.

Report from US Geological Survey says northern wildfires must now be seen as significant driver of climate change, not just a side-effect

The devastating rise in Alaska’s wildfires is making global warming even worse than scientists expected, US government researchers said on Wednesday.

The sharp spike in Alaska’s wildfires, where more than 5 million acres burned last year, are destroying a main buffer against climate change: the carbon-rich boreal forests, tundra and permafrost that have served as an enormous carbon sink.

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The scientific mystery behind one of British science's most famous insects has finally been solved.

The spectacular, flat landscape that dominates the left side of Pluto's icy "heart" can now be explained, say scientists.

Scientists unravel details of the famous mutation that turned moths black during the industrial revolution.

WING COLOURS: The same gene that turned peppered moths black to camouflage them in industrial pollution is also behind colour variation in bright tropical butterflies, research shows.

The world's longest and deepest rail tunnel is officially opened in Switzerland, after almost two decades of construction work.

Last year saw record worldwide investment and implementation of clean energy such as wind, solar and hydropower

An upsurge in new wind, solar and hydro plants and capacity saw renewable energy smash global records last year, according to a report on new supply.

Some 147 Gigawatts of renewable electricity came online in 2015 - the largest annual increase ever and as much as Africa’s entire power generating capacity.

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