How we conduct our lives on land affects the sea and vice versa

May 18th, 2012 by Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment

Douglas McCauley and Paul DeSalles did not set out to discover one of the longest ecological interaction chains ever documented.

But that’s exactly what they and a team of researchers – all current or former Stanford students and faculty – did in a study published in a paper “From wing to wing: the persistence of long ecological interaction in less disturbed ecosystems” in Scientific Reports.

Their findings shed light on how human disturbance of the natural world may lead to widespread, yet largely invisible, disruptions of ecological interaction chains.

This, in turn, highlights the need to build non-traditional alliances – among marine biologists and foresters, for example – to address whole ecosystems across political boundaries.

The autumn of 2011, McCauley, a graduate student, and DeSalles, an undergraduate, were in remote Palmyra Atoll in the Pacific tracking manta rays’ movements for a predator-prey interaction study. Continue reading

Enter 2012 Guernsey Conservation Awards by 25 May deadline

May 17th, 2012 by Insurance Corporation Conservation Awards

2012 Insurance Corporation Conservation Awards judges (click image to expand - image courtesy of Insurance Corporation)

“Go online, enter this year’s Conservation Awards competition and win funding for your environmental project.”

That is the message from organisers of the new-look Insurance Corporation Conservation Awards.

“In the past we have rewarded successful conservation projects but for 2012 we are changing the emphasis to help fund ideas and potential initiatives,” said competition founder and chairman of Insurance Corporation, Peter Walpole. Continue reading

The Channel Islands Co-operative Society launches plan to help bees

May 15th, 2012 by The Channel Islands Co-operative Society Limited

The Channel Islands Co-operative Society has launched Plan Bee, which is an initiative to support and grow the Channel Islands’ bee population.

Primary schools across Guernsey and Jersey have received information leaflets and packets of wildflower seeds which, when planted, will help to feed the bee populations of both islands.

Besides producing honey and beeswax, bees pollinate about one third of the food crops that humans rely on globally. Without bees many foods wouldn’t be produced.

A bee visits an apple tree blossom on 27 April 2012 (click image to expand - ©RLLord)

Pollination is vital for many plants, including many fruits and Continue reading

Dutch bicyclists plant bee-friendly flowers along 1000 kilometre trail

May 15th, 2012 by Eosta B.V.

Nature & More have launched an international “Bees Love Organic” campaign.

As part of this campaign, more than a thousand Dutch cyclists are currently transforming a 1000 kilometre long bicycle trail into a “bee trail”, by sowing organic flower seeds.

Dutch bicyclists are planting flower seeds to benefit bees (click image to expand - image courtesy of Eosta B.V.)

Twenty-three German organic wholesalers and retailers are distributing 280,000 bags of flower seeds with their organic products, and The Youth Initiative Program in Sweden has created a flowering meadow as well as a short video featuring buzzing students. Continue reading

Ten island schools compete in Little Green Fingers Schools’ project

May 15th, 2012 by Bedell Group

Bedell Group volunteers enhance planting beds at The Link Centre (click image to expand - ©Chris George)

Ten of the island’s schools are taking part in this year’s Little Green Fingers Schools’ Project Competition – sponsored by Bedell in association with Floral Guernsey.

The competition, launched by BBC Gardeners’ World presenter Alys Fowler, aims to help Bailiwick children to understand environmental issues and experience gardening at school.

The schools gardening competition runs for a year and winners will be announced in July 2012.

‘The competition provides an opportunity for the children and staff at all participating schools to focus on the progress of their garden and record it as they go,’ said Ann Wragg, Floral Guernsey Schools’ Coordinator. Continue reading

Free Guernsey Tree Warden training on 16 and 19 May 2012

May 14th, 2012 by Events

Andrew McCutcheon measuring the height of a tree during a Guernsey Tree Warden course (click image to expand - ©RLLord)

Andrew McCutcheon, Guernsey Tree Warden Scheme coordinator, offers instruction on Tree Warden skills at Les Cotils, St Peter Port on Wednesday 16 May 2012 from 12.15 pm to 1.30 pm and again on Saturday 19 May 2012 from 1o am to 11.15 am.

During the training session new tree wardens will learn how to measure trees for height and girth to determine their age, how Continue reading

World Migratory Bird Day celebrated on 12 and 13 May 2012

May 13th, 2012 by United Nations Environment Programme

Migratory birds undertake some of the most daring journeys in the animal kingdom, often covering thousands of kilometers to migrate. And the growing fan base of these winged adventurers is now presenting economic opportunities through sustainable tourism.

On 12-13 May 2012, the economic benefits of supporting the world’s migratory bird species will be one of the key themes of celebrations to mark World Migratory Bird Day 2012 (WMBD).

Under the slogan Migratory birds and people – together through time, WMBD will emphasize the important cultural and environmental role played by birds.

Many regions are now recognizing the economic potential of bird-related tourism in response to an increasing interest from the wider public. Continue reading

Plastic in sea alters marine ecology

May 9th, 2012 by Scripps Institution of Oceanography

A 100-fold upsurge in human-produced plastic garbage in the ocean is altering habitats in the marine environment, according to a new study led by Ph.D. graduate student researcher Miriam Goldstein at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego.

SEAPLEX chief scientist Miriam Goldstein in New Horizon's science laboratory on 5 August 2009 (click image to expand - ©Scripps Institution of Oceanography).

In 2009 an ambitious group of graduate students led the Scripps Environmental Accumulation of Plastic Expedition (SEAPLEX) to the North Pacific Ocean Subtropical Gyre Continue reading

Fish responding to climate change

May 8th, 2012 by Marine Climate Change Impacts Partnership

(click on report cover to go to MCCIP website)

The Marine Climate Change Impacts Partnership (MCCIP) launched its latest Report Card at the World Fisheries Congress in Edinburgh.

It focuses on how climate change is affecting the fish and shellfish we find in our seas, providing both opportunities and threats, and what the social and economic consequences could be.

Key findings in the 2012 MCCIP Report Card include: Continue reading

Royal Society report frames global challenge facing humanity

May 2nd, 2012 by The Royal Society

(Please click report cover to go to download page)

Consumption levels between developed and developing nations must be rebalanced alongside a stabilisation of the world’s population by voluntary methods, according to a new report from The Royal Society.

The most developed and the emerging economies must stabilise consumption levels, then reduce them, to help the poorest 1.3 billion people to escape absolute poverty through increased consumption.

Alongside this, education and voluntary family planning programmes must be supported internationally to stabilise global population.

The new report, People and the Planet, is the result of a 21 month study by the Royal Society, the UK’s 350 year-old national academy of science, on the issues around global population. Continue reading