ECOS 40(4): Undergraduate winner: What are our otters eating?

Over the last 40 years populations of the elusive Eurasian Otter (Fig.1) have been increasing throughout the UK as a result of conscious efforts to clean up our river systems. However, a recent study investigating the diet of otters inhabiting the Essex countryside has uncovered a surprising find: microplastics. Otters [...]

ECOS 40(4): Undergraduate runner up: The crash of ash

Ash trees across the UK are dying following the relentless spread of the ‘ash dieback’ fungus, Hymenoscyphus fraxineus. It is crucial to understand the mechanisms behind dieback dispersal to secure the future of ash in Britain. Global trade, travel and migration have facilitated the dispersal of many species, including pests [...]

ECOS 40(4): Postgraduate winner: Great crested newts: the modern canary in the coal mine

In recent years great crested newts have declined rapidly across the UK despite measures in place to conserve them. The loss of great crested newts is a warning sign of larger scale wildlife loss. If we act now we can help to reverse the trends we have so far observed [...]

ECOS 40(4): Postgraduate runner up: Wild animals fertilise wild ecosystems: but will we let them?

The collective impact of animals in fertilising ecosystems across the world can offer much to management systems for climate resilience and nature conservation.  Animals influence Earth’s biogeochemistry Animals are not simply passive recipients of a world organised by powerful non-living forces such as climate, soil and fire. Instead they are [...]