University of Exeter has launched a survey to better understand public attitudes to the possible reintroduction of wildcats in the South West. Open to SW residents until 9am 23/05, takes approx. 15 mins to complete 👉 buff.ly/3Qm8kdp

Illustration: Liz Scott Art #ConnectToNature

Happy #DNA Day ! 🧬 This is one of my favourite pieces I made for Scientific American about genome sizes across select species. Was really fun to make this!

#science #DNA #genome #infographic #sciart #genomics #genetics #genes

This may be one of the biggest papers I ever have the privilege to be part of.

Out now in Science Magazine, we ask: Are nature conservation interventions working?

The answer is YES. We now need to fund MORE to reverse global biodiversity declines.

science.org/doi/10.1126/sc…

🧵

Does conservation work? Our paper by Re:wild shows that it does: a global analysis of 665 trials (incl. several by RSPB Science) found that conservation improved the state of biodiversity or slowed declines in two-thirds of cases BirdLife Science science.org/doi/10.1126/sc…

Extraordinary work by the Green Finance Institute today shows that damage to nature is slowing the UK economy and could lead to a 12% reduction in GDP - that's £150-£300bn - as early as the 2030s.

All political parties serious about the economy must invest and regulate to #RestoreNatureNow .

🚨This is really big news. New research from Green Finance Institute lays bare the economic impact of nature loss in the UK. With up to 12% of GDP on the line by 2030s, the stakes couldn't be higher. We need to take action now to protect our economy and our environment
greenfinanceinstitute.com/news-and-insig…

A sad story about how one man - who has been monitoring a population of marsh tits for 22 generations - is watching them go extinct Richard Broughton 🇺🇦

Like all our soundscape pieces this week, it points to a much bigger story happening all over our planet theguardian.com/environment/20…

World faces ‘deathly silence’ of nature as wildlife disappears, warn experts - honoured to contribute to this important article exploring how soundscapes are telling the story of biodiversity loss. Is now on us to build back nature's amazing orchestra.
theguardian.com/environment/20…

We can have research, data, modelling, interactive maps, discussion, plans, meetings, advice, outreach, field trips, policy documents, papers, reports, and all sorts of good feelings

But without real action on the ground, the ecological emergency will continue unbated

Enjoyed starting a YouTube channel describing concepts in conservation. Have ideas for future videos but welcome suggestions of something interesting that illustrates a general issue. Also welcome ideas for getting this known by those who would benefit.
youtube.com/@Bill_Sutherla…

📌 Final version of my review paper on the definition of #SexualSelection is out in Behavioral Ecology.
 
I discuss potential limitations of a recently advocated definition and propose an alternative one.
 
1/4
 
academic.oup.com/beheco/article…

New article: Urban #trawlingbats depend on green and blue space in a subtropical city: implications for #urbanplanning and #climatechangeresilience

Available from Urban Ecology of ESA at: link.springer.com/article/10.100…

#bats #urbanecology #telemetry

🐷New paper in Nature Food🐷

THE BAD NEWS: overall, we found trade-offs. Farms with lower GHGs had lower land use, but higher antimicrobial use and poorer welfare.

THE GOOD NEWS: trade-offs weren't inevitable. Several farms performed well in all four ways. 1/5

I'm giving a talk this year Pint of Science UK in Bath!
All about #parentalcare in #shorebirds !
15th May in Cider House!
#pint24 #elvonalshorebird

What’s the buzz with insect bioacoustics? 🐝

This systematic review of automated bioacoustics models shows how novel machine learning algorithms can be used to monitor critically important insects of ecological and societal concern around the world 📊

🔗 doi.org/10.1111/1365-2…

A very important message: honeybees don't need help, but our wild bee species do! Honeybees can very quickly outcompete the wild species.

theguardian.com/commentisfree/…

The landscape of fear in cattle farms? How the presence of barn swallow influences the activity of pest flies 🪰 🐄

Findings suggest that barn swallows are effective biological control agents for lowering pest fly activity in livestock farms 🐦

🔗 doi.org/10.1111/1365-2…

Such a great paper. We can't recruit a diverse work force in ecology unless we pay people more: academic.oup.com/bioscience/art…

The Guardian today launches the (British) Invertebrate of the Year competition. A lovely way to highlight the importance and wonder of the vast majority of life on Earth. Everyone can vote and nominate their own too Buglife
theguardian.com/environment/20…

“Overall, forest, grassland and wetland restoration decrease the global warming potentials by 327.7%, 157.7% and 62.0% compared with their paired control ecosystems”

Meta-analysis shows the impacts of ecological restoration on greenhouse gas emissions

nature.com/articles/s4146…