The new website also incorporates the CEH blog, so for future posts you will need to visit http://www.ceh.ac.uk/news-and-media/blogs
Paulette Burns, Media Coordinator
Showing posts with label CEH. Show all posts
Showing posts with label CEH. Show all posts
Tuesday, 28 July 2015
Our new website and blog
After several months of planning and development, we were pleased to unveil the new-look Centre for Ecology & Hydrology website earlier this month (July 2015). The new site provides easy access to information about our scientific projects, data, citizen science activities and news.
The new website also incorporates the CEH blog, so for future posts you will need to visit http://www.ceh.ac.uk/news-and-media/blogs
Paulette Burns, Media Coordinator
The new website also incorporates the CEH blog, so for future posts you will need to visit http://www.ceh.ac.uk/news-and-media/blogs
Paulette Burns, Media Coordinator
Monday, 18 May 2015
Fascination of Plants Day 2015
CEH scientists were among those taking part in an event at Harcourt Arboretum in Oxfordshire this weekend staged as part of the worldwide Fascination of Plants Day 2015. Insect interactions with different plants and wildflowers were high on the agenda as our experts led guided walks, answered questions and revealed the contents of a moth trap set up for the event.
Moth and butterfly ecologist Dr Marc Botham began proceedings when he opened the moth trap to fascinated onlookers.
Although Marc himself was a little disappointed with the number and variety of species caught during a cooler than average May night, there were still plenty to keep the crowd interested, with poplar hawk moths particularly numerous.
Many of the people got to hold some of the still docile moths for the first time and see up close the amazing colours and markings.
Next up was the first of the day's ladybirds walks, led by entomologist Dr Helen Roy, who taught some of the younger participants the art of using a sweep net and showed them how to input their discoveries into the Ladybird Survey app.
A number of pine ladybirds were found on both pine and hawthorn trees in the woodland. On a day when ladybirds were actually quite scarce, 14-spot and 7-spot ladybirds were also spotted by some of the more eagle-eyed participants.
Dr Oli Pescott, a botanist at CEH, led plant and wildflower walks during the day. As well as pointing out much of what was in bloom around the arboretum, Oli revealed fascinating facts, identification tips, similarities between species and the importance of different plants for insect interactions.
This is the third international Fascination of Plants Day. Events are being held worldwide with the aim of getting people enthused by plants and their importance for the environment, food production, agriculture, as well as the sustainable production of goods such as timber, chemicals, pharmaceuticals etc.
As well as CEH, other organisations taking part at the Harcourt Arboretum event included the University of Oxford, the Wildlife Trusts, the Thames Valley Environmental Records Centre, and the RSPB.
Paulette Burns
Marc, Oli and Helen all work closely with the Biological Records Centre within CEH.
Fascination of Plants Day 2015 official website
Moth and butterfly ecologist Dr Marc Botham began proceedings when he opened the moth trap to fascinated onlookers.
— Helen Roy (@UKLadybirds) May 16, 2015
 |
| Dr Marc Botham (kneeling) opened a moth trap at the event |
Although Marc himself was a little disappointed with the number and variety of species caught during a cooler than average May night, there were still plenty to keep the crowd interested, with poplar hawk moths particularly numerous.
Many of the people got to hold some of the still docile moths for the first time and see up close the amazing colours and markings.
Next up was the first of the day's ladybirds walks, led by entomologist Dr Helen Roy, who taught some of the younger participants the art of using a sweep net and showed them how to input their discoveries into the Ladybird Survey app.
A number of pine ladybirds were found on both pine and hawthorn trees in the woodland. On a day when ladybirds were actually quite scarce, 14-spot and 7-spot ladybirds were also spotted by some of the more eagle-eyed participants.
Dr Oli Pescott, a botanist at CEH, led plant and wildflower walks during the day. As well as pointing out much of what was in bloom around the arboretum, Oli revealed fascinating facts, identification tips, similarities between species and the importance of different plants for insect interactions.
 |
| The cuckooflower or Lady's smock (Cardamine pratensis), a primary larval food plant of the Orange tip butterfly |
 |
| Comparing characteristics of thyme-leaved speedwell (left) and germander speedwell. |
 |
| Dog's mercury (Mercurialis perennis) - don't eat it! A woodland plant which is highly poisonous. |
This is the third international Fascination of Plants Day. Events are being held worldwide with the aim of getting people enthused by plants and their importance for the environment, food production, agriculture, as well as the sustainable production of goods such as timber, chemicals, pharmaceuticals etc.
@CEHScienceNews enjoying a day of natural history with visitors at Harcourt Arboretum pic.twitter.com/LXNuj5I3Gr— Helen Roy (@UKLadybirds) May 16, 2015
As well as CEH, other organisations taking part at the Harcourt Arboretum event included the University of Oxford, the Wildlife Trusts, the Thames Valley Environmental Records Centre, and the RSPB.
Paulette Burns
Further information
Marc, Oli and Helen all work closely with the Biological Records Centre within CEH.
Fascination of Plants Day 2015 official website
Wednesday, 18 February 2015
New dataset released: Integrated Hydrological Units of the United Kingdom
Our colleagues in the National River Flow Archive (NRFA) have released a new, freely available dataset of spatial reference units for hydrological purposes, called "Integrated Hydrological Units of the United Kingdom". Filip Kral explains more:
"This dataset will aid hydrological analysis and water management in the UK by providing a consistent, nationwide framework for segregating river catchments into component parts. It also serves as a reference list of major river names and, by indicating which units are connected, it can be used to trace the flow of rivers across the country.
Researchers and organisations working to improve catchment management have already expressed interest in the dataset which we believe will become popular in the water industry and wider hydrological science community, thanks also to its open data license.
Integrated Hydrological Units (IHU) of the United Kingdom (UK) consists of four polygon layers: Hydrometric Areas, Groups, Sections, and Catchments. Each layer represents a different level of spatial detail.
Historically, Hydrometric Areas were the primary reference units used by the NRFA to manage hydrometric data in the UK. IHU is a new release of the Hydrometric Area definition supplemented with finer scale units, all derived using the CEH Integrated Hydrological Terrain Model. Plans are being developed to utilise the IHU to help users explore other datasets produced by the NRFA and CEH’s Environmental Information Data Centre."
The dataset is available on the EIDC Hub.
Filip Kral
National River Flow Archive
EIDC Hub
"This dataset will aid hydrological analysis and water management in the UK by providing a consistent, nationwide framework for segregating river catchments into component parts. It also serves as a reference list of major river names and, by indicating which units are connected, it can be used to trace the flow of rivers across the country.
 |
| The Integrated Hydrological Units (IHU) of the United Kingdom (UK) define spatial geographical reference units for hydrological purposes |
Researchers and organisations working to improve catchment management have already expressed interest in the dataset which we believe will become popular in the water industry and wider hydrological science community, thanks also to its open data license.
Integrated Hydrological Units (IHU) of the United Kingdom (UK) consists of four polygon layers: Hydrometric Areas, Groups, Sections, and Catchments. Each layer represents a different level of spatial detail.
- The coarsest level, Hydrometric Areas, consists of more than 100 polygons corresponding to the spatial units used to organise river flow measurement and hydrometric data collection in the UK (for example, HA023 represents the Tyne in Northumberland).
- Each Hydrometric Area consists of one or more Groups (405 in total), which carry names derived from the major rivers flowing through, in, and out of each group, for example HA023G03 is Tyne (North Tyne to tidal limits) Northumberland.
- Each Group consists of even smaller units – Sections (more than 500,000 in total). A Section is the drainage area of a watercourse between two confluences, for example HA023G03S0024 is Tyne (Devil’s Water to March Burn).
- Each Section is associated with one Catchment representing the compound catchment upstream of the Section outflow point.
 |
| Tyne Bridge, Newcastle |
Historically, Hydrometric Areas were the primary reference units used by the NRFA to manage hydrometric data in the UK. IHU is a new release of the Hydrometric Area definition supplemented with finer scale units, all derived using the CEH Integrated Hydrological Terrain Model. Plans are being developed to utilise the IHU to help users explore other datasets produced by the NRFA and CEH’s Environmental Information Data Centre."
The dataset is available on the EIDC Hub.
Filip Kral
Related links
National River Flow Archive
EIDC Hub
Thursday, 18 September 2014
Developing the new CEH-Gridded Estimates of Areal Rainfall dataset
Watch a presentation by Dr Maliko Tanguy of the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology about the new CEH-Gridded Estimates of Areal Rainfall dataset (GEAR). The talk explores the motivations behind development of the dataset, including user and data management needs, explains how the data was derived, and provides some example uses. CEH-GEAR provides 1km gridded estimates of daily and monthly rainfall totals for Great Britain and Northern Ireland from 1890 to 2012, with yearly updates. Precipitation totals from the UK raingauge network are used.
The CEH-GEAR dataset will be available via the CEH Information Gateway by the end of the year.
The presentation above was made to an internal CEH audience in September 2014.
CEH Information Gateway
View slides from the presentation made at the British Hydrology Society 2014 National Symposium
The CEH-GEAR dataset will be available via the CEH Information Gateway by the end of the year.
Additional information
The presentation above was made to an internal CEH audience in September 2014.
CEH Information Gateway
View slides from the presentation made at the British Hydrology Society 2014 National Symposium
Friday, 27 June 2014
The Biological Records Centre is 50 years old!
This year the Biological Records Centre (BRC), based within the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, celebrates its 50th anniversary. A celebratory symposium is being held in Bath this week, and birthday cake will be eaten by past and present staff members, as well as a wide range of people who have been associated with BRC over the last five decades.
It's a good time to look back at why the Biological Records Centre came into existence, and why it is still relevant today.
A rich history of biological recording
In the late 17th century the Catalogus Plantarum Angliae was published. Written by Essex
naturalist John Ray, it was effectively the first catalogue of English plants, drawing on observations from his friends. By the 18th century natural history societies had begun to form across the country which focused on species identification and documenting their distribution. These societies attracted a wide range of members ranging from the self-educated to the academically qualified, a mix that continues to this day.
Plants and data processing
During the first half of the 20th century there were several attempts at creating a national overview of British species, particularly for plants. Plans for a national plant atlas were published in 1940 but delayed by World War Two. Post-war, both the British Association (in 1947) and the Botanical Society of the British Isles conference (in 1950) resolved to map British (and Irish) species and finally, in 1954, the BSBI’s Atlas of the British Flora project was launched with funding from the Nuffield Foundation, and later from the then recently established Nature Conservancy,
Former head of BRC Paul Harding commented recently:
Building on the Plant atlas and the mapping skills developed, the Biological Records Centre was established at Monks Wood, Cambridgeshire in 1964, with Franklyn Perring as its head. Over the years BRC has grown, and moved (to Wallingford, Oxfordshire in 2008), and its work has had, and continues to have, an international impact on biological recording.
Professor William Sutherland, the Miriam Rothschild Professor of Conservation Biology at the University of Cambridge recently wrote:
Current priorities
Looking forward, Dr David Roy, the current head of BRC, told me that current BRC priorities include:
Happy Birthday BRC. We look forward to your 100th anniversary celebration in 2064!
Barnaby Smith, Media Relations Manager
Related links
Biological Records Centre website
CEH News: Biological Records Centre, pioneer of citizen science, celebrates 50th anniversary
Celebrating 50 years of the Biological Records Centre [PDF, 6.62mb]
It's a good time to look back at why the Biological Records Centre came into existence, and why it is still relevant today.
A rich history of biological recording
In the late 17th century the Catalogus Plantarum Angliae was published. Written by Essex
naturalist John Ray, it was effectively the first catalogue of English plants, drawing on observations from his friends. By the 18th century natural history societies had begun to form across the country which focused on species identification and documenting their distribution. These societies attracted a wide range of members ranging from the self-educated to the academically qualified, a mix that continues to this day.
Plants and data processing
During the first half of the 20th century there were several attempts at creating a national overview of British species, particularly for plants. Plans for a national plant atlas were published in 1940 but delayed by World War Two. Post-war, both the British Association (in 1947) and the Botanical Society of the British Isles conference (in 1950) resolved to map British (and Irish) species and finally, in 1954, the BSBI’s Atlas of the British Flora project was launched with funding from the Nuffield Foundation, and later from the then recently established Nature Conservancy,
Former head of BRC Paul Harding commented recently:
“The atlas (of the British Flora) aimed to record, and map, each species of vascular plant in the 10km squares of the Ordnance Survey National Grid. Perhaps the most critical aspect of the project was the adoption of data processing equipment using punched cards. This enabled 1.5 million records to be sorted and mapped mechanically and the use of information technology became integral to biological recording.”An international impact on biological recording
Building on the Plant atlas and the mapping skills developed, the Biological Records Centre was established at Monks Wood, Cambridgeshire in 1964, with Franklyn Perring as its head. Over the years BRC has grown, and moved (to Wallingford, Oxfordshire in 2008), and its work has had, and continues to have, an international impact on biological recording.
Professor William Sutherland, the Miriam Rothschild Professor of Conservation Biology at the University of Cambridge recently wrote:
“The BRC has been central to much of UK conservation practice and research. The work on climate change impacts on distribution patterns is especially well known. The detailed distribution information means the BRC is central to much of the routine conservation practice in determining priorities and assessing possible threats. The BRC has also been fundamental to the National Biodiversity Network Gateway, an ambitious plan to bring together the main sources of UK biodiversity information.”
Current priorities
Looking forward, Dr David Roy, the current head of BRC, told me that current BRC priorities include:
- Maintaining existing capacity for recording species across a broad range of taxonomic groups to provide the evidence needed to tackle ongoing environmental issues.
- Sustaining partnerships with expert naturalists to help this capacity to grow and adapt, thus increasing the value of biological recording for understanding environmental change.
- Making innovative use of technology and analytical methods, plus integration with other data sources on the ecology of species and the physical environment to enhance the value of recording data.
Happy Birthday BRC. We look forward to your 100th anniversary celebration in 2064!
Barnaby Smith, Media Relations Manager
Related links
Biological Records Centre website
CEH News: Biological Records Centre, pioneer of citizen science, celebrates 50th anniversary
Celebrating 50 years of the Biological Records Centre [PDF, 6.62mb]
Tuesday, 22 April 2014
Water Resources science area - embracing ecology and hydrology
CEH's new Science Strategy identifies three interdependent, major societal and environmental challenges: Securing the Value of Nature, Building Resilience to Environmental Hazards, and Managing Environmental Change. We're delivering our strategy by Science Areas and underpinning activities, and over recent weeks we have profiled these on our blog.
In this post, we take a closer look at our Water Resources science area, which is led by Dr David Boorman. In this area our research embraces ecology and hydrology, water quality and water quantity.
Our work aims to give insight into relationships between the natural water resource and its dependent ecosystems.
Research activity includes the development and deployment of novel monitoring techniques to quantify extremes, dynamics and fluxes of water, associated chemicals, biota and sediment, as well as assessing threats of pollution to the aquatic environment and human health.
We maintain nationally important datasets and make these available for further research.
Water resources serve the competing and often conflicting requirements of agriculture, industry, households, power generation, navigation, flood protection and recreation. They must be allocated and used in a sustainable and equitable way whilst maintaining biodiversity and ecosystem services.
Future research objectives for CEH include understanding and representing in models the pressures, processes and fluxes that control the availability, distribution and quality of water resources nationally and globally. We also provide the evidence required to facilitate the management of water resources and provide the evidence base for policy development.
Current work includes establishing delivery of the first operational Hydrological Outlook service for the UK; integrating web-based delivery of UK flood data into the National River Flow Archive; launching a real-time service describing soil moisture across the UK, and establishing a national inventory of lake assets and a global lake observatory based on Earth observation.
For more details of these and other research objectives in our Water Resources science area, please see our Science Area Summary [PDF].
CEH Science Strategy 2014-2019
Staff page of Dr David Boorman, Water Resources Science Area Lead
Posted by Paulette Burns
In this post, we take a closer look at our Water Resources science area, which is led by Dr David Boorman. In this area our research embraces ecology and hydrology, water quality and water quantity.
 |
| CEH research activity in Water Resources includes long-term observation of surface waters. |
Outputs page of the #Windermere Science project has been updated incl latest presentations & papers http://t.co/hLWBPOj2aC @CEHScienceNews
— Windermere Science (@WinSci) November 8, 2013
Research activity includes the development and deployment of novel monitoring techniques to quantify extremes, dynamics and fluxes of water, associated chemicals, biota and sediment, as well as assessing threats of pollution to the aquatic environment and human health.
Defining ecologically relevant water quality targets for lakes in Europe http://t.co/kl7U2ktP62 @JAppliedEcology #openaccess
— CEH Paper Alerts (@CEHPaperAlerts) March 26, 2014
We maintain nationally important datasets and make these available for further research.
River flows in the UK Dec 2013 to Feb 2014. More info in latest hydrological summary http://t.co/v9OcRdxbC8 pic.twitter.com/olRrkwedTo
— CEH Science News (@CEHScienceNews) March 17, 2014
Water resources serve the competing and often conflicting requirements of agriculture, industry, households, power generation, navigation, flood protection and recreation. They must be allocated and used in a sustainable and equitable way whilst maintaining biodiversity and ecosystem services.
Future research objectives for CEH include understanding and representing in models the pressures, processes and fluxes that control the availability, distribution and quality of water resources nationally and globally. We also provide the evidence required to facilitate the management of water resources and provide the evidence base for policy development.
Hydrological information & science from @CEHScienceNews & colleagues in other institutes/agencies - more detail http://t.co/Ez05t2Dsx0
— CEH Science News (@CEHScienceNews) February 14, 2014
Record breakers? Climate change, statistics & the recent UK floods – latest @CEHScienceNews blog post http://t.co/rYUfa5soeP
— CEH Science News (@CEHScienceNews) February 10, 2014
Current work includes establishing delivery of the first operational Hydrological Outlook service for the UK; integrating web-based delivery of UK flood data into the National River Flow Archive; launching a real-time service describing soil moisture across the UK, and establishing a national inventory of lake assets and a global lake observatory based on Earth observation.
Hydrological Outlook UK partnership led by @CEHScienceNews, with @BritGeoSurvey @metoffice @EnvAgency http://t.co/zTx2Zib9lY
— CEH Science News (@CEHScienceNews) November 13, 2013
Wild and windy day on Derwent Water carrying out CEH #longtermdata collection #lakes #freshwater pic.twitter.com/Wx1GZTsAo4
— Ellie Mackay (@DrEllie_Mackay) March 20, 2014
For more details of these and other research objectives in our Water Resources science area, please see our Science Area Summary [PDF].
Additional information
CEH Science Strategy 2014-2019
Staff page of Dr David Boorman, Water Resources Science Area Lead
Posted by Paulette Burns
Wednesday, 19 March 2014
Soil Science Area at CEH
CEH's new Science Strategy identifies three interdependent, major societal and environmental challenges: Securing the Value of Nature, Building Resilience to Environmental Hazards, and Managing Environmental Change. We're delivering our strategy by Science Areas and underpinning activities, and over the next few weeks we are profiling each of these on our blog.
This post focuses on our Soil Science Area, which is led by Professor Bridget Emmett. Sound scientific knowledge of soil functioning is essential to assure UK and global security for food, fuel and water.
The multidisciplinary research at CEH makes us ideally placed to develop new understanding of soil function and the relative importance of soil biota, physical and chemical properties and their emergent properties across scales. We apply this knowledge for improved sustainable management of soil and the ecosystem services soils provide.
Soils are critical for life. As well as providing nutrients and water to grow food, they help regulate floods and droughts, they play an important role in modulating the greenhouse gases which control our climate, and they support a large and diverse biological community.
But such societal benefits depend crucially on soil quantity and condition, both of which are at risk from threats such as over-exploitation, contamination and climate change. Understanding and managing the diverse and sometimes conflicting services provided by soils demands an integrated, multidisciplinary approach.
CEH's current and future research objectives include new tools and data, for example we are developing in partnership a UK Soils Observatory and an enhanced mySoil app. We are aiming to increase understanding, for example of the links between biological and physical structure of upland soils and their implications for water and carbon services. We will quantify the impacts of land use change to energy crops on soil carbon stocks and greenhouse gas emissions for the UK, and we are developing web interfaces with partners to deliver real-time soil sensor data.
For more details of these and other research objectives in our Soil Science Area, please see our Science Area Summary [PDF].
CEH Science Strategy 2014-2019
Staff page of Professor Bridget Emmett, Soil Science Area Lead
This post focuses on our Soil Science Area, which is led by Professor Bridget Emmett. Sound scientific knowledge of soil functioning is essential to assure UK and global security for food, fuel and water.
Food security depends on sustainable nutrient management of soils – CEH co-authored paper in latest issue of @SfEP http://t.co/jeD74vTRQH
— CEH Science News (@CEHScienceNews) July 12, 2013
The multidisciplinary research at CEH makes us ideally placed to develop new understanding of soil function and the relative importance of soil biota, physical and chemical properties and their emergent properties across scales. We apply this knowledge for improved sustainable management of soil and the ecosystem services soils provide.
Soils are critical for life. As well as providing nutrients and water to grow food, they help regulate floods and droughts, they play an important role in modulating the greenhouse gases which control our climate, and they support a large and diverse biological community.
Land use changes: relationships with earthworm & fungi communities & #soil structural properties http://t.co/rsySvmZTwU #ecosystems #oa
— CEH Science News (@CEHScienceNews) December 16, 2013
Why should we conserve & manage our soils? On #WorldSoilsDay, find out about key soil research at CEH http://t.co/y6DYINp1vp [PDF]
— CEH Science News (@CEHScienceNews) December 5, 2013
But such societal benefits depend crucially on soil quantity and condition, both of which are at risk from threats such as over-exploitation, contamination and climate change. Understanding and managing the diverse and sometimes conflicting services provided by soils demands an integrated, multidisciplinary approach.
v.2 mySoil App is here! Includes: soil information for the majority of Europe; UK soil temperature data; extra... http://t.co/lKTnwAnrQe
— BGS (@BritGeoSurvey) May 23, 2013
Our new paper out on "multi-nutrient effects on carbon sequestration in grassland soils" http://t.co/0IWPaHwnmU @CEHScienceNews
— Lindsay Banin (@l_banin) October 11, 2013
 |
| CEH's soil science expertise is multidisciplinary and allows us to develop new understanding across scales. |
CEH's current and future research objectives include new tools and data, for example we are developing in partnership a UK Soils Observatory and an enhanced mySoil app. We are aiming to increase understanding, for example of the links between biological and physical structure of upland soils and their implications for water and carbon services. We will quantify the impacts of land use change to energy crops on soil carbon stocks and greenhouse gas emissions for the UK, and we are developing web interfaces with partners to deliver real-time soil sensor data.
COSMOS-UK #soil moisture network under development http://t.co/1a4tjlAiHf - CEH news
— CEH Science News (@CEHScienceNews) December 5, 2013
Top story this month on @planetearthnews is: Biochar slashes bioenergy soil emissions http://t.co/Hu2KVBpUMO
— Planet Earth Online (@PlanetEarthnews) April 29, 2013
Had a great day in a field or three with @CEHScienceNews researchers, learning about bioenergy. So many spiders! pic.twitter.com/TTkvcjkG
— Mark Kinver (@Mark_Kinver) May 14, 2012
For more details of these and other research objectives in our Soil Science Area, please see our Science Area Summary [PDF].
Additional information
CEH Science Strategy 2014-2019
Staff page of Professor Bridget Emmett, Soil Science Area Lead
Monday, 17 March 2014
Winter 2013/14 rainfall records at CEH's Wallingford meteorological station
Katie Muchan, a hydrologist with the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, looks at the 2013/14 winter rainfall totals recorded at CEH's meteorological station at Wallingford, Oxfordshire.
The news for the last three months has been dominated by record rainfall and prolonged flooding. It was the wettest winter for England & Wales since records began in 1766; and in south-east England, 2013/2014 winter rainfall in both the Thames and Southern regions was more than 230% of the average. The story for the meteorological station based at CEH’s Wallingford site has been no different, with several rainfall records broken during the winter of 2013/2014.
Daily temperature, rainfall and sunshine have been recorded at the meteorological station at the Wallingford site since 1962, in addition to observations of cloud cover, present weather and visibility. The persistence of the storms through the winter of 2013/2014 can be seen in the daily rainfall data. Once the storms started on 15 December 2013, rainfall was recorded on 73 of the 76 remaining days of winter. Furthermore, 66 of these 76 days can be classed as a rain-day, defined as a day when at least 0.2mm rainfall is recorded.
December started dry, with only 2mm of rainfall recorded in the first two weeks. However, following the first storm on the 15th, rainfall was recorded on all but one day for the rest of the month and the most notable storm, on the 23rd, recorded a daily rainfall total of 35.5mm (36% of the monthly total). This made it the wettest day of the year, and also the wettest day since 22 August 2010. Due to the dry start to the month, December 2013 rainfall was not record-breaking, but it was the fifth wettest in the station’s history, with a monthly total of 97.9mm.
The persistent rain continued into January; only two days recorded no rainfall. As a result, January was the wettest of the winter months; the monthly total of 148.4mm broke the previous January record by 30mm (~25%). January 2014 was also the third wettest of any month at the station in the record from 1962, behind August 1977 and October 1966.
February is normally the driest month of the year with an average monthly total of 37.5mm. However, with rain falling every day in February 2014, yet another record was broken. The monthly total of 112.9mm is 302% (i.e. three times) the average, making it the wettest February in the station’s history (beating the previous record of 103.3mm in 1990).
While the individual monthly totals and records are impressive in themselves, the accumulation of rainfall across the winter season also produces some record-breaking figures. The rainfall total of 246.3mm in December 2013 and January 2014 set a record for the wettest two-month accumulation of any in the station's history, only to be broken by the rainfall in January and February 2014, which totalled 261.3mm. On 13 February, with 15 days of winter remaining, the record for the wettest winter set in 1989/1990 (311.5mm) had already been broken. Rain continued throughout the rest of the month, giving a 2013/2014 winter total of 359.2mm, breaking the previous record by 47.7mm.
Katie Muchan
More information on CEH's Wallingford meteorological station
Hydrological Summaries published during winter 2013/14, including the February 2014 Hydrological Summary
A joint Met Office and CEH report on the winter storms and floods was published in February.
The news for the last three months has been dominated by record rainfall and prolonged flooding. It was the wettest winter for England & Wales since records began in 1766; and in south-east England, 2013/2014 winter rainfall in both the Thames and Southern regions was more than 230% of the average. The story for the meteorological station based at CEH’s Wallingford site has been no different, with several rainfall records broken during the winter of 2013/2014.
Daily temperature, rainfall and sunshine have been recorded at the meteorological station at the Wallingford site since 1962, in addition to observations of cloud cover, present weather and visibility. The persistence of the storms through the winter of 2013/2014 can be seen in the daily rainfall data. Once the storms started on 15 December 2013, rainfall was recorded on 73 of the 76 remaining days of winter. Furthermore, 66 of these 76 days can be classed as a rain-day, defined as a day when at least 0.2mm rainfall is recorded.
 |
| Daily rainfall (mm) during winter 2013/2014 at CEH's Wallingford meteorological station |
The persistent rain continued into January; only two days recorded no rainfall. As a result, January was the wettest of the winter months; the monthly total of 148.4mm broke the previous January record by 30mm (~25%). January 2014 was also the third wettest of any month at the station in the record from 1962, behind August 1977 and October 1966.
February is normally the driest month of the year with an average monthly total of 37.5mm. However, with rain falling every day in February 2014, yet another record was broken. The monthly total of 112.9mm is 302% (i.e. three times) the average, making it the wettest February in the station’s history (beating the previous record of 103.3mm in 1990).
 |
| *Previous records are quoted based on data for January 1962 - November 2013 |
While the individual monthly totals and records are impressive in themselves, the accumulation of rainfall across the winter season also produces some record-breaking figures. The rainfall total of 246.3mm in December 2013 and January 2014 set a record for the wettest two-month accumulation of any in the station's history, only to be broken by the rainfall in January and February 2014, which totalled 261.3mm. On 13 February, with 15 days of winter remaining, the record for the wettest winter set in 1989/1990 (311.5mm) had already been broken. Rain continued throughout the rest of the month, giving a 2013/2014 winter total of 359.2mm, breaking the previous record by 47.7mm.
 |
| Winter rainfall totals (mm) at CEH's Wallingford Meteorological Station |
Katie Muchan
Additional information
More information on CEH's Wallingford meteorological station
Hydrological Summaries published during winter 2013/14, including the February 2014 Hydrological Summary
A joint Met Office and CEH report on the winter storms and floods was published in February.
Monday, 24 February 2014
Understanding Biosphere - Atmosphere Interactions and feedbacks
CEH's new Science Strategy, which was published in January 2014, identifies three interdependent, major societal and environmental challenges: Securing the Value of Nature, Building Resilience to Environmental Hazards, and Managing Environmental Change. We're delivering the strategy through a number of Science Areas and underpinning activities.
Over the next few weeks you can find out more about each Science Area as we profile them in a series of blog posts.
The first Science Area to focus on is Biosphere-Atmosphere Interactions. There are crucial societal and environmental issues relating to air pollutants, greenhouse gases, and global carbon and nitrogen cycles. CEH research aims to understand and quantify interactions between the biosphere and atmosphere based on measurements, experiments and modelling of greenhouse gases, reactive air pollutants, water and energy.
Developing the policy basis for addressing these issues demands the combination of monitoring and modelling of the exchange of gases, aerosols, particulate material, energy and water at land and water surfaces, and effects on local, regional and global climate.
Read more about our Bioenergy crops research in our Energy and the Environment portal.
Our Nutrient World, published in February 2013, highlighted how humans have massively altered the natural flows of nitrogen, phosphorus and other nutrients. While this has had huge benefits for world food and energy production, it has caused a web of water and air pollution.
The Review of Transboundary Air Pollution, published in June 2012, found that the chemical climate of the UK has changed dramatically over the last 30 years and continues to change as a consequence of UK and European policies to solve air pollution problems.
Recently published research and commentaries highlight some of our work in Biosphere - Atmosphere Interactions.
Read more about Biosphere-Atmosphere Interactions on the CEH website, including a Science Area Summary [PDF].
Over the next few weeks you can find out more about each Science Area as we profile them in a series of blog posts.
“@NERCscience: NERC's Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (@CEHScienceNews) new Science Strategy http://t.co/uM3MQc5OXL” securing value of nature
— Oxfordshire Nature (@ONCForg) January 31, 2014
The first Science Area to focus on is Biosphere-Atmosphere Interactions. There are crucial societal and environmental issues relating to air pollutants, greenhouse gases, and global carbon and nitrogen cycles. CEH research aims to understand and quantify interactions between the biosphere and atmosphere based on measurements, experiments and modelling of greenhouse gases, reactive air pollutants, water and energy.
Surface-atmosphere exchanges of gases & aerosols play fundamental role in determining air quality & are an important driver of climate
— CEH Science News (@CEHScienceNews) February 5, 2014
In turn, biological communities & the physical environment change in response to changes in climate & atmospheric pollution
— CEH Science News (@CEHScienceNews) February 5, 2014
 |
| CEH's long-term investigations at Auchencorth Moss, an ombrotrophic peat bog in Midlothian, demonstrate that these areas remove significant amounts of carbon from the atmosphere. Photo: Barnaby Smith/CEH. See more photos of Auchencorth Moss field site on Flickr. |
Developing the policy basis for addressing these issues demands the combination of monitoring and modelling of the exchange of gases, aerosols, particulate material, energy and water at land and water surfaces, and effects on local, regional and global climate.
Our BAI Science Area quantifies surface-atmosphere exchanges & interactions using measurements, experiments & modelling
— CEH Science News (@CEHScienceNews) February 5, 2014
We study a wide range of habitats, incl forest, grassland, wetlands, urban areas and cropland, including bioenergy crops
— CEH Science News (@CEHScienceNews) February 5, 2014
Read more about our Bioenergy crops research in our Energy and the Environment portal.
 |
| CEH has studied the impact of bioenergy crop land-use changes on soil carbon stocks and greenhouse gas emissions. |
Our BAI research supports UK, Euro & global policies to mitigate environmental & health impacts of pollution, land use & climate change
— CEH Science News (@CEHScienceNews) February 5, 2014
 |
| CEH science quantifies environmental impacts and provides evidence for policy-makers. |
The Review of Transboundary Air Pollution, published in June 2012, found that the chemical climate of the UK has changed dramatically over the last 30 years and continues to change as a consequence of UK and European policies to solve air pollution problems.
Recently published research and commentaries highlight some of our work in Biosphere - Atmosphere Interactions.
The value of acknowledging societal costs of N2O emissions - CEH-led study featured by @SfEP http://t.co/wT2z8Ffera #greeneconomy
— CEH Science News (@CEHScienceNews) January 29, 2014
Author Dr Chris Huntingford comments on new short lived climate pollutants paper in @NatureClimate http://t.co/PdYTBG9p2z #climate #science
— CEH Science News (@CEHScienceNews) November 21, 2013
Evaluating performance of commonly used gas analysers for methane eddy covariance flux measurements http://t.co/relgjMiQhF #oa discussion
— CEH Paper Alerts (@CEHPaperAlerts) February 10, 2014
@CEHScienceNews Chris Malley et al: ozone variation UK #EMEP supersites in Eurocontext: spot them in their clusters! http://t.co/IPVR7cqPw1
— Christine Braban (@ChrisBraban) November 17, 2013
New paper: Remote sensing of leaf nitrogen pools in crops & grasslands in Europe http://t.co/kkNngEDuoo -#openaccess study in Biogeosciences
— EGU (@EuroGeosciences) October 7, 2013
Read more about Biosphere-Atmosphere Interactions on the CEH website, including a Science Area Summary [PDF].
Thursday, 13 February 2014
Scientists from CEH comment on the ongoing flooding situation in the UK - 13 February 2014
Scientists from the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology have provided the following new comments on the ongoing storms and flooding situation in the UK.
You can read our previous comments (published on the 11 February 2014) here.
Prof Richard Harding, Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, on the December/January/February floods
Mr Nick Reynard, Science Area Lead for Natural Hazards, Centre for Ecology & Hydrology
Mr Terry Marsh, Leader of the National Hydrological Monitoring Programme, Centre for Ecology & Hydrology
You can read our previous comments (published on the 11 February 2014) here.
Prof Richard Harding, Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, on the December/January/February floods
"The weather in the last two months has been exceptional. It has been characterised by frequent rain systems tracking across the south of Britain, often associated with high winds. In January the rainfall totals were locally 300% above average and over 200% over a large part of southern England. The result of this relentless rainfall has been that soils and underlying aquifers are now full and the rivers and wetlands have more water flowing through them than has been observed for many decades.
"The repeated passage of storms over England has been caused by a persistent Jet stream to the south of its usual position. This persistence may be linked to the reduction of sea ice in the Arctic or warm sub-tropical sea temperatures. We have observed in the last five decades a rise in temperatures and an increase in the amount of water vapour in the atmosphere – these almost inevitably lead to an intensification of storms and increases in rainfall. Indeed we have observed an increase in the intensity of rainfall in this period. The last two decades have also brought exceptional extremes in our rivers and groundwater– with floods in 2000/01, 2002/3, 2007, 20011/12 and now 2013/14 interspersed with droughts in 2003 and 2011/12. All these trends are entirely consistent with the effects of increasing CO2 in the atmosphere.
"In the short term the saturated nature of the ground means that rivers and low lying areas are very vulnerable to flooding. In the longer term this exceptional weather and extensive floods highlights that we are going to have to adapt to much more variability and extremes in the future."
Mr Nick Reynard, Science Area Lead for Natural Hazards, Centre for Ecology & Hydrology
"After the devastating summer floods of 2007 the Pitt Review carefully analysed all aspects of how this country prepares for and deals with flooding. Post Pitt there have been two key developments in the implementation of flood forecasting science to better predict both the risks and impact of flood events. The first is the development of the Flood Forecasting Centre, which combines meteorological and hydrological expertise to provide forecasts for all natural forms of flooding - river, surface water, tidal/coastal and groundwater. River flow forecasting is underpinned by the Grid 2 Grid model developed by the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology.
The second significant development has been an increased focus on surface water flooding - many of the 55,000 homes affected in 2007 were flooded by a surface water event. Surface water flooding is a key focus of the recently formed Natural Hazards Partnership, which provides information, advice and analysis to government and emergency responders across the UK in the preparation, response and review of natural hazards. and brings together expertise from across the UK's leading public sector agencies and research institutes."
Mr Terry Marsh, Leader of the National Hydrological Monitoring Programme, Centre for Ecology & Hydrology
"The tempestuous weather affecting the UK has continued through the first two weeks of February 2014. It appears likely that winter rainfall totals across much of Southern Britain will be the highest on record (in the NCIC series from 1910). As a result river flows have continued to increase in parts of the country, most notably in the Thames and the Severn basins. In recent days on the Thames river flows are approaching or have exceeded maxima recorded in the last major event (November 1974). The high river flows have led to extensive floodplain inundations aggravated by groundwater flooding in many vulnerable parts of the catchment."
Tuesday, 11 February 2014
Scientists from CEH and BGS comment on the ongoing flooding situation in the UK - 11 February 2014
Scientists from the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology and their NERC colleagues in the British Geological Survey have provided the following comments on the ongoing storms and flooding situation in the UK.
We published further comments on 13 February 2014. Read them here.
Mr Terry Marsh, Leader of the National Hydrological Monitoring Programme, Centre for Ecology & Hydrology
Dr David Boorman, Science Area Lead for Water Resources, Centre for Ecology & Hydrology
Mr Nick Reynard, Science Area Lead for Natural Hazards, Centre for Ecology & Hydrology
Prof Alan Jenkins, Director of Water and Pollution Science, Centre for Ecology & Hydrology
Dr Chris Huntingford, Climate Modeller, Centre for Ecology & Hydrology
Mr Simon Parry, Hydrologist, Centre for Ecology & Hydrology
Mr Andrew McKenzie, Groundwater Information Manager, British Geological Survey
Journalists can contact the CEH Press Office or the BGS Press Office for further context on the UK's hydrological situation.
Further information from CEH can be found in the following blog posts:
Record breakers? Climate change, statistics and the recent UK floods - 9 February 2014
Rainfall, UK floods and the potential impacts of climate change? - 6 January 2014
CEH worked with the Met Office on a report on the recent storms and floods in the UK.
We published further comments on 13 February 2014. Read them here.
Mr Terry Marsh, Leader of the National Hydrological Monitoring Programme, Centre for Ecology & Hydrology
"One of the issues for the public perception to take on board is what we are currently seeing is the Thames exercising its natural sovereignty over its floodplain. This happens occasionally and in a sense it’s good for people to recognise that this happens. Management needs to limit the damage but it would be, I suggest, even worse if we found ourselves in the position where people thought because we’ve not seen this extent of flooding for 40 years that it’s not going to happen. It’s a natural part of the way rainfall patterns translate into river flow patterns."
Dr David Boorman, Science Area Lead for Water Resources, Centre for Ecology & Hydrology
"A key question in any unusual hydrological situation, such as a drought or a period of wet weather as we are experiencing now, is how long will it continue? We are working with a number of partners to provide a long-range hydrological forecast for the UK. Forecasts of this type are already produced on an operational basis in a number of countries including the USA and Australia.
“The project involves bringing together information on the current weather, soil moisture, river flows and groundwater levels from across the UK, and using a number of methods of exploring possible future hydrological conditions, for example, using numerical models of river flows and groundwater models driven by long-range weather outlooks."
Mr Nick Reynard, Science Area Lead for Natural Hazards, Centre for Ecology & Hydrology
"The cluster of drought and flood events through the early years of the 21st century and the recent runoff and recharge patterns, are near to the extreme range of historical variability as we currently understand it , and therefore also raise the question that they may reflect anthropogenic climate change. It is important to note, however that how river flows respond to extreme rainfall varies greatly because of geology, soils, land use etc, meaning that it is difficult to detect signals of climate change in observed events, and to generalise the impacts of climate change for future flooding. Tidal flood risk is increasing as sea levels rise but the outlook is more complex in relation to fluvial flooding."
Prof Alan Jenkins, Director of Water and Pollution Science, Centre for Ecology & Hydrology
"The long duration of the current flooding episode and its wide spatial extent make it an exceptional event. Relentless storm events over many weeks have combined to produce widespread flooding at a scale rarely seen in the UK. Over 5000 homes have flooded and transport infrastructure has been disrupted across the UK.
“The key to mitigating the impact of any flood is understanding that every catchment works in a different way. For example the current flood situation on the Somerset Levels is the result of a different range of processes to those currently affecting the lower reaches of the River Thames. The operational agencies are doing a sterling job on the ground and it’s important to recognise that hundreds of thousands of homes have been protected by the UK’s flood defence infrastructure.
“Many potential solutions have been talked about over the last few weeks as ways of minimising flood risk. This is a complex issue and over the next few months it is important that experts from the key agencies and research institutes sit down and carefully analyse whether there are lessons to be learnt from the current flood episode."
Dr Chris Huntingford, Climate Modeller, Centre for Ecology & Hydrology
"In terms of climate change, there is a desperate need to move away from the almost Punch-and-Judy debate of either every extreme is due to climate change, or the contrast of everything is simply natural variability. Desperately needed is the on-going calculation of whether higher atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide are changing the chances of rainfall events, as recently witnessed, occurring.
To work this out, weather forecast models that analyse the atmosphere in such fine detail as to model storm tracks, need to be operated for different levels of modelled carbon dioxide. Running these for hundreds of modelled years for alternative carbon dioxide concentrations, so as to build up statistical profiles of rainfall patterns, presents one of the biggest computational challenges ever tackled."
Mr Simon Parry, Hydrologist, Centre for Ecology & Hydrology
"Each one of these individual events has not been particularly outstanding, they've been broadly along the lines of what we would expect for a typical winter storm in the UK. What's been notable about it, and different from what we've seen in the past, is the persistence. The combination of high tides, strong winds and a succession of rain-bearing low pressure systems has led to widespread and sustained high flow conditions over a two month timeframe."
Mr Andrew McKenzie, Groundwater Information Manager, British Geological Survey
"In early December 2013 groundwater levels over much of the UK were normal for the time of year. The extreme rainfall in the southern part of England over the New Year and into early January had a dramatic impact on levels in the faster responding aquifers and spectacular rises occurred in groundwater levels in some aquifers. For example, groundwater levels in the Chalk at Tilshead on Salisbury Plain rose by about 20 metres in just two weeks. These rapid rises triggered some localised groundwater flooding, mainly in the upper parts of Chalk catchments. If rainfall had eased at that point the empty storage in the lower catchment might have been able to absorb the inflows. However, as rainfall has continued to fall the lower parts of many catchments have been saturated, and prolonged high river levels will have contributed to exceptional recharge.
“At the beginning of February record monthly groundwater levels were measured across many aquifers, and as levels in February are naturally high, these records are often all time records for the sites concerned. Record levels were established in the Chalk of Wessex, the North Downs and Hampshire. The wet weather also reversed a declining trend in some of the North West Permo-Triassic aquifers.
“Consequently, emergence of groundwater has been observed at many localities across southern England where groundwater flooding has been previously recorded. The high water levels on the interfluves (the upper parts of groundwater catchments) will gradually feed into the lower parts of the catchments, over a period of weeks to months, so groundwater flooding is expected to persist."
Additional information
Journalists can contact the CEH Press Office or the BGS Press Office for further context on the UK's hydrological situation.
Further information from CEH can be found in the following blog posts:
Record breakers? Climate change, statistics and the recent UK floods - 9 February 2014
Rainfall, UK floods and the potential impacts of climate change? - 6 January 2014
CEH worked with the Met Office on a report on the recent storms and floods in the UK.
Friday, 20 December 2013
The top 10 most viewed CEH news & blog posts of 2013
We hope you've found our content interesting and informative throughout the year but, of course, not everything will be to everyone's tastes. Here is a little (slightly unscientific!) insight into what news and blogs you were reading the most in 2013, in traditional reverse order:
10. Distinctly autumnal feel to May as below average temperatures persist
The cold spring was still hanging around, but a warm summer wasn't too far away.
9. Ecologists get first bumblebees' eye view of the landscape
Scientists produced the most detailed picture yet of how bumblebees use the landscape, thanks to DNA technology and remote sensing.
8. Introducing the Hydrological Outlook
CEH and a number of partners had been working for a while on developing a long-range hydrological forecast for the UK.
7. Cocktail of multiple pressures combine to threaten the world's pollinating insects
Not one cause, but a combination of pressures including pesticides, disease and loss of food resources are threatening insect pollinators such as bumblebees and honeybees.
6. Are tropical forests resilient to global warming?
Tropical forests are less likely to lose biomass in response to greenhouse gas emissions over the 21st century than may previously have been thought.
5. Britain's rarest freshwater fish, the Vendace, reappears in Bassenthwaite Lake
The vendace made an unexpected reappearance in Bassenthwaite Lake in north-west England, more than a decade after being declared 'locally extinct'.
4. Tropical rainforests, 'lungs of the planet', reveal true sensitivity to global warming
The amount of carbon dioxide absorbed or produced by tropical rainforests varies hugely with year-to-year variations in the climate, revealing their vulnerability to climate change.
3. Smarter use of nutrients can help protect human health and the environment
A new report highlighted how humans have massively altered the natural flows of nitrogen, phosphorus and other nutrients, and how better management can help protect the environment, climate and human health.
2. Puffin count on Isle of May NNR gives surprising result
Despite severe spring weather, the worst fears for puffins weren't realised: a census revealed that Atlantic puffin numbers on the Isle of May National Nature Reserve off Scotland's east coast were at similar levels to 2009.
1. Mobile phone app to help monitor UK's native ladybirds after foreign invasion
iRecord Ladybirds, a free mobile phone app, was launched to help the public record ladybird species, including the invasive Harlequin ladybirds. All interest in the app, and a fantastic number of records, have been gratefully received by our scientists!
10. INTECOL news round-up: pollinators, citizen science and land use
A number of CEH staff presented at the 11th INTECOL Congress in London, the world's largest international ecology meeting, and this post tried to highlight what they said.
9. Cleaner air for all - searching for solutions to air pollution at Green Week 2013
Air quality was the theme for this year's event in Brussels, and CEH expertise was on hand to lead and join in with some of the discussions.
8. We're going on a Bug Hunt!
Science can be fun too, as ecologists and pupils taking part in a hugely successful Bug Day at a school near Rugby can confirm.
7. Filming at CEH's met site in Wallingford
Wet weather at the end of 2012 and into 2013 meant a busy start to the year for the CEH Press Office, with several media requests to interview our hydrologists.
6. Building environmental links in Beijing
Environmental researchers in China and the UK have signed a memorandum of understanding to explore collaboration opportunities. Recovery of polluted environments, water management, food security and soil management were all discussed during a meeting in April.
5. Biodiversity offsetting - the science behind the policy
More information on how CEH provides independent and impartial scientific advice for the tricky topic of biodiversity offsetting.
4. Nitrogen narratives in Nairobi - confessions of a reluctant blogger
Professor Mark Sutton experiences life at the sharp end of the science-policy debate.
3. A revolution in ladybird recording
Ladybirds are charismatic insects and so it isn't surprising that people in Britain have been enthusiastically recording them for centuries.
2. Assessing the 2013 Atlantic Puffin wreck
Our two most viewed blog posts of the year are actually on the same topic, indicating the huge interest at the time, and some of the uncertainty, around a puffin wreck in Eastern Scotland and NE England.
1. Puffin wreck in Scotland
Multiple unusual deaths of puffins were noticed on the east coast of Scotland NE England in the last week of March. One of the world's foremost authorities on puffin, Professor Mike Harris, gave insights into the emerging story.
You can read more about CEH research and news over the past twelve months in our annual review of the year on the CEH News Centre. Just a final thanks to all our contributors and, of course, to our readers. More to come in 2014 but in the meantime, Happy Christmas and best wishes for the New Year!
Paulette Burns and Barnaby Smith
Top 10 most viewed news stories
10. Distinctly autumnal feel to May as below average temperatures persist
The cold spring was still hanging around, but a warm summer wasn't too far away.
9. Ecologists get first bumblebees' eye view of the landscape
Scientists produced the most detailed picture yet of how bumblebees use the landscape, thanks to DNA technology and remote sensing.
8. Introducing the Hydrological Outlook
CEH and a number of partners had been working for a while on developing a long-range hydrological forecast for the UK.
7. Cocktail of multiple pressures combine to threaten the world's pollinating insects
Not one cause, but a combination of pressures including pesticides, disease and loss of food resources are threatening insect pollinators such as bumblebees and honeybees.
6. Are tropical forests resilient to global warming?
Tropical forests are less likely to lose biomass in response to greenhouse gas emissions over the 21st century than may previously have been thought.
5. Britain's rarest freshwater fish, the Vendace, reappears in Bassenthwaite Lake
The vendace made an unexpected reappearance in Bassenthwaite Lake in north-west England, more than a decade after being declared 'locally extinct'.
4. Tropical rainforests, 'lungs of the planet', reveal true sensitivity to global warming
The amount of carbon dioxide absorbed or produced by tropical rainforests varies hugely with year-to-year variations in the climate, revealing their vulnerability to climate change.
3. Smarter use of nutrients can help protect human health and the environment
A new report highlighted how humans have massively altered the natural flows of nitrogen, phosphorus and other nutrients, and how better management can help protect the environment, climate and human health.
2. Puffin count on Isle of May NNR gives surprising result
Despite severe spring weather, the worst fears for puffins weren't realised: a census revealed that Atlantic puffin numbers on the Isle of May National Nature Reserve off Scotland's east coast were at similar levels to 2009.
1. Mobile phone app to help monitor UK's native ladybirds after foreign invasion
iRecord Ladybirds, a free mobile phone app, was launched to help the public record ladybird species, including the invasive Harlequin ladybirds. All interest in the app, and a fantastic number of records, have been gratefully received by our scientists!
Top 10 most viewed blog posts
10. INTECOL news round-up: pollinators, citizen science and land use
A number of CEH staff presented at the 11th INTECOL Congress in London, the world's largest international ecology meeting, and this post tried to highlight what they said.
9. Cleaner air for all - searching for solutions to air pollution at Green Week 2013
Air quality was the theme for this year's event in Brussels, and CEH expertise was on hand to lead and join in with some of the discussions.
8. We're going on a Bug Hunt!
Science can be fun too, as ecologists and pupils taking part in a hugely successful Bug Day at a school near Rugby can confirm.
7. Filming at CEH's met site in Wallingford
Wet weather at the end of 2012 and into 2013 meant a busy start to the year for the CEH Press Office, with several media requests to interview our hydrologists.
6. Building environmental links in Beijing
Environmental researchers in China and the UK have signed a memorandum of understanding to explore collaboration opportunities. Recovery of polluted environments, water management, food security and soil management were all discussed during a meeting in April.
5. Biodiversity offsetting - the science behind the policy
More information on how CEH provides independent and impartial scientific advice for the tricky topic of biodiversity offsetting.
4. Nitrogen narratives in Nairobi - confessions of a reluctant blogger
Professor Mark Sutton experiences life at the sharp end of the science-policy debate.
3. A revolution in ladybird recording
Ladybirds are charismatic insects and so it isn't surprising that people in Britain have been enthusiastically recording them for centuries.
2. Assessing the 2013 Atlantic Puffin wreck
Our two most viewed blog posts of the year are actually on the same topic, indicating the huge interest at the time, and some of the uncertainty, around a puffin wreck in Eastern Scotland and NE England.
1. Puffin wreck in Scotland
Multiple unusual deaths of puffins were noticed on the east coast of Scotland NE England in the last week of March. One of the world's foremost authorities on puffin, Professor Mike Harris, gave insights into the emerging story.
You can read more about CEH research and news over the past twelve months in our annual review of the year on the CEH News Centre. Just a final thanks to all our contributors and, of course, to our readers. More to come in 2014 but in the meantime, Happy Christmas and best wishes for the New Year!
Paulette Burns and Barnaby Smith
Friday, 15 November 2013
Integration and reflection - paperblog 8
This week we concentrate on recent papers with CEH scientists as the first author.
PhD student Philip Martin recently published a major paper summarising his research over the last few years. You can read more about "Carbon pools recover more quickly than plant biodiversity in tropical secondary forests" (published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B) on the CEH website and on Philip's blog.
Another PhD student, Christopher Malley, has a new paper out in Atmospheric Research which takes a detailed look at how well two of the UK's atmospheric monitoring 'supersites', including the site run by CEH at Auchencorth Moss in Scotland, represent the UK's background ozone conditions.
CEH is a Centre that carries out both ecological and hydrological science, sometimes together (the clue is in the name!). Our scientists produce many papers that seek to bring together varied data on water quantity, freshwater ecology, and water quality. In recent weeks, CEH scientists have published on estimating concentrations in rivers of different chemicals originating from sewage treatment plants (Keller et al., open access in Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry), and a new approach for predicting phosphorus concentrations in rivers (Greene et al., Journal of Hydrology).
Sometimes it is necessary to take a step back from day to day research to ponder some fundamental questions on how scientific knowledge can be used in wider society. Two examples have recently appeared. Alan Gray has a new paper in Transgenic Research examining whether applied ecology has failed the transgenic crops debate. Stefan Reis and colleagues from CEH, Universities and Health Institutes across the UK have put together a new analysis on how to integrate health and environmental impact analysis to address some of the new public health challenges.
Nitrogen science plays a big role in CEH activities. Laurence Jones and CEH colleagues have produced a new review of the evidence for nitrogen impacts on ecosystem services. Read it in the journal Ecosystem Services, where the paper is open access (full text freely available). Meanwhile, Mark Sutton is lead author on another new open access paper in Environmental Development looking at "Green Economy thinking" and relevance to control of nitrous oxide emissions.
Finally, Robert Mills, who completed a PhD at CEH's site in Bangor, North Wales, has just published a new paper on organic carbon turnover rates in natural and semi-natural topsoils. Working with Professor Ed Tipping, the study concludes with the interesting result that turnover is faster under trees than non-trees. Read more in the journal Biogeochemistry.
That's it. As ever, we welcome suggestions and comments on the material presented in the paperblog. Let us know what you think!
Barnaby Smith, Media Relations Manager
If you'd like a fuller picture of new papers from CEH, just follow the CEH Paper Alerts Twitter feed, which lists CEH peer-reviewed papers newly published online. Full details of Centre for Ecology & Hydrology science publications, including those published in peer-reviewed science journals, are eventually catalogued on the NERC Open Research Archive (NORA).
Those of you who follow the scientific literature will know some journal websites require registration and some are subscription-only. CEH, as part of NERC, is working with publishers and funders to make more of our output open access, and we have indicated above where this is the case.
We also publish lots of our other outputs including biological records atlases and project reports. More details can be found in the publications section of the CEH website.
PhD student Philip Martin recently published a major paper summarising his research over the last few years. You can read more about "Carbon pools recover more quickly than plant biodiversity in tropical secondary forests" (published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B) on the CEH website and on Philip's blog.
Another PhD student, Christopher Malley, has a new paper out in Atmospheric Research which takes a detailed look at how well two of the UK's atmospheric monitoring 'supersites', including the site run by CEH at Auchencorth Moss in Scotland, represent the UK's background ozone conditions.
CEH is a Centre that carries out both ecological and hydrological science, sometimes together (the clue is in the name!). Our scientists produce many papers that seek to bring together varied data on water quantity, freshwater ecology, and water quality. In recent weeks, CEH scientists have published on estimating concentrations in rivers of different chemicals originating from sewage treatment plants (Keller et al., open access in Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry), and a new approach for predicting phosphorus concentrations in rivers (Greene et al., Journal of Hydrology).
Sometimes it is necessary to take a step back from day to day research to ponder some fundamental questions on how scientific knowledge can be used in wider society. Two examples have recently appeared. Alan Gray has a new paper in Transgenic Research examining whether applied ecology has failed the transgenic crops debate. Stefan Reis and colleagues from CEH, Universities and Health Institutes across the UK have put together a new analysis on how to integrate health and environmental impact analysis to address some of the new public health challenges.
Nitrogen science plays a big role in CEH activities. Laurence Jones and CEH colleagues have produced a new review of the evidence for nitrogen impacts on ecosystem services. Read it in the journal Ecosystem Services, where the paper is open access (full text freely available). Meanwhile, Mark Sutton is lead author on another new open access paper in Environmental Development looking at "Green Economy thinking" and relevance to control of nitrous oxide emissions.
Finally, Robert Mills, who completed a PhD at CEH's site in Bangor, North Wales, has just published a new paper on organic carbon turnover rates in natural and semi-natural topsoils. Working with Professor Ed Tipping, the study concludes with the interesting result that turnover is faster under trees than non-trees. Read more in the journal Biogeochemistry.
That's it. As ever, we welcome suggestions and comments on the material presented in the paperblog. Let us know what you think!
Barnaby Smith, Media Relations Manager
Additional information
If you'd like a fuller picture of new papers from CEH, just follow the CEH Paper Alerts Twitter feed, which lists CEH peer-reviewed papers newly published online. Full details of Centre for Ecology & Hydrology science publications, including those published in peer-reviewed science journals, are eventually catalogued on the NERC Open Research Archive (NORA).
Those of you who follow the scientific literature will know some journal websites require registration and some are subscription-only. CEH, as part of NERC, is working with publishers and funders to make more of our output open access, and we have indicated above where this is the case.
We also publish lots of our other outputs including biological records atlases and project reports. More details can be found in the publications section of the CEH website.
Friday, 8 November 2013
From Nairn to San Diego... CEH lake restoration research hits the road
Details of CEH lake research were presented at an international conference last week by one of our former PhD students:
Dr Sebastian Meis presented results of his PhD study at the 33rd International Symposium of the North American Lake Management Society (NALMS: 30 October - 3 November 2013) in San Diego, USA. In his presentation, entitled "Seasonal responses of physicochemical and biological variables following disruption of internal phosphorus loading using lanthanum-modified bentonite clay (Phoslock®): insights from laboratory and whole lake experiments", he highlighted the major findings of the whole lake manipulation study conducted at Loch Flemington (Nairn, UK) by CEH.
The conference focused on measures for in-lake phosphorus control available to lake managers, with various presentations focusing on the use of alum, oxygenation / aeration and de-stratification as possible management tools. Conference attendees included scientists, lake managers, consultancies, as well as companies. Dr Meis was also invited to present at an additional special session on the use of geo-engineering approaches for phosphorus management in lakes, where he highlighted the need for greater accuracy when estimating product dose at the site specific scale.
Dr Bryan Spears, a co-author on the talk and Sebastian's supervisor during his PhD, writes:
NALMS Conference
UK Lake Restoration
Loch Flemington case study
Bryan Spears CEH staff page & ResearchGate profile
Dr Sebastian Meis presented results of his PhD study at the 33rd International Symposium of the North American Lake Management Society (NALMS: 30 October - 3 November 2013) in San Diego, USA. In his presentation, entitled "Seasonal responses of physicochemical and biological variables following disruption of internal phosphorus loading using lanthanum-modified bentonite clay (Phoslock®): insights from laboratory and whole lake experiments", he highlighted the major findings of the whole lake manipulation study conducted at Loch Flemington (Nairn, UK) by CEH.
The conference focused on measures for in-lake phosphorus control available to lake managers, with various presentations focusing on the use of alum, oxygenation / aeration and de-stratification as possible management tools. Conference attendees included scientists, lake managers, consultancies, as well as companies. Dr Meis was also invited to present at an additional special session on the use of geo-engineering approaches for phosphorus management in lakes, where he highlighted the need for greater accuracy when estimating product dose at the site specific scale.
Dr Bryan Spears, a co-author on the talk and Sebastian's supervisor during his PhD, writes:
"It's great to see the importance of Seb's work being recognised through his invitation to present at the special session. Geo-engineering is being increasingly used for the control of phosphorus and eutrophication in lakes. CEH's role as an independent research organisation in informing water managers on issues associated with this approach is critical. Seb's recent work has provided scientific evidence with which decisions on the wide-scale use of this approach can be based.
This work has produced guidance on estimating effective dose of products and the identification of potential unintended chemical and ecological consequences associated with product application. Seb's results are being used to inform industry and environmental regulators on the wider use of this approach."
 |
| Sebastian Meis (right) at the NALMS conference in San Diego. |
Additional information
NALMS Conference
UK Lake Restoration
Loch Flemington case study
Bryan Spears CEH staff page & ResearchGate profile
Thursday, 24 October 2013
Biodiversity indicators and the Biological Records Centre
CEH scientists working within the Biological Records Centre contribute to several of the indicators, building on our wealth of knowledge and links to most of the UK's wildlife recording schemes. In particular, for 2013, our scientists have contributed to development of the new index on the status of priority species (C4a).
Dr Nick Isaac of CEH explains more:
"The new indicator C4a uses data from national surveys, such as the UK Butterfly Monitoring Scheme. The index provides an annual summary of the abundance of 210 mammal, bird, butterfly and moth species, all of which have been identified as priorities for the four national conservation agencies. This property makes this index much more sensitive than the old C4, in which species were categorised as declining, stable or increasing based on expert opinion."
"In addition, we also produced a supplementary index based on distribution data. These 'biological records' are not collected in a standardised way, which makes the data extremely noisy and liable to produce biased estimates of species trends. Within the Biological Records Centre, we've invested heavily in trying to understand this bias, and to extract a meaningful signal of change from the noise in the data. This investment has now paid off, because we're now able to report on the status of taxonomic groups, such as bees, that lack standardised monitoring schemes."
"Both the abundance and distribution-based indicators show a decline of 50-60% since 1970, reinforcing the message that conservation agencies have their work cut out to prevent more species from going extinct."
More details of the C4a indicator can be found in the technical report, "Status of threatened species - status of priority species".
Other UK biodiversity indicators with CEH involvement include:
- C6. Insects of the wider countryside (butterflies) population (data from CEH's joint stewardship of the UK Butterfly Monitoring Scheme with Butterfly Conservation)
- C2. Habitat Connectivity (Countryside Survey data)
- B6. Pressure from Invasive species (reflecting our work with the National Biodiversity Network)
- B5. Pressure from Pollution
- C7. Plants of the wider countryside (data from CEH's Countryside Survey)
CEH science also played a key role in the 2011 National Ecosystem Assessment, which is the basis of Indicator D2. Biodiversity and ecosystem services (terrestrial).
Additional information
Biological Records Centre
Staff page of Dr Nick Isaac, CEH
Friday, 27 September 2013
British birds, pollinators and penguin poo - paperblog 7
In the latest edition of the CEH paperblog, we first highlight a recent PLoS ONE paper that involved researchers from Anglia Ruskin University and Dr Shelley Hinsley of CEH in a ten-year study of British birds, and how weather interacts with habitat to determine breeding success. The Cambridgeshire-focused study discovered that birds breeding in urban areas are better able to cope during unusually cold and wet weather, because they are less reliant on a single food source for feeding their chicks. The study compared 2012 - with its notable weather, including a cold and wet spring and lower than average temperatures - to the previous nine years.
Over the whole ten years of the study, birds living in the traditional woodland habitat had fared significantly better and produced larger and healthier broods than their city cousins. However, if extreme weather events become more commonplace due to the effects of climate change, then those birds living in urban environments may ultimately have the advantage. The PLoS ONE paper is open access.
Staying with PLoS ONE, and open access, a study led by Professor Hui Wang of CEH has used new technology to investigate viruses such as varroa destructor virus in honeybees and bumblebees. The results, from a small field trial, show how the use of Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) technology can help understand virus infections in key pollinating insects, with novel observations even from a small sample size. Such technology has potentially interesting applications in ecological and environmental science.
A new paper in the Journal of Applied Ecology also looks at pollinators and other invertebrates that provide important ecosystem services crucial to crop production. A team of researchers led by CEH mapped the distribution of species richness and functional diversity for ground beetles which are important in the delivery of natural pest control and for bees, important for pollination. Understanding national patterns can help to promote more effective crop management and contribute to longer-term food security.
Next, penguins are under the spotlight in a new paper in Atmospheric Environment. The emissions from remote seabird colonies often represent the main source of atmospheric nitrogen into surrounding ecosystems, and can provide useful case studies for scientists investigating nitrogen cycling and emission processes. However before this study no field-based estimates of ammonia emissions from penguin colonies had been published. Data was collected from seven locations around an Adelie penguin colony in the Antarctic and three different atmospheric dispersion models were used to derive the first field-based emission estimates of a penguin colony. The researchers, including Sim Tang and Mark Sutton of CEH, estimate that 2% of the nitrogen excreted by the penguins is emitted as ammonia.
Finally, a featured article in the Journal of Environmental Quality led by Prof Andrew Sharpley (University of Arkansas) and involving Helen Jarvie, Bryan Spears and Linda May of CEH, used long-term monitoring data from a range of case studies (including CEH's Loch Leven and River Lambourn sites) to demonstrate the timelines and processes associated with recovery of water quality following phosphorus reduction measures. The team reported recovery times ranging from years to centuries across terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. Read more in the open access paper and more background in a CEH news story.
Paulette Burns, Media Coordinator
If you'd like a fuller picture of new papers from CEH, just follow the CEH Paper Alerts Twitter feed, which lists CEH peer-reviewed papers newly published online. Full details of Centre for Ecology & Hydrology science publications, including those published in peer-reviewed science journals, are eventually catalogued on the NERC Open Research Archive (NORA).
Those of you who follow the scientific literature will know some journal websites require registration and some are subscription-only. CEH, as part of NERC, is working with publishers and funders to make more of our output open access, and we have indicated above where this is the case.
We also publish lots of our other outputs including biological records atlases and project reports. More details can be found in the publications section of the CEH website.
Over the whole ten years of the study, birds living in the traditional woodland habitat had fared significantly better and produced larger and healthier broods than their city cousins. However, if extreme weather events become more commonplace due to the effects of climate change, then those birds living in urban environments may ultimately have the advantage. The PLoS ONE paper is open access.
Staying with PLoS ONE, and open access, a study led by Professor Hui Wang of CEH has used new technology to investigate viruses such as varroa destructor virus in honeybees and bumblebees. The results, from a small field trial, show how the use of Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) technology can help understand virus infections in key pollinating insects, with novel observations even from a small sample size. Such technology has potentially interesting applications in ecological and environmental science.
A new paper in the Journal of Applied Ecology also looks at pollinators and other invertebrates that provide important ecosystem services crucial to crop production. A team of researchers led by CEH mapped the distribution of species richness and functional diversity for ground beetles which are important in the delivery of natural pest control and for bees, important for pollination. Understanding national patterns can help to promote more effective crop management and contribute to longer-term food security.
Next, penguins are under the spotlight in a new paper in Atmospheric Environment. The emissions from remote seabird colonies often represent the main source of atmospheric nitrogen into surrounding ecosystems, and can provide useful case studies for scientists investigating nitrogen cycling and emission processes. However before this study no field-based estimates of ammonia emissions from penguin colonies had been published. Data was collected from seven locations around an Adelie penguin colony in the Antarctic and three different atmospheric dispersion models were used to derive the first field-based emission estimates of a penguin colony. The researchers, including Sim Tang and Mark Sutton of CEH, estimate that 2% of the nitrogen excreted by the penguins is emitted as ammonia.
Finally, a featured article in the Journal of Environmental Quality led by Prof Andrew Sharpley (University of Arkansas) and involving Helen Jarvie, Bryan Spears and Linda May of CEH, used long-term monitoring data from a range of case studies (including CEH's Loch Leven and River Lambourn sites) to demonstrate the timelines and processes associated with recovery of water quality following phosphorus reduction measures. The team reported recovery times ranging from years to centuries across terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. Read more in the open access paper and more background in a CEH news story.
Paulette Burns, Media Coordinator
Additional information
If you'd like a fuller picture of new papers from CEH, just follow the CEH Paper Alerts Twitter feed, which lists CEH peer-reviewed papers newly published online. Full details of Centre for Ecology & Hydrology science publications, including those published in peer-reviewed science journals, are eventually catalogued on the NERC Open Research Archive (NORA).
Those of you who follow the scientific literature will know some journal websites require registration and some are subscription-only. CEH, as part of NERC, is working with publishers and funders to make more of our output open access, and we have indicated above where this is the case.
We also publish lots of our other outputs including biological records atlases and project reports. More details can be found in the publications section of the CEH website.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)