Saving Nature With Science

Scientific research in the Gola Rainforest of Sierra Leone and Liberia takes many fascinating forms. To celebrate World Rainforest Day, we will be exploring some of the innovative research methods that the RSPB are trialling, together with our partners, to better understand this remarkable part of West Africa. Nick Williams, Flyway Conservation Outreach Officer, picks up the story.

A hornbill calls sorrowfully as it cruises…

A new paper published in the journal Royal Society Open Science today https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.240498 explores the role of scientists in society at a time of great environmental change. It asks simply whether it is sufficient for scientists to be ‘honest brokers’ in decisions that affect society, as it has traditionally done, or whether something must change.

Here the lead author, Prof. Richard Gregory…

In today’s blog, RSPB volunteer Ali Barratt describes the results from a ground-breaking citizen science project published today in which used photographs to study Puffin diet around the UK.

full paper can be found here

Atlantic puffins are endangered in Europe, and numbers have been declining for decades1. Changes in prey availability through climate change, unsustainable fishing and other human activities has…

Simon Wotton dissects this years survey results.  

The 29th annual report of the BTO/JNCC/RSPB Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) and Waterways Breeding Bird Survey (WBBS) has just been published, documenting the 30th year of fieldwork.

The report documents the population trends of widespread UK breeding bird species during the periods 1994–2023 and 1998–2023 respectively. These are the main schemes for monitoring the population…

Simon Wotton digests the most recent BTO publication. 

The 41st Wetland Bird Survey (WeBS) report, for 2022/2023, has just been published, which also includes results for the Goose and Swan Monitoring Programme (GSMP). WeBS aims to assess the size of non-breeding waterbird populations, determine trends in numbers and distribution, and assess the importance of individual sites for waterbirds. The GSMP monitors the abundance…

A new study mapping moorland burning has been published by RSPB in the peer-reviewed journal Remote Sensing in Ecology and Conservation. https://zslpublications.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/rse2.389

RSPB Conservation Scientist Mike Shewring describes the main findings.  

Moorland burning in the UK, conducted for Red Grouse shooting, deer and livestock grazing, has come under increasing scrutiny due to evidence of…

As we enter the new breeding season, Simon Wooton reflects on the results from a record year in 2023.  The story of the Bittern continues to be one of UK conservation success, with 2023 continuing the trend of a steadily increasing population. ...

This week sees the publication of a new RSPB Research Report that provides updated colony counts for seabirds across the UK, following the 2021–22 Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) outbreak. In today’s blog, Linda Wilson, Senior Conservation Scientist, explains the key findings and what this tells us about the effects of HPAI so far on the UK’s seabirds.

Back in May 2023, a major programme of…

An adult Greenfinch displaying typical symptoms of trichomonosis.

Photo attribution: Chris / The last of the Greenfinches: Yarburgh 2010 /CC BY-SA 2.0

What is trichomonosis? 

Garden bird trichomonosis is a disease caused by the protozoan parasite Trichomonas gallinae, which causes lesions in the gullet, preventing swallowing of food and water. Therefore, affected birds often become emaciated and may die of starvation.…

New figures show Cranes continue to recover after going extinct in the UK 400 years ago. In today’s blog Andrew Stanbury, RSPB Conservation Scientist, takes us through their comeback and how conservation action has played a vital role.

Credit:  Nick Upton (rspb-images.com) 

All too often in nature conservation, stories are full of doom and gloom; highlighting species in steep decline. However, today is World Wetland…

Last autumn we announced the provisional results of the sixth national Capercaillie survey. This week saw the publication of the scientific paper for the survey in the journal Bird Study. Here, Nick Wilkinson, Conservation Scientist, explains more about the survey findings. 

Capercaillie - Ben Andrew (rspb-images.com)

The latest national survey showed that the Capercaillie population in Scotland had fallen to an estimated…

Blog by Dr Natasha Constant, Senior Conservation Scientist, and Joelene Hughes, Principal Conservation Scientist

In landscape-scale conservation projects, collaboration is key for success. Collaboration is often necessary between multiple people from different backgrounds that may have a variety of values and ambitions for the landscape. Understanding what individual behaviours help collaborations to work, and the broader…

Ten years ago the Egyptian Vulture population in eastern Europe was in freefall, because too many birds were killed by human activities wherever they went along their migratory journeys. By expanding conservation efforts across three continents, conservationists have now shown that even such globetrotting species can be rescued. Steffen Oppel explains in a new paper published recently.

Egyptian vulture in flight (c)…

The RSPB supports and supervises a wide range of MSc projects each year. If you are interested in any of the projects below and you are already enrolled on an MSc course at a university, send an e-mail with “MSc project” as the subject to the project coordinator listed in the advert. 

Woodland expansion in the presence of deer

At RSPB Abernethy in the Scottish Highlands, native woodland expansion is a core…

A scientific paper, just published in the journal Bird Study, shows that rates of declines in breeding Whinchat in the UK since the mid-1990s have varied with habitat and other environmental conditions. Conservation Scientist Andrew Stanbury explains.

Over the last century, Whinchat have been lost as a breeding species from most of the UK lowlands due to changes in grassland management as a result of agricultural intensification…

This week saw the publication of a new book entitled Seabirds Count – A census of breeding seabirds in Britain and Ireland (2015-2021). The book, co-produced by JNCC, RSPB, BirdWatch Ireland, the National Parks and Wildlife Service (Ireland), and published by Lynx Edicions, documents results from the fourth census of Britain and Ireland’s internationally important breeding seabirds. Today’s blog, by Dr Allan…

The official results for the UK and England Wild Bird Indicators have been released by Government today. Here, Fiona Burns, Principal Conservation Scientist, gives a breakdown on the results and what this means for conservation.

The new Wild Bird Indicators for the UK were published by Defra yesterday, and can be found online here. Similar metrics have also been released for England, and can be found here. Today’s update…

Guest blog by Jess Allan (MSc Conservation graduate, UCL and Science & Research Project Manager, The Tree Council)

Peatlands are critically important wetland ecosystems, storing more carbon than any other land-based habitat, helping to store and slowly release water, and providing vital habitat for birds and other animals. Peatlands also harbour weird and wonderful plant species such as Sphagnum mosses, and carnivorous…

Bycatch is a serious conservation issue for many vulnerable seabird species and solutions are often lacking. A new paper published today explains a new mitigation technique which could help. Birdlife’s Bycatch Programme Manager Yann Rouxel and RSPB Conservation Scientist Steffen Oppel explain.

Many seabirds eat fish or molluscs, and they are very good at diving after and catching them in the sea. However, when they…

Guest blog by Danni Sherwood, Research Associate, Arachnology Research Association, and Liza Fowler, Cloud Forest Invertebrate Specialist, Saint Helena National Trust, both IUCN SSC Mid-Atlantic Islands Invertebrate Specialist Group members. 

Saint Helena, a UK Overseas Territory deep in the South Atlantic Ocean, is the most important site for wildlife on British soil. Its remote location (it lies 2,000km off the coast…

A new paper published today and led by RSPB scientists explores some of the likely consequences of changing UK land use to meet greenhouse gas emission reduction targets. By modelling nine future scenarios of future land use, the study shows that a net zero UK land sector is possible, but requires a strategic and carefully-planned approach. Lead author Tom Finch, Senior Conservation Scientist explains.

Land has the potential…

Last summer we announced the provisional results of the national Turtle Dove survey. Last week saw the publication of the scientific paper for the survey. This shows that the national Turtle Dove population stood at 2,092 territories in 2021, down from an estimated 125,000 in 1970.

Whilst the results are sobering, work is underway to help this summer resident. The temporary cessation of hunting along their European western…

Activities and events are often run on nature reserves to engage people with nature and hopefully encourage pro-conservation behaviours in their lives. Victoria Carr CPsychol., Conservation Scientist and Dr Joelene Hughes, Principal Conservation Scientist explain their latest research, recently published in Biological Conservation, which looks at what makes these activities more successful.

Getting people engaged in nature…

Alison Beresford reports back from a sabbatical trip working with Natasha Constant, to support work in partnership with the Turks and Caicos National Trust to conduct social science research on the value of East Caicos to island communities.

This was probably the question I was asked most often in the run up to my sabbatical and I must admit that not long ago, I would have struggled to put it on a map too.

Turks and…

In today’s blog Dr Connie Tremlett, Conservation Scientist, updates on the progress of seabird surveys coordinated by the RSPB in 2023 to help us understand the impacts of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI).

We are now coming to the end of a very busy field season of counting seabirds to better understand the impacts of the avian flu outbreak which began in north and west Scotland at the end of the 2021 breeding…