Biodiversité

The latest State of Nature Report rings yet another alarm bell on the biodiversity crisis in the UK, showing major declines in many species since monitoring began in 1970. Since this date, species have declined by 19% on average and one in six are now at risk of being lost in the UK.

A l'aide de micros, des scientifiques enregistrent les sons des écosystèmes naturels. Après les océans et les forêts, une équipe de l'université de Bristol (Royaume-Uni) a dévoilé le monde sonore mystérieux... des mares de la campagne anglaise. Un "orchestre" étonnant.

Globalement, l’accord prévoit des limites de capture, également appelées "totaux admissibles des captures" (TAC), pour plus de 200 stocks halieutiques commerciaux. Plus de 100 de ces stocks de l’Atlantique et de la mer du Nord sont gérés conjointement avec le Royaume-Uni. Étant donné que les discussions portant sur les consultations bilatérales UE-Royaume-Uni et UE-Norvège sur les stocks halieutiques partagés sont toujours en cours, les ministres se sont mis d’accord sur des limites de capture provisoires pour les trois premiers mois de 2023, dans l’attente d’un accord final.

Une étude britannique montre que l’éclairage public perturbe le comportement des insectes et qu’il peut aller jusqu’à réduire directement leur nombre.

An extensive and impartial study to assess people’s views about the possible reintroduction of Eurasian lynx to the Scottish Highlands is being launched this month by a new partnership of the charities SCOTLAND: The Big Picture, Trees for Life and Vincent Wildlife Trust.Ecological research has shown that extensive areas of Scotland could support lynx, but the charities say returning the shy and elusive animal is less about science and more about people’s willingness to live alongside a species that’s become forgotten on these shores.

In 2019, there were 44 million fewer breeding birds in the UK than there were in the 1970s. There are thought to be fewer than one million hedgehogs, compared to 35 million in the 1950s. Two-thirds of British butterflies have also been on a downward trend since the 1970s, adding to a grim picture for biodiversity in the UK.

Many insects moving north in response to climate change find they have nowhere to go in Britain's intensively managed landscapes, according to new research.

Gland, Switzerland, 27 September 2019 (IUCN) – Over half (58%) of Europe’s endemic trees are threatened with extinction, according to assessment

Experts from across the globe will come together at the University of Stirling in a series of keynote talks, sessions and workshops, to share their knowledge on the impact that wind energy has on wildlife and discuss the upcoming challenges for this dynamic industry.

Une étude confirme le déclin alarmant de ce groupe d’insectes parmi les mieux étudiés au monde, qui constitue un indicateur précieux de l’état de la biodiversité.

EA Chief Executive warns of a ‘silent spring’ for wildlife if warnings are ignored and urges action ahead of the UN Convention of Biological Diversity.

It sets out how significant changes will be needed to how land is used in England, with the need for significant landscape scale interventions and the use of nature-based solutions to help wildlife recover, and for humans to mitigate and adapt to the effects of climate change.

Au Royaume-Uni, des scientifiques ont confirmé l’effondrement des populations d’insectes volants en observant… les plaques d’immatriculation des automobilistes.
Les organismes de conservation de la nature Kent Wildlife Trust et The Invertebrate Conservation Trust (Buglife) ont publié, le 6 mai, les résultats d’une étude montrant que le nombre d’insectes volants avait diminué de près de 60 % dans le pays, entre 2004 et 2021.

Studying the at-sea movements and behaviour of juvenile seabirds is logistically challenging, but new technologies now allow tracking birds on their first migration, giving a more complete picture of population-level spatial ecology. We investigated the post-fledging migration of juvenile northern gannets Morus bassanus from the world's largest colony, at Bass Rock, Scotland. We first examined the movements and survival of 38 juveniles over their initial days at sea with GPS precision for up to 53 d post-fledging. We then compared their migration journeys with those of 35 adults tracked with geolocators.

Webinar – Using acoustic indices in environmental and biodiversity research, Dr. Tom Bradfer-Lawrence (RSPB, UK) Acoustic monitoring has an enormous potential for ecosystem research; improving our understanding of the environment and the impacts of anthropogenic pressures on natural systems.

When an expert volunteer is walking through a sunny meadow recording butterflies or searching by torchlight for newts, it can seem a long way from the negotiating halls of Convention on Biological Diversity meetings or from civil servants drafting new legislation.

But trends in species’ abundance, distribution or extinction risk, derived from monitoring and recording schemes, have wide influence in developing and monitoring environmental strategies, agreements and legislation.

Individual species status assessments underpin the lists of priority species within each of the four UK countries. For example, the Environment (Wales) Act 2016 gives Welsh ministers the responsibility ‘maintain and enhance’ species on the Section 7 list. However, many uses of species’ status information come from creating composite measures giving an overview of the status of a taxonomic group, habitat type or of species in general.

Si les images de mammifères marins et terrestres ayant péri après avoir confondu nourriture et plastique ont permis de mettre en perspective la gravité de la crise des déchets plastiques, cette nouvelle étude révèle que les oiseaux continentaux sont également concernés.

Une nouvelle étude pourrait inciter le gouvernement britannique à accepter la réintroduction des castors sauvages dans le pays.

Le passage de chalutiers à perche électriques bouleverse la biodiversité sous-marine, révèle une étude réalisée par le Cefas, l’équivalent britannique de l’Ifremer, que le JDLE s’est procurée.