February 2024

In this issue

British and Irish Wrasses – The New ‘Locust Years’ –Rare Plants and Human History – Rewilding Freshwaters – A History of Biocontrol in Britain

Articles in this issue

CABI

Making friends with natural enemies: a history of biocontrol in Britain

Christopher Berman, Anna Tilling and Sonal Varia

Invasive species cost the UK economy billions of pounds annually, and attempts to tackle them can be time consuming, impermeant and, occasionally, harmful to the environment. One potential low-cost and low-impact approach to reducing the harm caused by invasives is biocontrol – the introduction of specialist predators or parasites present in the invasive species’ homeSee more

In natural processes we trust: rewilding and freshwater-wetland restoration

Carl Sayer, Oliver van Biervliet, Reagan Pearce and Theodore Mills

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Rare plants: where human and natural history meet

James Robertson

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Comment: The new ‘Locust Years’ of ancient-woodland destruction

Ian D. Rotherham

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The colourful lives and times of British and Irish wrasses

Frances Dipper

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Features
in this issue

Book review: Black Ops & Beaver Bombing: Adventures with Britain’s Wild Mammals

Mammals occupy a somewhat unique space in British natural history. Despite being the most popular species group in cultural terms globally, with large charismatic megafauna taking the (pun excused) lion’s share in funding and popular appeal, conservation interest in the UK is dominated more by the birds, butterflies and wildflowers. Our relatively low species diversity,

Book review: The Book of Wilding: A Practical Guide to Rewilding Big and Small

The great success of Isabella Tree’s Wilding and the Knepp Wildland project which it described now leads to a book designed to promote and guide rewilding as an approach to nature conservation everywhere. The authors’ experience at Knepp remains prominent, but we also hear about rewilding projects elsewhere in Britain and abroad. Guidance is given

Paul Stevenson CC BY 2.0 DEED

Conservation news

Conservation news covers a damning report from the Office for Environmental Protection on lack of progress made by the UK government towards its green targets, an update on the Sustainable Farming Scheme in Wales, the return of beavers to the Cairngorms National Park, and all the other major developments from the past two months. Conservation

Smudge-9000-CC-BY-SA-2.0-DEED

Wildlife reports

The Wildlife reports cover the invasion of Waxwings during winter 2023/24; the autumn arrival of a number of Common Green Darner dragonflies, transatlantic wanderers last seen in Britain in 1998; a roundup of notable sawfly records from the 2023 field season; some concerning trends for Britain’s alpine and woodland-associated slime moulds, and much more.   

rach2k (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 DEED)

Habitat management news

Habitat management news covers lessons on the landscape-scale impact of deer culling on regeneration of pinewoods in the Cairngorms, and a modelling study on the effects of different approaches to habitat restoration on communities of, and interactions between, different species groups.

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