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Science & Environment 19

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Battle for British wildlifeIn light of the ash dieback outbreak, The Student presents the threats and triumphs British wilderness is facing today

From ash to ashesSINCE FEBRUARY this year, when ash dieback was first detected in an infected Dutch import of ash trees in Buckinghamshire, England, the fungal disease has been detected in numerous locations across the United Kingdom that have received stocks of young ash plants from nurseries within the past five years. The disease causes leaf loss, crown dieback and eventually tree mortality. This causes great concern for conservationists as 29 invertebrate species rely almost entirely on ash for survival, as well as lichen, birds, bats and fungi species that use ash tree resources.

NinaSeale

Trouble in the waterSCOTLAND'S COASTS and offshore areas will be subject to vast changes in the next few years. The planned expansion of renewable en-ergy is causing an increase in development of wind farms and wave en-ergy projects. Also, due to the rising demand for salmon, more aqua-farms are being installed in Scottish waters. Now the planned Scottish Marine Plan, which is supposed to map and protect Scotland’s marine areas and ensure the adherence of fisheries and developments to en-vironmental standards, has been shelved for at least two more years. Within these two years industrial interests and developments could have an uncontrolled and possibly damaging effect on marine wild-life. FelixWiesner

Four whole kits and caboodlesFOUR BABY beavers (kits) have been born in Argyll this autumn. They are the first since over 400 years ago, when beavers were hunted for their fur until extinction. Hoping to restore and diversify wildlife, three families were brought to Scotland in 2009. The Norwegian im-migrants are expected to bring progress through technology: by build-ing dams and complex lodges – beavers create pools and wetlands which benefit many other species. Clearly they are settling in well. In about two years, the new generation will leave their parents and start their own busy lives in the hours of the night. LydiaHeinrich

Badger off without the cullAFTER A lengthy debate between scientists and stubborn farmers, it seems the UK government and certain farming groups have run out of time to complete the badger cull this year, in light of new official esti-mates that the badger populations in Gloucestshire and Somerset are almost four times the numbers previously thought. The cull has been postponed for consideration in 2013, as 60-70 badgers would have to be killed every night for the 70 per cent reduction to take place in the planned six week cull. Conservation organisations are urging the gov-ernment to use this time to plan an alternative strategy: a bovine TB vaccination. NinaSeale

Fewer birds in the handTHE NUMBER of breeding seabirds has fallen by 53 per cent be-tween 1986 and 2011, according to recent reports from the Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH). Possible causes of this decrease include food shortages, weather conditions and predation by foreign invading spe-cies. Population monitoring allows adequate conservation of those species. Non-native species control and reduced fishing in some areas account for recent improvements in seabirds breeding. Volunteers and workers of the SNH are working with other conservation partners to save the wildlife of the Scottish coastline. AdaKozlowska

Rise of the ArachnidsONE OF Britain’s most endangered species of spider, the great fen spider, is being given a new start by the collaboration of zoos across the country. The project involves collecting eggs from the remaining wild population, hand raising the spiderlings, and releasing them back into the wild. The labour intensive process of caring for the spiders is estimated to boost chances of individual survival by 90 per cent. The project, which started in an ecologist’s kitchen and three years later involves ten zoos, has already borne fruit as this year there were reports of the reintroduced spiders successfully breeding. EleanorDrinkwater

Domestic villainsPREDATORY BEHAVIOUR by the common housecat has been implicated in the long-term population decline of the house sparrow. Domestic cats, which kill an estimated 55 million British birds annu-ally, are not natural members of the food chain in the UK, and their increasing popularity as pets threatens not only House Sparrows but also other ground-feeding birds like the Robin and Dunnock. Cat owners are advised to help prevent their pets killing birds by fitting bells to their collars. The RSPB further endorses the use by concerned garden-owners of a high-pitched noise generator that repels cats and deters them from hunting within a certain perimeter. ThurstonSmalley

Butterflying across continentsPainted lady butterflies are a summer fixture in Britain, migrat-ing here from the Mediterranean and north africa for their breeding season. But by winter, all the butterflies have disappeared, and exact-ly what happens to them has long been an unsolved mystery. Many people assumed they simply died in harsh northern winters, but a new project based on radar tracking and crowdsourcing data has revealed that they actually migrate south again in the autumn at unobservable altitudes – sometimes over one thousand metres. Scientists analysed data from over 60 thousand reported sightings by citizen scientists to fully understand the scope of this nine thousand mile migration which is even longer than that made by the more famous north american monarch butterfly. MaddalenaVierbuchen