RSPB wetland reserves near the River Dee and the Ribble are suffering from parched conditions and there are warnings that the wildlife they support could suffer unless substantial rain comes soon. As well as thousands of wading birds, ducks and geese, these sites are home to a wide range of amphibians, fish and insects.

Also in the North West the reservoir at the new RSPB/United Utilities site at Dove Stone near Manchester is just two thirds full and its now tinder-dry bog land offers little in the way of food for young wading birds and grouse. However a recently launched project by United Utilities, supported by the RSPB, offers hope for a future more resistant to drought. This ‘Sustainable Catchment Management Programme’ will see the water company, farmers and conservationists working together to restore wetlands and re-wet peat bogs, plant new woodlands and restrict grazing in sensitive areas. “Wildlife relies on water just as we do, from brown trout and dragonflies to wetland birds such as snipe and lapwing,” said RSPB water policy officer Phil Burston. “Droughts like this one can have a real impact. “But this exciting project should make our precious uplands more resistant to the impacts of drought through reversing centuries of destructive drainage. Keeping our fells wet will protect the quality of our drinking water, stop the huge loss of peat, and be a great boost to birds and other wildlife.”

The current drought should also put paid to the misleading myth that there are regions of the UK that have an abundance of water that could easily ‘bail out’ more water scarce areas. Mr Burston added: “Many people in the droughts of 2005/6 that hit the South East of England lobbied hard for a National Water Grid that at vast expense and huge damage to the environment would pipe water from the water rich north and west. “This drought should bury this ridiculous multi billion pound, energy hungry project for good and help us to concentrate our minds on tackling waste and taking better care of the water we have.”

Photo: Lapwing – Simon Booth Photography

Reportedly, before their population crash, Asia’s vulture population extended to tens of millions of birds, but now the combined population of all three species numbers is believed to be well below 60,000 individuals. And with the population of at least one species almost halving each year, the success of captive breeding may give some hope that these magnificent birds will be prevented from reaching oblivion.

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According to the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, three of the 25 British species of bumblebees are already extinct and half of the remainder have shown serious declines, often up to 70%, since around the 1970s. In addition, around 75% of all butterfly species in the UK have been shown to be in decline. The new £10m Insect Pollinators Initiative (IPI), the largest programme to date of its kind, will look at the multiple reasons thought to be behind this devastation in insect population.

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Myotis alcathoe, or Alcathoe’s bat, was identified by a research team led by Professor John Altringham at the University of Leeds and Professor Roger Butlin of the University of Sheffield during a Europe-wide study of bat population ecology and genetics.

Alcathoe’s bat – which is about the size of the end of a person’s thumb – was ‘discovered’ in Greece in 2001 and is a native of continental Europe. But until now, it was presumed that the English Channel acted as a barrier which had prevented it reaching the UK.

In Yorkshire the bats were found in a Forestry Commission woodland in Ryedale in the North York Moors National Park, a biologically rich site that was home to the north of England’s last known colonies of rare barbastelle and lesser horseshoe bats over 50 years ago.

The southern sites are in the South Downs of Sussex, a wooded area known for a number of rare woodland bat species. Alcathoe’s bat may well be present in many other parts of the country.

The researchers believe the bat is actually resident in the UK but has not been spotted before because its appearance is so similar to other bat species.

Professor Altringham said: “Over a third of the UK’s native land mammal species are bats, making them by far the biggest contributor to our mammalian diversity. This discovery takes the number of bat species established in the UK from 16 to 17.

“Most of the bats were captured as they entered underground ’swarming’ sites, where bats gather to mate before going into hibernation. A single swarming site, usually a cave or disused mine, can attract thousands of bats of ten or more species. This makes them good places to look for rare species.

“Its presence at sites 350 km apart suggests that Alcathoe’s bat is a well-established, resident species. Preliminary evidence suggests that it makes up a significant proportion of the small Myotis bats at both the Yorkshire and Sussex sites. Its close resemblance to two other UK species means it has gone unnoticed.”

Professor Butlin said: ” Our genetic analysis* (mitochondrial and nuclear DNA) places Alcathoe’s bat as a very close relative to the whiskered bat (M. mystacinus) a widespread but relatively uncommon UK species. These two species and a third, Brandt’s bat (M. brandtii), are so similar in appearance that identification based on appearance alone can be difficult even for the unwary expert.”

Prof Altringham added: “However, Alcathoe’s distinctive echolocation call, which terminates at a significantly higher frequency than those of its relatives (43-46 kHz), alongside some subtle physical differences makes identification possible without genetic analysis.

“Although similar in appearance these three bats may prove to be ecologically quite different. The separation of the common pipistrelle into two species in the 1990s led to the discovery that despite their physical similarity they have significantly different roosting habits, feeding habitat and food.”

Brian Walker, Forestry Commission Wildlife Officer for the North York Moors, said: “We have some incredibly rich bat habitats in North Yorkshire and it was only a few years ago that work locally helped to confirm that the common pipistrelle was actually made up of two different species. The discovery of Alcathoe’s bat is another first to add to the record books.”

Notes:
The UK now has 17 species of bat, all small (3.5-30 g) and insectivorous and all protected by law due to their declining numbers. Worldwide there are almost 1200 species – with a diversity unparalleled by any other group of mammals.

*Genetic analysis is carried out on a tiny piece of wing membrane. The tissue grows quickly, resealing the small hole, so the bats come to no harm and many have been recaptured several times over the years. The first individual to be confirmed as Alcathoe’s bat was sampled back in 2003 and caught again, fit and healthy, in September 2009. The genetic work was conducted with the help of the NERC Biomolecular Analysis Facility in Sheffield.

The Faculty of Biological Sciences at the University of Leeds is one of the largest in the UK, with over 150 academic staff and over 400 postdoctoral fellows and postgraduate students. The Faculty is ranked 4th in the UK (Nature Journal, 457 (2009) doi :10.1038/457013a) based on results of the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise (RAE). The RAE feedback noted that “virtually all outputs were assessed as being recognized internationally, with many (60%) being internationally excellent or world-leading” in quality. The Faculty’s research grant portfolio totals some £60M and funders include charities, research councils, the European Union and industry.

The 2008 Research Assessment Exercise showed the University of Leeds to be the UK’s eighth biggest research powerhouse. The University is one of the largest higher education institutions in the UK and a member of the Russell Group of research-intensive universities. The University’s vision is to secure a place among the world’s top 50 by 2015.

The University of Sheffield’s Department of Animal and Plant Sciences is one of the largest departments in the UK devoted to the study of whole organism biology. We form one of three parts of the School of Biological Sciences, together with the Department of Molecular Biology & Biotechnology, and the Department of Biomedical Sciences, with a combined teaching staff of over 100. Our teaching, informed by our research, covers cells and genes, the behaviour of individuals, and the functioning of populations, communities and ecosystems. In the latest Research Assessment Exercise (RAE 2008), Biological Sciences at Sheffield was ranked joint 3rd in the UK based on average quality score and 3rd in the UK based on the proportion of ‘world-leading’ (4*) and ‘internationally excellent’ (3*) research activity.

Full story – The Guardian

Wildlife and livestock has also suffered with voluntary organisations in Gujarat reporting the deaths of bats and crows and dozens of peacocks reported dead at a forest reserve in Uttar Pradesh. “Because of the heat, lakes and other water bodies have been reduced to parched land, making dehydration common in such birds,” said Neeraj Srivastava, a wildlife campaigner. guardian.co.uk

British Waterways are asking people to take part in an annual wildlife survey, which aims to find out if they need help to survive the years ahead.

National ecology manager Dr Mark Robinson said: “The harsh winter of 1962/1963 killed off up to 90 per cent of the nation’s kingfishers. Frozen water and plummeting temperatures may have significantly reduced kingfisher populations, with the possibility that many lost the battle against the cold.

“Now that the weather has warmed up, kingfishers are starting to nest and so now is a great time to see them.”

British Waterways is raising money to improve habitat for birds found on the waterways, including providing nesting tunnels for kingfishers and preserving their perches. To report findings, visit www.waterscape.com

Photo: Kingfisher – Simon Booth Photography

The students, from Falmouth Marine School, returned to the site where a fin whale was beached last month to be filmed for the National Geographic Channel and Channel 5. Series director David Howard went to Porthtowan when he heard about the whale from the local coastguard.

While there, he met Dr Claire Eatock, marine science tutor at the college, who told him about her students’ work, and he decided to feature them in the first episode of Sea Patrol UK.

Students on the marine science foundation degree and marine biology and ecology national diploma went to see the whale when it first beached and earlier this month they returned to meet David and re-enact the activities they carried out when studying the whale and collecting sample bones.

After an interview with Claire, the crew filmed the students as they worked with the bones while also finding more evidence of the creature among the rocks.

One such discovery was a disc from the whale’s back found by Jake Tregunna, which matched a bit of bone they had already found.

“It was really sad to see the whale when it was dead, but it was also quite cool to be so close to it and really see its size,” said Jake.

After filming, the students brought the bones back to college where they will be buried for six months to rid them of the flesh- eating bacteria they carry.

They will then be returned to the marine science lab for future students to study.

Katie Sambrook, on the first year of a marine science foundation degree, said: “It was an incredible opportunity to occur as part of the course.

“It is not possible to ever study these huge mammals up close.

“It was also great to see that so many local people were interested in the work we were doing and the whale itself.”

The episode of Sea Patrol UK is scheduled to be screened on the National Geographic Channel in June and on Channel 5 in October.

Falmouth Marine School

Marketed by Hern and Crabtree Estate Agents, each of the high-specification homes has been built with a focus on sustainability at the core of the build strategy.

In 2006, the UK government introduced its Code for Sustainable Homes – citing that new homes must be scored against nine separate categories – ranging from water saving to energy reduction and ecology.

The Assembly Government has mandated that, from September this year, private housebuilders in Wales will need to achieve at least Code Level 3 – St Michael’s Mews has already achieved this and was the first in Wales to do so.

Great emphasis has been placed on energy efficiency, using some of the latest heating technology, triple glazed windows and doors, low energy lighting and the introduction of rainwater harvesting systems.

The houses at St Michael’s Mews are actually insulated to a level that requires 25% less heating than other new homes built to current building regulations.

Heating is provided by air source heat pumps – which are rapidly replacing condensing boilers as the heat source of choice in sustainable developments.

This alternative is not only more efficient than even the latest gas

boiler but, as it isn’t reliant upon fossil fuels, can help to reduce a home’s carbon footprint by up to 50%.

Rainwater harvesting – recycling of rainwater to feed toilet cisterns, for example – and water saving taps also have a positive environmental impact and will help to reduce water bills for the homes’ new owners.

All appliances – which include fridge/freezer and integrated dishwasher – are “A” rated.

Speaking about St Michael’s Mews, Huw Jones, director of Ixion said: “St Michael’s Mews is a unique city development and we are extremely pleased to have become the first private developer in Wales to achieve Code Level 3. “Our homes have the lowest running costs of any developer on the market and to find such a development so close to the heart of the city centre really is a unique selling point.”

Eco-living advocate Amy Dartington of Machynlleth’s Centre For Alternative Technology points to the insulation as the most important aspect of the houses’ green credentials.

“If you have good insulation then you’re going to be making a saving on energy and money,” she says. “You’re helping the environment and your wallet. You’ll get your investment back very quickly.

“In an ideal world people would be using natural materials but if the petrochemical route is the only one you can take then go for it. It’s better to have the insulation.”

But she points out that there are always further steps to take.

“Solar water heating is another good way to go,” she says.

“It’s relatively inexpensive and is a very efficient way to heat water.”

Managing director of Hern and Crabtree, Nigel John added: “It’s always great for us to be asked to market a property or development that boasts such distinctive features and the commitment to sustainability at St Michael’s Mews really sets it apart.

“It’s a factor that’s playing an increasing role in peoples’ decisions about purchasing a property and we’ve already seen a lot of interest from potential purchasers.”