Sustainable Biologists

June 2017

Sust ainable Biologist s

W rit t en, edit ed and designed

by Life Science st udent s at Anglia Ruskin Universit y

Table of cont ent s

Juniper Kiss

Message in a bot t le...................................................................................................................2

Cover phot o

Feeding young people's hunger for change....................................................................3

by Wahaj Mahmood, BSc Marine Biology with Biodiversity and Conservation, ARU

Sust ainabilit y in science educat ion and out reach......................................................4 Ext ension in agricult ure: closing t he gap bet ween scient ist s and farmers......5 Soil - not just dirt !...................................................................................................................6-7 Animal ment al healt h and int egrat ion of cognit ive enrichment ...........................8 Elegant organ pipe coral...................................................................................................9-10 Met eor 117 - 26 days of sea surface sampling.....................................................11-12 A complet e fruit case .....................................................................................................13-16 The real value of insect s t o societ y...........................................................................17-18 Brainwashed cat erpillar......................................................................................................19 Radiat ing railroad worm in st ealt h mode.....................................................................20

A Sympetrum danae basking on a Papaver somniferum seed pod at the London Wetland Centre. Adult males regularly occupy such posts to defend their territories in ponds that are idyllic for the development of their larvae. This species has carved a niche in habitats with acidic conditions like peat bogs.

Loss of such habitats due to commercial peat extraction threatens their populations.

Cleaning beaches one st ep at a t ime - Surfers Against Sewage .......................21 Sharks and t ext books............................................................................................................22 St art wit h one st ep.........................................................................................................23 The impact of meat indust ry on t he environment .....................................................24 Defying gravit y: a falconry experience...................................................................25-26 Shepret h Hedgehog Hospit al......................................................................................27-28

Please be aware t hat t his is an open-access magazine, funded by t he Global Sust ainabilit y Inst it ut e at Anglia Ruskin Universit y and edit ed by undergrad st udent s.

Pict ures are subject t o copyright .

Cat Survival Trust .....................................................................................................................29 Phot ographs by Alex Merchan.........................................................................................30

Please not e: t his magazine is t he same as GOES magazine but funded by t he GSI.

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Websit e: https://globalopportunitites.co Facebook: Global Opportunities for Ecological Sustainability Twit t er: @GOESbyJuniper Email: boroka.kiss@student.anglia.ac.uk

Student articles edited and designed within 24 hours and published by an undergraduate student

Message in a bot t le/ magazine Foreword by Juniper Kiss, Editor-in-Chief, BSc Marine Biology with Biodiversity and Conservation Is sust ainabilit y an ideology? Is it science or economics? Is it based on morals and et hics?

With these questions in our head we embarked on the 'Being a Sustainable Biologist' project with Alex Dittrich at Anglia Ruskin University, funded by the Global Sustainability Institute.

We received the 'Be the Change' grant which is available to ARU lecturers to embed sustainability into the university curriculum yearly.

After starting up GOES magazine last September written and designed entirely by science students - I have come to think that motivation and passion is the key to a sustainable future.

Whether it is about livelihoods, natural resource exploitation, food production or renewable energy. It always circulates back to education and conversations.

It has been an amazing opportunity to run a

'mini-module' of talks and computer practicals for my classmates guiding them to reach for the ?key?.

This is a ?mini-module?, where students had the opportunity to learn to write these articles, how to start up their own website, and to use Photoshop and Lucidpress software for design.

How did we learn about sust ainabilit y wit h t his magazine?

We showed up, we had a chat, covered a great variety of topics and now you are holding the end product. If we keep caring, speaking up while in our community, we will get used to the importance of communication and we will get comfortable with it. When someone publishes their first article instead of saying: ?well, it is all finished now?I say, this is only the beginning. I ask for a couple of sentences at the end of the articles about the ?bigger picture? of their topic and to consider what further actions need to be taken

long-term.

Communicat ion for a Sust ainable Fut ure Hence, this magazine. It is the first step for most students to write and put their thoughts and words 'out there'. We had chats about what they would like to achieve with their articles. We have articles which describe something 'weird and wonderful' and make the reader care about them. Others call out for action - join a beach clean, do not believe incorrect articles about banana spiders, try reducing the amount of meat you eat etc. Students are reflecting on their experiences and sharing their knowledge with others.

The main aim of this magazine or GOES is the experience of communicating passion and feeling proud of their education while sharing it in an informal way.

My message in a bot t le It is crucial to get students to care and to be proud of

their education. There are countless children who can only dream of getting a university education, yet it is out of their reach. We should be making the most of our time and resources so we can become responsible and engaging 'grown ups', while also nurturing our 6-year old like curiosity of the world and therefore keeping our drive alive.

If our 'movement ' can spread across ot her universit ies and st udent communit ies, I have every confidence t hat t he 'alt ernat e fact era' will end, polit icians will not look at scient ist s as enemies and we will conserve our nat ural world.

Even if not my generation, let us 'prepare the world' for the next generation of motivated scientists. I hope my ?message in a bottle?is going to be discovered and motivate the collector to continue on supporting students and making them dream big.

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Feeding young people's hunger for change

by Victoria Tait, Education for Sustainability Coordinator, Global Sustainability Institute Since 2010, the NUS and Higher Education Academy have been conducting an annual survey into student attitudes towards sustainability. The results from these surveys have consistently shown that two-thirds of students believe ?sustainable development should be incorporated into all university courses?(Drayson, 2014).

Young people are hungry for change. And in an increasingly globalised and interconnected world, they - perhaps more so than the rest of us - recognise the urgent need for it.

Alongside this, many employers feel that the skills and knowledge that students receive whilst at university are no longer sufficient to meet the ever-evolving demands of the workplace. Graduates should be creative problem solvers, critical thinkers, and have the ability to work collaboratively with others.

As Educat ion for Sust ainabilit y (EfS) Coordinat or, my role is to respond to and deliver on this desire for change? so no pressure!

Fortunately, Anglia Ruskin is a fantastic environment from which to do this. We are one of the UK?s leading universities when it comes to embedding sustainability into 3

education as shown through our recent Responsible Fut ures accreditation award, Gold award for Green Impact , and the fact that sustainability has been a core part of our academic regulations since 2014. This task is also made easier by the large numbers of staff and students who are fully supportive of this agenda. All this means that, in practice, my role is actually about supporting our staff and students to ?be the change?as opposed to telling them what they should or shouldn?t be doing.

This year we are particularly pleased to be working with Alex, Wikimedia Commons

Juniper and other second year biology students in the creation of this magazine. Juniper and Alex are one of three winners of our ?Be t he Change?grant s which provide ÂŁ1000 worth of funding to staff members who are eager to experiment with different approaches to embedding sustainability into their disciplines.

The aims of the magazine strongly align with the core ethos of Education for Sustainability which is about ensuring that our students have the skills, knowledge and attributes to become responsible citizens, now and in the future.

Students who participated in this magazine have gained knowledge of how sustainability is relevant to them (such as Tom Fowler?s Start with one Step article), the skills to enable them to publish and edit a magazine, and attributes that encourage them to take an active role in society (such as Jordan Greenaway?s article on Surfers Against Sewage).

Above all, it provides them with the chance to show just how capable they are of contributing to a more responsible future ? congrat ulat ions t o all who have t aken part !

Sust ainabilit y in science educat ion and out reach

by Alex Dittrich The problem wit h sust aining any idea is cult uring it long enough t o spread.

Just like t he t rees, ideas need t o cast t heir seeds far and wide or else it will never become a forest . It is herein, which lays t he problem wit h science.

Spreading t he seed is t he difficult part and only if t hat seed is cast far enough, can it est ablish and spread t o new areas.

Let ?s t ake an example of scient ific principal, climat e change. It ?s a big one, affect s us all and most import ant ly in t he cont ext of t his art icle t here is 97% scient ific consensus on it (Cook et al., 2016).

Then why t he debat e?

Not get t ing polit ical - t he problem may lay in educat ion. W it hout being able t o act ively disseminat e t he science, t his leaves many people vulnerable t o misinformat ion. There is evidence t o suggest t hat a resist ance t o science can be cult ured at an early st age in a child?s development (Bloom and Weisberg, 2007).

These cognit ive biases, can t hen be somewhat damaging.

The recent rise in ?populist ?polit ics and agendas across Europe has oft en part nered wit h t he sound-bit e ?we have had enough of expert s?, it is easy t o claim as t o why t his phrase is used, because t he work of t he ?expert s?oft en does not sit well wit h t hose individuals who are selling t heir own agendas. These biases and prejudices are t hen easily cult ured

wit hin a general public, unable t o disseminat e fact from opinion.

Making science underst andable, disseminat ing it t o t he public and making people engage is t he next and most import ant st ep in t ruly generat ing a sust ainable scient ific cult ure.

W it h effort s at public engagement ? cert ainly in t he biosciences ? at t endance is dominat ed wit h scient ist s t hemselves. The ineffect ive approaches t o out reach not sit t ing well wit h a dist rust ful public (Varner 2014). But why is it so flawed?

A rat her depressing st at ist ic from Meho (2007) claimed t hat 90% of all scient ific papers remained unreferenced, alt hough t his figure is around 27% for t he nat ural sciences (Larivière et al., 2009). This gives pause for t hought , because if t he scient ific communit y isn?t engaging wit h it self, t hen what hope is t here for engaging wit h a wider ? already scept ical ? public?

So, what is t he ideal model? How can we, as scient ist s engage wit h t he public and cult ure a t ruly sust ainable communit y of scient ist s ? or at least scient ifically lit erat e public ? for t he fut ure?

I am not sure t hat t here is one definit ive answer. But t he most import ant t hing is t o not give up.

Underst anding where t here are gaps in knowledge and where conflict s exist bet ween t he public and t he scient ist s, are where we should focus our effort s. Varner (2014) put t his in a very clear, honest and pragmat ic way, which is humorously simple ?we must take a more scientific approach, and we must practice outreach with the same rigor asthe science that we share with the public?.

From t his quot e t he problem all along is simple, we aren?t t reat ing our out reach as a science it self, we are scient ist s, science works, why break t he habit of a lifet ime. W it h t rails, failures and furt her work we will get t here, event ually.

References Bloom, P. and Weisberg, D.S., 2007.

Childhood origins of adult resist ance t o science, Science, Vol 316(5827), pp.996-997 Cook, J., Oreskes, N., Doran, P. T., Anderegg, W. R., Verheggen, B., Maibach, E. W., ... & Nuccit elli, D., 2016. Consensus on consensus: a synt hesis of consensus est imat es on human-caused global warming. Environmental Research Letters, Vol 11(4), 048002 Meho, L.I., 2007. The rise and rise of cit at ion analysis. PhysicsWorld, Vol 20(1), pp.32 Larivière, V., Gingras, Y. and Archambault , É., 2009. The decline in t he concent rat ion of cit at ions, 1900?2007. Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology, Vol 60(4), pp.858-862 Varner, J., 2014. Scient ific out reach: t oward effect ive public engagement wit h biological science. BioScience, p.biu021

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Ext ension in agricult ure: closing t he gap bet ween scient ist s and farmers

by Juniper Kiss, BSc Marine Biology with Biodiversity and Conservation Agricult ure can be regarded as a ?big monst er?from a conservation point of view, but everyone benefits from it. As a consumer, we get to enjoy porridge, toast or cereal in the morning without having to have a field of wheat or oats in the back garden. Buying food in shops makes it easy to forget where our daily meals have come from, how much work it took for people to grow and prepare them and ? the focus of my article ? how much knowledge scientists have added to the production of our dinner.

How do experiment s in labs and glasshouses result in a more sust ainable food product ion syst em around t he world?

In developing countries, agriculture is the main sector providing employment, income and presence in international market.

Over 80% of the populations? livelihoods come from the agricultural sector in Sub Saharan Africa, yet 338 million people (51% of the population) live below the poverty line (World Bank, 2014).

Increasing technological advances enable farmers to multiply their production by several fold by use of machines, fertilisers, and integrated pest management (IPM) and integrated crop systems.

However, in developing countries many small farmholder?s entire income is based on their harvest while being isolated from cities, computers and having no way of 5

attaining information about technological advancements.

Scient ific discoveries need t o reach t he farmers who need t his informat ion t he most .

For example, researchers in Uganda published a study (which is $41 t o access online; v an Asten et al., 2011) which has quantified how intercropping bananas and coffee in Uganda is profitable and does not depend on the fluctuation of crop prices. Now that scientists have done the research and the statistics, it can be explained clearly and suggested to farmers. In Uganda, this system provided economic growth, as they are the world?s second largest banana producers and the eleventh largest coffee producer (FAO, 2010).

Plant health is the central focus point of agriculture. Fungal, viral and bacterial infections of crops may result in losing over half of the harvest. The most significant threats are caused by fungi in agriculture. However, diagnosing plants with fungal infections requires experience and training.

W hat are ext ension programs?

By creating a network of information distribution, farmers have access to information about the use of fertilisers and other developments. It can be in many forms ? such as an app for calculating how large the field is, what crop they are growing and

how much and which fertilisers should be applied to increase yield.

The main delivery system of information was developed in 1970s as ?Training and Visit?(T&V) when an ext ension agent scientists with both technical and practical knowledge ? visit farmers regularly, monitoring the plant and soil health (Birkhauser, 1996). The agent suggests techniques that will increase the yield and sustainability of the farm and helps the farmer to adopt these techniques. Then the farmer may try these innovations out and if the outcome is satisfactory, these techniques spread quickly by word-of-mout h in the community.

There is also a t wo way communicat ion between scientists and the farmers via the agent. The agent also reports back the farmer?s problems to institutes which can then map the distribution of viruses, bacteria, soil quality, create ?alerts?on apps and online platforms for other farmers.

The perfect way to show how an extension program works is to look at CABI?s Plant wise program. CABI is a not-for-profit organisation and Plantwise is a CABI-led global initiative which is an incredible network of plant clinics, research institutes and trained ?plant doctors?(extension agents).

They have already est ablished 2,300 plant clinics, reached 9,800,000 farmers and t rained 6,800 plant doct ors.

Plant clinics are run by ?plant doctors?where farmers can take their crops and soil samples and ask for advice. Then the plant doctor examines the samples and decides if further sampling and analysis is needed. If it does need further analysis, they send samples to research institutes which then send back the results to the plant doctor.

All the information that is needed for diagnosing ?sick plants?is complied in the Plantwise?s Knowledge Bank.

Visit the ?Knowledge Bank?page (www.plantwise.org) and you will find that you can identify pest problems, see pest distribution and sign up for alerts, read plant health news and most importantly, read over 10,000 factsheets about plant pathogens and pests. This information is freely available both online and via the Plantwise Factsheet Library app.

References Birkhaeuser, D., Evenson, R.E. and Feder, G., 1991. The economic impact of agricultural extension: A review. Economic development and cultural change, Vol 39(3), pp.607-650

Van Asten, P.J.A., Wairegi, L.W.I., Mukasa, D. and Uringi, N.O., 2011. Agronomic and economic benefits of coffee?banana intercropping in Uganda?s smallholder farming systems. Agricultural systems, Vol 104(4), pp.326-334

Soil - not just dirt !

From a hungry perspective

by Juniper Kiss Juniper Kiss

It is easy to buy neat and highly fertile soil at garden centres.

However, when I was in the Namib Desert and we were looking for ways to grow lattice, horse radish and other vegetables, but we could not drive to a gardening centre so we used old Land Rover t ires as ?pot s?and pure sand. It is crucial to be able to make the most of the resources available in remote locations and understand the limitations. It was a great surprise that all the vegetables grew beautifully in the sand, only needing to be soaked with water two times per day.

So why do gardeners need to buy the expensive soil if sand only is enough for these plants to grow?

It comes down t o soil fert ilit y.

In nature, it is simple: plants grow, using water, photosynthesis, nutrients and minerals from the soil

and then they die back and decompose. This is a straightforward, balanced process.

With the unprecedentedly increasing population, people no longer have the time to keep this balance. Seed is sown in a field.

Fertilisers, pesticides and herbicides are sprayed with the aim to decrease crop loss. Then they harvest, and they need to use the field again the following season. As the plants are removed, the soil is tilled and sprayed to remove the rhizomes of the crop, hence the nutrients are not recycled into the soil.

If you put cut flowers in a vase, eventually they die as nutrients are crucial for plant development, they need more than 'just water?.

Worldwide fert iliser usage

bet ween 1950 and 1998 has increased more t han 10-fold (FAO, 1998). Fertilisers have given an opportunity for industrialised agriculture to keep growing crops without waiting for the soil to recover from the ?nut rient robbery? from plants.

It is estimated that crops act ually only absorb a t hird of t he applied nit rogen from fertilisers (Tilman, 1998) and the over usage of fertilisers can create run offs and gradually decrease the acidity of soils (Horrignan et al., 2002). The way to visualise the effect of nitrogen run off is to look at the Mississippi River and the dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico (Rabalais et al., 1996). The large amount of nitrogen run offs along the Mississippi resulted in algal 6

blooms which then had a chain reaction in the food chain. This dead zone is 20,000 km2 in the ocean.

Again, from a conservationist point of view, fertilisers are ?troublesome?, however t hey make an enormous growt h in production when applied properly. In developing countries, fertilisers could have a large effect on small farm holders. It is because of the lack of optimal application and available information that developing countries use less fertilisers.

In Sub-Saharan Africa, average fertiliser is 8 kg per hect are and the countries have shown 0.93% production growth in 1982-2002 (FAOSTAT, 1982-2002). In comparison, in South Asia, the average of 101 kg per hect are was applied had a 5% production growth in the same year. Poor agricultural practice leads to soil degradation, erosion and in extreme cases, desert ificat ion.

The annual cost of desertification is estimated to be $42.3 billion and 20 million km2 of all land surface shows some degree of desertification (Bright, 1997).

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If it is so cost ly t o lose soil, why are t hese pract ices in place?

To some extent, government subsidies might support the unsustainable practices. In Japan, the use of insecticides used on rice farms is half of all insect icides used for rice production in the world, but they only produce 2% of the world?s crops. The government subsidies ($13 billion) in Japan makes this practice profitable for farmers.

When crop production is compared to the beef industry, cereals provide 2-10 t imes more prot ein for human consumption, while legumes 10-20 t imes more (Goodland, 1999). It would ?make sense?to decrease meat production however, the profitability of meat production shifts the market.In America, total subsidies for federal grazing is a least $500 million per year - paid by tax payers (Myers, 1998).

increasing population growth, hence the need for more food, is going towards a tipping point.

There is a great need to slow these processes down, find sustainable solutions and highlight the importance of soils to the public, governmental bodies and industrial agricultural companies.

References Bright, C., 1997. Tracking the ecology of climate change. In: State of the Word 1997.

Washington, DC: W .W Norton FAO. Annual Fertiliser Yearbook 1998.

Rome: Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations FAOSTAT, 1982-2002. Available: http://www.fao.org/faostat/ Goodland, R., 1999. Livestock Sector Environmental Assessment. World Bank Draft Report. Washington, DC : World Bank Madeley, John 2002. Food for all: the need for a new agriculture. London: London Zed Myers, N., 1983. A wealth of wild species: storehouse for human welfare. Boulder, CO: Westview Press

However, the market is defined by the consumer?s needs. We are the consumers and therefore it is up t o all of us if we were going t o shift t his market t owards a more sust ainable direct ion.

Rabalais, N.N., Turner, R.E., Justi?, D., Dortch, Q., Wiseman, W.J. and Sen Gupta, B.K., 1996. Nutrient changes in the Mississippi River and system responses on the adjacent continental shelf. Estuariesand coasts, Vol 19(2), pp.386-407

The rapidly increasing loss of healthy, fertile soil, yet the equally

Tilman, D., 1998. The greening of the green revolution. Nature, Vol 396(6708), pp.211-212

Fertilisers 's effect on maize production in India. Correct application makes an enormous growth (right side).

Kat e's art icle

Animal ment al healt h and int egrat ion of cognit ive enrichment int o UK welfare st andards

by Kate Goldsbrough, BSc Zoology Over the past decade, the importance of animal psychological healt h has grown both in the UK and internationally. It is both a matter of animal physiology, cognitive science, ethology and philosophy (Watanabe, 2007) which makes it hard t o precisely quant ify t he effect of different husbandry pract ices on animal welfare.

Animal psychopathology is the study of mental or behavioural disorders in animals. Many animals such as dogs, cats and horses have been proven to suffer from mental health issues such as PTSD and depression (McMillan, 2005). As animal welfare continues to improve in the UK, animal mental health should also become more prevalent in welfare guidelines as we come to understand its significance. Cognitive exercises

should be accessible in captivity, which could include anything from food capturing games, toys, being able to express normal behaviours as well as emotional enrichment such as having company or finding a mate.

Different t ypes of enrichment should be tailored to each species.

UK welfare standards differ both for different species and for sectors they are used in, for example, in farming, laboratory studies, pets etc. (DEFRA, 2016). Most st andards are for physical needs such as food, water, environmental space and shelter which all do effect the mental state of animals as well as keeping physical health.

But still only meeting these needs while lacking other cognitive enrichment can still lead to poor welfare for the animals.

DEFRA fines up to ÂŁ20,000 to animal owners for cruelty or not meeting welfare needs. The Animal Welfare Act 2006 says ?It ?s your dut y t o care?and most farm animals have to go through inspections, have to have record keeping, freedom of movement, buildings and equipment and the feeding and watering of animals.

We learn the five degrees of freedom while learning about Animal Behaviour which are: 1. Freedom from hunger or t hirst by ready access to fresh water and a diet to maintain full health and vigour by providing an appropriate

environment including shelter and a comfortable resting area 3. Freedom from pain, injury or disease by prevention or rapid diagnosis and treatment 4. Freedom t o express (most ) normal behaviour by providing sufficient space, proper facilities and company of the animal's own kind 5. Freedom from fear and dist ress by ensuring conditions and treatment which avoid mental suffering Mental health has become less of a social stigma and controversial topic for people to talk about and it is understood to be very important to a person?s wellbeing. The same stands for animals, their mental health matters for their wellbeing just as much. They do not have a voice like we do to ask for help, yet they can suffer just the same as we do. If we make more consideration and empathy into our daily care for our domesticated and captive animals, I am sure we will gain many benefits both for ourselves and for the animals.

References McMillan, F.D., 2008. Mental health and well-being in animals. John Wiley & Sons Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs. 2016. GOV.UK. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/animal-welfare Watanabe, S., 2007. How animal psychology contributes to animal welfare.

Applied Animal Behaviour Science, Vol 106(4), pp.193-202

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Elegant Organ Pipe Coral

by Wahaj Mahmood Foundation Year, BSc Marine Biology with Biodiversity and Conservation

Tubipora musica is a soft coral species that is distributed around the world?s tropical marine habitats.

The Organ Pipe Coral, named as such by Linnaeus in 1758 is a zooxanthellate coral that inhabits depths down to 12 meters. Unlike most other soft corals, T. musica polyps secrete a red calcium carbonate skeletal structure called a corallum, functionally similar to that of hard corals. However, the structure is relatively brittle so unable to build reefs like true hard corals. The species is used in jewellery, medicinal and aquarium trades for the visual appeal of its red corallum, polyps and alternative medicine.

Wahaj Mahmood

Biology The polyps secrete cylindrical CaCO3 structures vertically, parallel to that of other polyps of the same colony. The mound shaped colony of fleshy polyps 9

secrete new layers of CaCO3 on top of the old to grow outwards so only the top most layer is alive. The cavities in the corallum provide important habitat for microorganisms like sponges and benthic plankton.

The CaCO3 corallum are unusual in their red colour as aragonite is chalky white. However, it is understood that that the colour is due to carotenoids produced by the specific species of Symbiodinium algae that is a symbiont of T. musica (Marks, 2015).

The tissue of the polyps harbour single celled endosymbiotic algae which photosynthesise to produce glucose and other substances that benefit the polyps. In return, the algae receive CO2, N 2O and other nutrients that the polyps produce by ingesting zooplankton, which would otherwise be unavailable to the algae in relatively nutrient poor waters (Murphy, 2002).

The polyps catch prey mostly at night during the nocturnal zooplankton migration. The tentacles of the polyps fire nematocytes when they contact with zooplankton and if captured, ciliate action and flexing of tentacles pulls the prey into the

Wahaj Mahmood

mouth for ingestion (Lewis, 1982).

According to Sorokin (1991), up to 40% of the coral?s metabolism is fuelled by the predation of zooplankton. Their appearance varies greatly, despite them being classed as a single species. This may be for several reasons, not least because no complete phylogenetic study has been carried out to classify all known varieties of this potentially cryptic species. It could also be that T. musica variants are part of a species complex, also known as a super species, that has only relatively recently started to diverge (Amadon, 1966).

Threat s Ocean acidification and surface temperatures are increasing due to climate change. This results in more frequent coral bleaching events and disruption in the rate at which corals can secrete their alkaline CaCO3 support structures.

Pollutant run off into parts of the ocean results in the increase of available nutrients and subsequent algal blooms. In such conditions, algae out-compete coral for resources causing additional stress.

Damaged and stressed corals with weakened immune systems struggle to defend themselves against pathogens and encrusting benthic organisms like bacteria,

algae and sponges. The resultant tissue damage makes them susceptible to fatal infections like Brown Band Disease (Katz, 2014).

This coral disease was first described in 2003 in Australia, and has been spreading rapidly. It manifests dense ciliates which eventually expose the underlying white skeleton.

Furthermore, this species is also under pressure from poor fishing practices, invasive species, jewellery t rade and uncont rolled collect ion where readily available live specimens can cost around ÂŁ65 for a small colony (Live Aquaria, 2017). Although collection is well managed in some regions of the world, countless specimens are taken in uncontrolled numbers in parts of South East Asia, seriously impacting the populations (Lee, 2014). These pressures have caused a significant decline in their population and are now listed Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List.

Sust ainable fut ure Loss of T. musica would negatively impact the reefs they inhabit by removing the unique habitat they provide and partnerships they form

with many other organisms.

Countries such as Australia and USA already ut ilise sust ainable and profit able syst ems for collecting coral without significantly impacting their numbers or the health of the reefs.

If this system can be used in South East Asia along with reducing the effects of climate change and pollution, the Organ Pipe Coral and the reefs it inhabits have the resilience to recover and t hrive once again.

These were maintained in Red Sea conditions as due to the other chemical parameters of my aquaria, the most stable equilibrium for salinity was 35 g/kg and a density of 1.026 kg/m3. The levels of Ca, Mg, NO3, lighting, rate of wave action and many other ions and parameters were maintained long

In Aquaria Wahaj Mahmood

I started importing T. musica specimens in 2012 when I Octocorallia like T. musica display 8 way maintained reef aquaria symmetry in their polyps. Their resemblance specialising in soft corals. To meet to flowers is due to analogous evolution. their metabolic demands and to encourage natural behaviour, the term within a narrow range but the colonies were fed live rotifers, exact levels and methods with copepods and other zooplankton which these were maintained are a every night. These were partly discussion for another article. cultured in phytoplankton to Nevertheless, t he aim was t o supplement numbers but a provide a st able environment that self-sufficient breeding population replicates as closely as possible the of zooplankton was also conditions of a reef crest. This is established in the aquaria?s vital for the survival of marine separate, sheltered rubble and mud invertebrates in aquaria as they are zones. highly sensitive to any deviations from the conditions of the habitat they have evolved in.

References Amadon, D., 1966. The Superspecies Concept.

Systematic Biology, Vol 15(3), pp.245-249 Katz, S. M., Pollock, F.J., Bourne, D.G. and Willis, B.L., 2014. Crown-of-thorns starfish predation and physical injuries promote brown band disease on corals. Coral Reefs, Vol 33(3), pp.705-716 Lee, J. J., 2014. Do you know where your aquarium fish come from?

National Geographic Lewis, J. B., 1982. Feeding behaviour and feeding ecology of the octocorallia. Journal of Zoology, Vol 196(3), pp.371-384 Live Aquaria, 2017. Pipe Organ Coral, http://www.liveaquaria.com Marks, K., 2015. Musical Coral? Khaled Bin Sultan Living OceansFoundation, https://www.livingoceansfoundation.org/ tubipora-musica-coral Murphy, R. C., 2002. Coral Reefs: CitiesUnder the Seas. California: The Darwin Press.

Wahaj Mahmood

Sorokin, Y.I. 1991. Biomass, metabolic rates and feeding of some common zoantharians and octocorals. Australian Journal of Marine Freshwater Research, Vol 42, pp.729-741

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M et eor 117 - 26 days of sea su r f ace sam plin g

by Frederik Lennart Tunn Feldmann BSc Marine Biology with Biodiversity and Conservation In summer 2015, I had the opportunity to take part at a research cruise (M 117) on the research vessel RV Meteor.

I was lucky to be given an internship at the ICBM (Inst it ut e for Chemist ry and Biology of t he Marine Environment , W ilhelmshaven) during their cruise. I was on board with researchers from the ICBM , IOW (Leibniz Institute for Baltic Sea Research, Warnemünde) and TROPOS (Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research, Leipzig).

The main research programme of the ICBM on this cruise was the study of the Sea Surface Microlayer (SML), also called Paramet erizat ion of t he Sea-Surface Microlayer (PASSME) project.

RV Meteor depart ed from Hamburg on 23 July, traveling through the Kiel Canal into the Baltic Sea up to the Gulf of Finland, passing the Gotland Basin and ending the cruise at the port of Rost ock on 17August.

The ship belongs to the Federal Republic of Germany with headquarters in the Universit y of 11

Hamburg. It was commissioned for the first time in 1986, has a length of 97.5 m and a width of 16.5 m.

The ship has a crew of 33 people and enough cabins for 30 scientists, who have access to 20 laboratories.

It has space for a lot of necessary equipment, like for example a CTD, pump CTD, a ScanFish or diving robots. Like for all German research vessels, research institutes can apply to rent the Meteor for research cruises. The ship can stay on sea for 50 days without refueling.

Apart from the laboratories the ship also has space for leisure activities, for example it has a library, a gym and a bar. It also has two dining rooms, one for the crew and one for the scientists.

Like at all research vessels t he food was ext raordinary and diversified.

interface between atmosphere and ocean, covering more than 70% of the earth surface. It has a thickness of between 1 ? 1000 µm and consist s mainly of amino acids, lipids and carbohydrat es (Liss and Duce, 2005).

This film may play a significant role in biogeochemical processes, for example in controlling the gas exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide. It is enriched by organic compounds which slow down the exchange of gases between the atmosphere and the ocean, therefore it is important for climate change research.

The SML is also very important for many different zooplankt on species, since a high number autotrophic organisms - like phytoplankton or cyanobacteriacan be found within this layer, especially on sunny, warm days Cunliffe et al. ,2013)

We took samples at stations set up To sample the SML, we used by the Helsinki Commission and the three different methods.

IOW as part of a long-term monitoring programme (Universität 1. Sampling wit h a buoy the carbon Hamburg. 2017). Research Leader dioxide exchange rates were was Dr. Oliver Wurl of the ICBM. measured. The control unit is The SML is the boundary layer placed on top of the buoy. The

floating chamber forms a sealed area above the sea surface, which enables taking measurements of the density of CO2, while the CO2 sensor is placed below the sea surface. In order to take the measurements, the buoy is placed on the sea away from the research vessel and left floating for a longer time.

2. Sampling wit h a glass plat e. This has to be done manually on a motor boat. The plate has to be held into the sea vertically, before it can be pulled out slowly. Since the SML is hydrophobic, it sticks to the glass plate and can be swiped off and sampled into a bottle.

3. Sampling wit h a remot e-cont rolled measurement device, a cat amaran, developed by the researchers at the ICBM. It is multifunctional and can sample the SML with rotating glass plates and measures CO2, O2, pH, temperature, aerosols and even photosynthesis.

Focus was set on the SML in upwelling areas, since it is highly saturated in carbon dioxide and enhances primary production.

The SML samples were filtered on board and stored for further analyses in the laboratories of the ICBM.

Apart from the long-term monitoring group, the IOW also sent researchers to investigate the connections between the from deep wat er ascending compounds suitable as nutrition for plants and the development of cyanobacteria, which can be lethal for humans.

Another group did research on how the energy t urnover wit hin different zooplankt on communit ies can vary depending on the nutrition quality, which usually is phytoplankton. Special point of interest are upwelling areas, since they have a large impact on the composition of phytoplankton.

Also under the leadership of the IOW one research group was investigating the source of organic mercury compounds. Another part of this research was the influence of upwelling transportation on the atmosphere, which can have a lethal impact on the environment.

The TROPOS group was investigating the influence of upwelling areas on the format ion of aerosols. Organic materials are transported into the atmosphere via aerosols and contribute to the formation of gas particles on which water is condensing in the later process, which then are forming clouds. In doing so they massively

influence weather and temperature of the earth.

Since the SML is most ly undiscovered in its properties around the world, it is important to continue studying it, especially considering its important role in gas exchange, which makes it important to understand its impact on climate change. In terms of biodiversit y of plankt on it also has an equal impact and therefore further research is necessary to understand the complexity of the SML. Even though we did a month full of research the main work still has to be done in the laboratories of the research institutes beacause of the large quantities of samples.

However, what remains are the good memories of working and living for 26 days in the solitude of the ocean.

References Cunliffe, M., Engel, A., Frka, S., Ga?parovi?, B., Guitart, C., Murrell, J.C., Salter, M., Stolle, C., Upstill-Goddard, R. and Wurl, O., 2013. Sea surface microlayers: A unified physicochemical and biological perspective of the air?ocean interface. Progressin Oceanography, Vol 109, pp.104-116 Universität Hamburg. 2017. Weekly Reports and Short Cruise Reports. Available at: https://www.ldf.uni-hamburg.de/en/meteor/ wochenberichte.html

Juniper Kiss

The Sea Surface Microlayer (SML) is rich in phyt oneust on and bact erioneust on. The word 'neust on' means t hey live in t he surface layer.

12

No - it is not an evil spider!

It is Tiger wandering spider (Cupiennius salei) and belongs to the banana spiders.

A complet e fruit case ? attempting to set the record straight on banana spiders, spidersin bananasand bananasin journalism

by Leah Fitzpatrick, BSc Zoology

There are t hree t hings that all humans will encounter in their life; death, taxes and newspaper articles telling you that there are killer spiders hiding in your bananas. Death is an unfortunate side effect of living and taxes are the price to pay for democracy but both are unavoidable.

Spider articles, on the other hand, should be avoidable. Non-existent if we?re being honest, yet time again journalists will buy into the public?s arachnophobia, using click-bait titles coupled with vague facts (rarely will you find one of these articles with a report from a museum/pest control company confirming the actual identify of the spider) and a quick Google search of ?world?s deadliest spider?to bring a new article on how yet another family had to evacuate their home after finding a Brazilian wandering spider (Phoneutria fera and Phoneutria nigriventer) in t heir bananas.

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Are t hese slanderous art icles ent irely t o blame for t he cult ure of fear surrounding banana spiders?

Not entirely. The issue with banana spiders runs much deeper than these articles because truthfully there is a conflicting amount of information on what a banana spider actually is, let alone why some spiders are so frequently found in bananas and what the chances are of being hurt by one.

Before setting the record straight on these spiders, it should be decided what spiders we?re discussing, as well as some background knowledge; there are three genera and two families of spiders commonly associated with banana spiders. Three spider genera (Bannana, Nephilia and Argiope) are associated with bananas in name alone, all three of them present little to no harm to humans and are never found in

bananas themselves. Nevertheless there are still banana spider articles you can find that include pictures of these spiders (mostly the last two genera).

The genus Bannana represents 2 species found within the Oonopidae (Goblin) family in the Yunnan Province rainforests. Both species are pale yellow in colour, about 1-1.8 mm long and completely blind. While one would be inclined to believe t heir binomial name is a humorous reference to their colour, the etymology of the name is actually from Xishuangbanna prefecture (Li and Tong, 2015).

The other two genera are known as banana spiders by a local name. The species Argiope appensa is known as banana spider in Guam. The introduction of the brown tree snake (Boiga irregularis) eradicated many native bird species, and now there are 40 times more invertebrates than on other islands as a result.

Like our native counterpart Argiope bruennichi, it has a striking yellow and black pattern across its body, although this is only found on females while the males are a drab brown and much smaller (Rogers et al., 2008).

Following on from sexual dimorphism, the genus Nephilia (Golden silk-orb weavers) are the final group known in name only as banana spiders ? while larger species females may look intimidating, 6.6 cm in diameter with legs (about the size of a human hand!), their bite is only slightly painful, leaving swelling on the site.

Nephilia is more famous for its beautiful golden coloured silk.

Simon Peers and Nicholas Godley used over a million individual spiders to create a cape using their silk (Leggett, 2009).

The two families are where we get into ?juicy?part of the banana spiders; newsworthy reports of spiders in bananas typically fall either the infamous Hunt sman spiders (Sparassidae) or Wandering spiders (Ct enidae, in particular the genera Cupiennius and Phoneutria).

The first quest ion t o ask ourselves is: W hy do t hese spider families show up in our fruit so oft en?

There are two answers.

1. Locat ion ties in to counties that export fruit: Sparassidae species are found nearly worldwide (we have a few species present within the UK) while Ctenidae species can be found in warm countries including Brazil, most of South East Asia and nearly all of Africa.

2. Bananas provide easy living.

Spiders are almost exclusively carnivores, preying on other invertebrates ? fruits such as bananas are perfect habitats for these invertebrates as they?re a reliable energy source. Aside from a plentiful food source, bananas also offer shelter for spiders; banana flowers are hollow tubes which is a great spot to avoid any tropical showers, the leaves are as well.

Despite the rigorous process of pesticides and fruit being placed into cold stores before being shipped, spiders (and egg sacs) can

Wikimedia Commons

A female Golden orb weaver (Nephilia sp.) in the Philippines.

still survive this process. Most likely that individuals which survive, place t hemselves int o a st at e of t orpor. By the time they reach our supermarket shelves they have begun to warm up and return to normal functions.

Now about the spiders themselves. Sparassidae have rat her deceiving looks. Tropical species are some of the largest spiders alive, a male specimen of maxima found in the MusĂŠum national d'Histoire naturelle collection from Laos had a leg span of 30 cm (if you?d like an idea of this size, shut this magazine or find a sheet of A4 paper ? the length of that is the same as this spider!). Despite their large size and large chelicerae (jaws), all they can do to a human is leave a painful bite but t heir venom has no effect on humans.

Specimens found in bananas are typically from the genus Heteropoda and are rather drab earthy colours (Jager, 2001). The Ctenidae family, in comparison, does live up to its looks. Two genera are particularly notorious within this group, Cupiennius and Phoneutra, are found in Central and Southern America. Large specimens of these groups can have a leg span between 10-17 cm long, making t hem like t he Hunt sman spiders very formable looking creatures.

Cupienniusvenom is poorly understood, but species that have been analysed were painful but not life t hreat ening. Phoneutra bites had serious life threatening bites recorded, in particular the notorious P. fera.

Phoneutra fera, otherwise known as the Brazilian wandering spider.

It?s a beautiful creature, with bright red chelicerae and stripes on its leg, unusually for spiders they are highly aggressive ? it will lift its front four legs off the ground, displaying it s chilcera, warning you not t o come any closer.

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This is where the facts get muddled ? you have a group of moderately venomous and aggressive spiders along with two groups that pose no serious harm to humans, all being found within banana fruits (as well as other imports from their countries of origin).

Differentiating between Sparassidae and Ct enidae isn?t too difficult.

All of these spiders, particularly to the untrained eye, look very similar; a large, brown coloured spider with sizable fangs. This confusing dilemma, coupled wit h humans having a t endency t o jump t o t he worst conclusion when panicking, and an unfortunately small amount of correct identification guides, is how so many banana spider articles have come from (Foelix, 2004).

First , the fruit's country of origin. If it?s outside of Central/South America then you?ve definitely got a Huntsman spider. Second, what is the animal 's posture like ? does it look more similar to a giant house spider (Eratigena atrica) or crab?

Sparassidae have legs rotated at a slight angle, which allows them to flat t en t hemselves, the way they hold their legs looks similar t o a cab which is unique to their genus.

Finally, if possible, take a look at t heir eyes ? Sparassidae have two

rows with four each, Ct enidae have six in the bottom row and two in the top row .

Telling the difference between Ctendiae is difficult ? many people believe you can identify P.fera based on their red chelicerae alone but in 2006, Cupiennius chiapanensiswas discovered which also has red chelicerae.

Out of 61 spiders belonging to the family Ctedniade, that were sent to scientists for identification, only seven of them belonged to Phoneutra. Nearly half of them were C. chiapanensis (Vetter and Hillenberg, 2008). So, the chances of finding a Phoneutra spider, as hopefully conveyed through this article are very slim.

But let ?s say t hat you do come across one, what ?s t he likelihood t hat you?ll need t o st art writ ing your will?

A study conducted in 2000 (Bucaretchi), found that out of 422 bites by Phoneutra, only 2.3% required antivenom from the hospital, and a further 0.5% had serious envenomation from the spider. Unless you were under the age of 10, or over 70 years old, your chances of surviving a bite from a Phoneutra spider are very high. The last confirmed report of a Phoneutra spider found in the UK was in 2005 when a pub chef was bitten and had to spend a week

recovering but he did survive (Vetter et al., 2014).

W hat about egg sacs?

Typical images of egg sacs found within bananas show a small (a few centimeters) shallow webbed mess. Egg sacs belonging to Ct enidae, are anywhere in size from a golf ball to a snooker ball with a texture that looks like a mix between a poached egg and cotton wool. Suffice to say, there is a clear difference between the two and the chances of any spiderlings surviving are very low regardless.

When facts are taken into account, many of t he banana spider art icles are t all t ales filled wit h fear mongering ? the kinds of exciting stories that get papers flying off the selves. With a little education and a change in tone, these articles can become a thing of the past, a fun footnote to place at the back of a paper. Our spiders are vilified enough without these sensationalist articles despite providing us many ecological services such as pest control.

When the inevitable banana spider article happens next month, resist t he t empt at ion t o read it , if we make a collective effort to stop reading these article then hopefully we only have to prepare ourselves to deal with death and taxes.

Wikimedia Commons

15 Heteropoda venatoria belongs to Sparassidae. Notice that it has have two rows with four each, holding its egg sac tightly.

Nephilia sp.

Notice the golden cobweb which gives this spider's family name.

References Bucaretchi, F., Dues Reinaldo, C., Hyslop, S., Madureira, P., De Capitani, E. and Vieira, R., 2000. A clinico-epidemiological study of bites by spiders of the genus Phoneutria.

Revista do Instituto de Medicina Tropical de SĂŁo Paulo, Vol 42(1), pp.17-21 Foelix, R., 2014. Biology of Spiders. New York: Oxford University Press.

Jager, P., 2001. A new species of Heteropoda (Araneae, Sparassidae, Heteropodinae) from Laos, the largest huntsman spider? Zoosystema,Vol 23(3), pp.461-465

Leggett, H., 2009. 1 Million Spiders Make Golden Silk for Rare Cloth. WIRED. Available at: https://www.wired.com/2009/09/spider-silk/ Li, S. and Tong, Y., 2015. One new genus and two new species of oonopid spiders from Xishuangbanna Rainforest, southwestern China (Araneae, Oonopidae). ZooKeys, Vol 494, pp.1-12 Rogers, H., Hille Ris Lambers, J., Miller, R. and Tewksbury, J., 2012. ?Natural experiment?Demonstrates Top-Down Control of Spiders by Birds on a Landscape

Level. PLoSONE, Vol 7(9), pp. e43446 Vetter, R. and Hillebrecht, S., 2008.

Distinguishing two often-misidentified genera (Cupiennius, Phoneutria) (Araneae: Ctenidae) of large spiders found in Central and South American cargo shipments.

American Entomologist, Vol 54(2), pp.88-93 Vetter, R.S., Crawford, R.L. and Buckle, D.J., 2014. Spiders (Araneae) found in bananas and other international cargo submitted to North American arachnologists for identification. Journal of medical entomology, Vol 51(6), pp.1136-1143

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The real value of insect s t o societ y: Is t here a case for insect conservat ion?

by Alex Dittrich

It is somet imes hard t o make a case for insect s, t hose six-legged creat ures t hat are omnipresent , oft en annoying, rarely beaut iful and more oft en t han not t errifying for some people.

However, certainly through the perspective of an insect ecologist such as myself - they are enigmatic, interesting, diverse and fascinating creatures that deserve due care and attention and more often than not - protection. Not least because they support ecosystems around the world, but appreciating the natural world and its components for an aest het ic value.

Most insects, however, have limited potential in terms of value to stakeholders as an ecosystem service (Costanza et al., 1997).

There are large gaps in the knowledge on insect ecology, hence the roles of many species within ecosystems are yet to be discovered and fully understood.

Although insects have their own W ilderness may seem increasingly intrinsic beauty and cultural alien to the urbanized world in which worth making the case for most of us now live. As mankind moves cultural values is tough for toward the Ant hropocene era this is a insects, owed to a lack of viewpoint we can?t afford to lose. general interest (Leather, 2009).

The term ecosyst em-services (ES) A report in 2013 by the is a big buzz-word in the UK, with Association of Chartered Certified significant revenue spent on the Accountants (ACCA), Fauna and protection of species that give Flora International and something to human society. In accountancy firm KPMG, particular biocontrol agents and identified that financially pollinators are of paramount accounting for nat ural capit al is of importance to crop security. By paramount import ance (Bonner 1998, the value of pollinat ion et al., 2012). However, one services by bees t o t he UK principal issue arising from this economy was thought to be around concept is that in conventional 130 million for out door and 30 economics, where there are no million pounds for indoor crops substitutes, increasing scarcity of (Carreck and Williams, 1998). This a resource also increases its value figure rose to around 620 million (Victor, 1991). pounds in 2015 (Knapton, 2015).

Worryingly, this is the case with some natural resources, like rare insects that attract collectors (Slone et al., 1997). Although, wit h no commercial appeal and limit ed int erest , maybe the opposite case is true. Rare species with cultural, less tangible value strengthens 17

the argument for conservation, as increasing rarity increases awareness of important habitats (Prendergast et al., 1993).

Leather (2009) wrote at length on t he disparit y of funding bet ween vert ebrat e and non-vert ebrat e research. In spite the taxonomic dominance of insect groups over the world, scientific funding is often geared towards more popular groups with more of a public profile (such as charismatic megafauna, birds and other mammals).

The economic value of these higher species has always been less obvious using modern economet rics. In spite of insects having this monetary value that can be attributed to them in terms of ecosystem services, research, and public profile they are still undervalued.

However, multidisciplinary projects are making the case for undervalued insects. The New Forest Cicada Project (http://newforestcicada.info) is one such example, in which they use smart phone technology to passively monitor for Cicadetta montana (Zilli et al., 2014). This project is st irring int erest not only in t he ecological world but also t he t echnological communit y. Perhaps these multidisciplinary approaches to science can generate more interest in insects.

These so called change agent s (Snaddon et al., 2013), engage collaborat ion wit h different members of t he scient ific communit y.

Technologies such as iSpot (www.ispotnature.org), and other internet based nature recording technologies, for example the Ladybird Recording Scheme app (www.ladybirdsurvey.org), have helped turn a nation of passive nature admirers into nature recorders. When this effort on recording is coupled with advertising revenue from these technologies and wider public engagement, there is potential for value, outside of their obvious links to ecosystem services. Therefore balancing the two monetary and aesthetic values.

Maybe there is a case for a partnership between technology and the natural word, an interface that binds them both together in symbiosis. Not unlike the ants protecting their aphids, maybe technology can in some way help save those undervalued rare insects. I guess only t ime will t ell.

Ecosystem services (ES) pyramid illustrates its four defined roles; regulating (those which support human culture ? e.g. crop pollination), supporting (those that support normal ecosystem function ? e.g. nutrient cycling), provisioning (direct resources ? e.g. food and raw materials) and cultural, which are less obvious roles to human culture ? for example species that are appreciated for their aesthetic, or rarity value)

References Bonner, J., Grigg, A., Hime, S., Hewitt, G., Jackson, R. and Kelly, M.,, 2012. Is natural capital a material issue?

ACCA, Flora & Fauna International and KPMG LLP Carreck, N. and Williams, I., 1998. The economic value of bees in the UK. Bee world, Vol 79(3), pp.115-123 Costanza, R., d'Arge, R., De Groot, R., Farber, S., Grasso, M., Hannon, B., Limburg, K., Naeem, S., O'neill, R.V., Paruelo, J. and Raskin, R.G., 1997. The value of the world's ecosystem services and natural capital. Nature, Vol 387(6630), pp.253-260 Knapton, S., 2015. The Telegraph online: Bees contribute more to British economy than royal family.

Available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk Leather, S.R., 2009. Taxonomic chauvinism threatens the future of entomology. Biologist, Vol 56(1), pp.10-3 Victor, P.A., 1991. Indicators of sustainable development: some

lessons from capital theory. Ecological economics, Vol 4(3), pp.191-213 Slone, T. H., Orsak, L. J. and Malver, O. 1997. A comparison of price, rarity and cost of butterfly specimens: Implications for the insect trade and for habitat conservation. Ecological Economics, Vol 2, pp.77?85 Prendergast, J., Quinn, R., Lawton, J., Eversham, B. and Gibbons, D., 1993.

Rare species, the coincidence of diversity hotspots and conservation strategies. Nature, Vol 365, pp.335?337 Snaddon, J., Petrokofsky, G., Jepson, P. and Willis, K. J., 2013. Biodiversity technologies: tools as change agents.

Biology Letters, Vol 9, pp.1?3 Zilli, D., Parson, O., Merrett, G. V. and Rogers, A., 2014. A hidden Markov model-based acoustic cicada detector for crowdsourced smartphone biodiversity monitoring. Journal of Artificial Intelligence Research, Vol 51, pp.805?82

Did you know?

The journal Biological Conservation, showed that 69% of papers published over 15 years focused on vertebrates but 11% on insect s in spite their global diversity estimate of 3% and 79% respect ively (Leather 2009)!

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Wikimedia Commons

Brainwashed cat erpillar

by Katie-Jane Harlin BSc Marine Biology with Biodiversity and Conservation The caterpillar of the Phalera bucephala moth has become a slave to the most unexpected species.

The parasitic wasp Hymenoepimecis argyraphaga (Hymenoptera) found only in Costa Rica , that takes over its hosts mind and body to provide its offspring with the perfect bodyguard (Gauld, 2000).

The parasite larvae expel chemicals (neuromodulator or neurohormone e.g. Eberhard, 2010) into the bodies of their host caterpillars which they ?brain wash?to help themselves survive and grow.

Few parasitoids are as bizarre and captivating as the wasp. The female wasp has a organ shaped like a needle (the ovipostor), which she uses to inject the eggs into the body of her chosen caterpillar. Once the larvae have invaded the host, they begin to feed on the fluids within the body and bite through the skin.

The most fascinating part of the entire process is how the larvae manage to control the caterpillar once they have left the body.

As the larvae begin to bite through the skin a chemical is released which paralyses and ?brain washes? the caterpillar. At this time the caterpillar appears normal and shows no signs of manipulation.

Between 80-100 larvae grow within the caterpillar and they must

Hymenoepimecisargyraphaga all leave in order to complete their lifecycle.

Another unlikely candidate involved in this saga are plants.

After leaving the host, the larvae need protection from other species, such as other parasitic wasps . The larvae start to spin their cocoons and as they do this the caterpillar becomes ?strangely?protective of the offspring and spins a web over the H. argyraphaga cocoons, responding aggressively when disturbed (Brodeur and Vet, 1994).

Plants play an important role in attracting parasitoids to their host species. Insect herbivores such as caterpillars pose a risk for plant health, therefore many have adapted to this by releasing a chemicals to entice the wasps.

The caterpillar is now completely, for all intents and purposes, a zombie brainwashed by the it parasitic load, and it will defend them by any means possible.

When injured by herbivores, they emit chemical signals that guide natural enemies to these herbivorous pests (Turlings et al., 1995).

The parasitism of H. agryraphaga is one of the most fascinating and extreme examples of host-altered behaviour seen in the animal kingdom.

Not only does the caterpillar brutally protect the larvae but it doesn't leave t hem, doesn't eat and does not rest .

References This painfully exhausting existence Brodeur, J. and Vet, L.E., 1994. Usurpation of host behaviour by a parasitic wasp. Animal lasts for 3-4 days until the larvae Behaviour, Vol 48(1), pp.187-192 hatch into young wasps. After the young have hatched the exhausted Eberhard, W.G., 2010. Recovery of spiders from the effects of parasitic wasps: caterpillar collapses and dies of implications for fine-tuned mechanisms of starvation. manipulation. Animal Behaviour, Vol 79(2), pp.375-383 Gauld, I.D., 2000. The re-definition of pimpline genus Hymenoepimecis (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae) with a description of a plesiomorphic new Costa Rican species. Journal of Hymenoptera Research, Vol 9(2), pp.213-219

Illustration by Sarah Little (https://biogeekery.wordpress.com) 19

Turlings, T.C., Loughrin, J.H., Mccall, P.J., Rรถse, U.S., Lewis, W.J. and Tumlinson, J.H., 1995. How caterpillar-damaged plants protect themselves by attracting parasitic wasps. Proceedingsof the National Academy of Sciences, Vol 92(10), pp.4169-417

Radiat ing Railroad worm in st ealt h mode

by Lauren Louise Hamer, BSc Marine Biology with Biodiversity and Conservation Despite its name and caterpillar-like appearance, the Railroad worm is not , in fact , a cat erpillar or a worm.

This spectacular creature, found in the Earth?s western hemisphere (Viviani and Becham, 1993), is the larviform female of Phrixothrix hirtus- a species of beet le (Coleoptera).

The most interesting characteristic of the railroad worm is its use of bioluminescence when approaching its prey. Its mechanism to overcome the defences of its prime victim, the millipede, is fascinating.

Being part of the family of glow-worm beetles (Phendodidae), the railroad worm radiates light using lateral illuminating lanterns. These contain a substance called luciferase (oxidative enzymes that produce bioluminescence).

There are 11 pairs of these photic organs which run down along the sides of the body in a string of dots, corresponding to each individual body segment.

The position of the dot s give t he illusion, at night time, of t he lit -up windows of a t rain, hence their name ?railroad?worm (Branham, 2005).

These luminescent insects light up their lateral lanterns in a green glow and produce a red glow from the photic organ found on their head. There are various reasons as to why this bug emits light.

For example, a way to attract a mate or a defence mechanism. In terms of defence, it is vulnerable to predators especially when searching for prey, so it produces flashes of light to deter them (Babu and Kannan, 2002) and to warn them against eating the dist ast eful railroad worm.

Additionally, it can be useful during hunting. The larvae have the ability to turn off its lateral lanterns when it finds the trail of its prey, to avoid being spotted. It uses only the red glow on its head to illuminate its path.

t o it s neck and inject s regurgit at ed gast ric fluid that immobilises it (Mitchell, 1998).

?Surely t his red glow impact s a sly approach??I hear you ask, but t his isn?t t he case.

The corpse is all t hat remains of t he unsuspect ing millipede.

After the brutal attack by the railroad worm, it disappears beneath the ground and later returns to eat its prey.

References

The unfortunate prey, a millipede (Diplopoda), cannot distinguish red light so t hey are unable t o see t he railroad worm when it is in st ealt h mode, unt il it ?s t oo lat e. Millipedes do have chemical defences against predators but the railroad worm?s sneaky approach, and their alternative predatory method means they can still capture and kill the millipede. The cunningness of t he railroad worm allows them to kill millipedes much larger than itself, with ease!

In an attempt to defend itself against predators, the millipede will secrete a fluid from defensive glands. This toxic substance repels most predators but not the railroad worm. Instead of going anywhere near the back of the millipede (where the fluid lies), it evades the poison and aims for the front of the body and wraps itself around it. Any movement of the millipede comes to halt as the railroad worm bit es in

Babu, B.G. and Kannan, M., 2002. Lightning bugs. Resonance, Vol 7(9), pp.49-55 Branham, M., 2005. Glow-worms, railroad-worms (Insecta: Coleoptera: Phengodidae). Univ. Fl. IFAS Extension Publ.

EENY-332 Mitchell, A., 1998. Ecology: Kiss of death.

Nature, Vol 391(6670), pp.842-842 Viviani, V.R. and Becham, E.J., 1993.

Biophysical and biochemical aspects of phengodid (Railroad- worm) bioluminescence. Photochemistry and photobiology, Vol 58(4), pp.615-622

Fun fact : t he railroad worm is t he only t errest rial organism t hat has phot ic organs able t o emit red light ).

You might be more familiar with the firefly (Photinus pyralis) that also uses bioluminescence.

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Cleaning beaches one st ep at a t ime Surfers Against Sewage

by Jordan Greenaway, BSc Marine Biology with Biodiversity and Conservation Surfers Against Sewage was established as a single-issue campaign group in 1990 by a small collective of passionate, local surfers and beach lovers in Cornwall. The organisation swiftly created a well-known movement calling for improved water quality UK-wide (Ward, 1996).

Brief hist ory of English wat ers The privat isat ion of English wat er companies in 1989 with the new European legislations to improve English waters, gave the foundation to SAS?campaign.

The Council Directive 91/271/EEC concerning urban waste-water treatment was adopted in 1991. Its objective is to protect the environment from the adverse effects of urban waste water discharges and discharges from certain industrial sectors (see Annex III of the Directive) and concerns the collection, treatment and discharge of: Domestic waste water Mixture of waste water Waste water from industrial sectors Wat er qualit y and SAS By 2012, this Nat ional Marine Conservat ion charit y was established focusing on the protection of waves, oceans, beaches, marine wildlife and coastal communities, founded by the original SAS trustees and team.

Water quality was a main focus in the charity?s campaign. The amount of sewage deposited has become ?alarming?as sewage overflows should only be used when normal treatment practices are 21

exhausted, and as a last resort.

Along with water quality marine litter is continuously washed up on UK shores.

The amount of lit t er being found has doubled in t he last fift een years.

SAS' work pushes for improving the state of our ocean and coastlines by changing public behaviour and perspect ive, while co- operating with governments and improving industries?practices to help the environment.

Plast ics free project The Plast ics Free Coast line project is an example of SAS?passion for a better beach environment. The project is aimed at bringing the community closer together to share and work in making a different to the environment.

Anyone can take part just simply sign up via the Surfers against sewage website to join in the growing community response to marine plastic pollution through

initiatives such as the #BeachCleanBox and the beach clean-up movement which mobilises over 20,000 volunteers annually, delivering 110,000 volunteering hours?worth ÂŁ1 million to the UK coastline every year. Just recently, UK?s remote Henderson Island was discovered to be covered by 38 million pieces (18 t onnes) of plast ic! There is much to do when it comes to beach cleaning and reducing the use of unnecessary plastics.

The Surfers Against Sewage movement has changed the coastal perspective of beaches and waves in the last 20 years, by tackling local politics and councils t o provide a cleaner more enjoyable experience of visit ing t he beach.

W hat t o do for a sust ainable fut ure of Brit ish wat ers?

- Join a beach clean!

- Report Pollution!

- Report sickness after swimming!

- Support you local SAS Reps ? fundraise, organise events!

- Safer Service App ? track spills and sewage pollution - St op Plast ic Pollut ion ? sign petition!

- Return to Offender ? SAS sends identifiable rubbish back to the manufacturers - Become a SAS intern!

For more informat ion visit : www.sas.org.uk Reference Ward, N., 1996. Surfers, sewage and the new politics of pollution. Area, Vol 28 (3), pp.331-338

Sharks and Text books

by Tom Tingey, BSc Marine Biology with Biodiversity and Conservation Sharks have been around for millions of years and have been the top predator until man started to exploit them. Each year, more t han 73 million sharks are killed for t heir fins (Lat chford, 2013).

W hat is needed for t he sust ainable fut ure for sharks?

In my opinion - educat ion.

Sharks are a K-selective species, meaning that they spend a long time carrying their pups. It takes on average 15 years before they reach sexual maturity. This could be much longer, for example, it takes over 150 years before reaching sexual maturity for the Greenland shark (Somniosusmicrocephalus) (Stevens, et al, 2000).

More and more people are hunting sharks for a simple purpose, shark fin soup. It is considered a luxury dish that embodies traditions from Eastern Asia. Recipes date back to the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) when the soup was served to emperors during formal banquets (Buckley and Hile 2007). Shark fins, which make up roughly 5% of t he mass of t he shark, are wort h over $150/ kg, making this product one of the highest priced food sources in the world (Pew Environment Group, 2011). Now sharks are

getting targeted before they reach sexual maturity, so shark populations are decreasing more and more, increasing risk of extinction if this rate of exploitation continues. People can have the perception that sharks are animals with no feelings and they don?t show any sign of compassion. But keep in mind ? sharks cause less deat hs t han t oast ers.

Most of them don?t kill for fun, they kill only because they ? just like every other animal ? are hungry.

There were only a few examples of sharks that have killed people for consumption, but it is very rare.

Then t here is school, oft en far away from t he ocean. We go to learn there and at the end of the year we are put through tests and given results which might follow us for the rest of our lives.

Last year during a student-led fish dissect ion everyone was asked to dissect a mackerel. After cutting them up, the insides of the fish looked complet ely different from t he t ext books or Power Point present at ions. It was quite tricky to use the illustrations to identify the different organs. I was given a chance to dissect a skate (Raja clavata) and find its brain. Once I found the brain it was so small in comparison to its body size. It was just amazing to see and that adrenaline rush was unbelievable.

It has been suggested by academics t hemselves, that school and university practicals are not up to date with the latest technological advancements (Hofstein and Lunetta, 2004; Tobin and McRobbie, 1996) and t here is a need t o shift exams t owards a more pract ical-based assessment s.

Yes, textbooks are important and for science students, a solid ground knowledge is essential for any future career. However, they will only take us so far in life. We need to be in the field more and not in a lecture theater. As McRobbie and Tobin (1995) write ?In the past 2-3 yearsthe focushasshifted from understanding how knowledge can be Juniper constructed and re-presented toKiss understanding the nature of action?.

Is it fair t o t ake away t he chance of fut ure generat ion of seeing t hese majest ic sharks in t he wild, and leave t hem wit h a pict ure in t ext book t o st udy about t hem?

Let 's make a change.

If education systems do not focus on motivating and training students we may fail at protecting amazing animals such as sharks. Sharks species are globally on a the brink of extinction, and captivity may soon be the only place where remnant populations survive.

However, if there are scientists continue working in museums, aquariums, species such as the Great White Shark (Carcharodon carcharias) can be saved from extinction.

References Bell, B. and Cowie, B., 2001. The characteristics of formative assessment in science education. Science education, Vol 85(5), pp.536-553 Buckley, L. and Jennifer, H., 2007. End of the Line? Wild Aid and Oceana Hofstein, A. and Lunetta, V.N., 2004. The laboratory in science education: Foundations for the twenty-first century. Science education, Vol 88(1), pp.28-54 Latchford, L., 2013. Conservation of Culture?

An Analysis of Shark Finning in the United States. Master Thesis, Duke University Stevens, J.D., Bonfil, R., Dulvy, N.K. and Walker, P.A., 2000. The effects of fishing on sharks, rays, and chimaeras (chondrichthyans), and the implications for marine ecosystems.

ICESJournal of Marine Science: Journal du Conseil, Vol 57(3), pp.476-494 The Pew Environment Group. 2011. Sharks in Trouble: The Hunters Become the Hunted Tobin, K. and McRobbie, C.J., 1996. Cultural myths as constraints to the enacted science curriculum. Science education, Vol 80(2), pp.223-241

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St art wit h one st ep

by Tom Fowler

Wast ed meat means wast ed land.

BSc Zoology As a British person, I?m naturally imbued with a sense of apat hy.

I find myself surrounded by people who feel similarly; people who, like me, struggle to juxtapose the desire to act upon their moral values with the feeling that they just want to lie down for a bit. So when the news tells us that one of Theresa May?s first actions as Prime Minister will be the abolition of the Department of Energy and Climate Change, or that across the pond, Trump is denying all mention of climate change altogether, we can feel pretty justified in these feelings of helplessness. If these powerful bodies aren?t going to look out for the environment, who will? I voted, we lost; what more can I do? Well, adjusting my consumption of animal products is a good place to start.

In 2016, the livestock industry?s total Global Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions represented 14.5% of all greenhouse emissions worldwide (Tubiello et al., 2014).

Meat is everywhere in this part of the world, and we don't really need it. About three years ago, I became conscious of the meat that I was throwing away. I felt that to honour the sacrifice and the strain on the environment, the least I could do was not waste it.

570,000 t onnes of fresh meat is wast ed by households each year.

Habitat fragmentation and loss, biodiversity decline, various other ecological issues faced by our native flora and fauna are all related to the fact that 75% of our land is used for agricult ure. Most of this is for the animals we eat and the food for these animals. Wast ed meat means wast ed land.

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Organisations need to feel the pressure of their peers to do what?s right for the environment. But what kind of moral crusaders would we be if we couldn?t focus that critical gaze on our own contributions?

Here?s somet hing we can do: We can lead by example. We can show t hat we?re t rying, even if we?re not t ot ally or immediat ely successful.

The next step was reducing my consumption of the larger animals.

Beef and pork contribute the most to GHG emissions, so swit ching t o chicken can reduce the emissions by about a quarter.

By this time, I was well acquainted with the vegetarian options, meat substitutes and dairy-filled alternatives and so it wasn?t to stop bringing meat into the house. When I went out to dinner, I allowed myself to eat anything on the menu.

As I became familiar with vegetarian options, I found myself picking them at restaurants even though I didn?t have to. It quickly became apparent that cheating is an important part of success.

I slipped int o veget arianism almost effort lessly. From there, my attention turned to dairy, and the process was very similar.

My Facebook feed is riddled with protests against the badger cull, or palm oil, or capt ive cet aceans, but very little is mentioned about one of the most environmentally detrimental industries on the planet. Point ing t he finger is import ant .

Going vegan overnight is a bit like starving yourself to lose weight: you shouldn?t expect to be able to drop everything at once. Meat -free Mondays are a nice start, but the transition is aided by looking out for the substitutes, making the most of the meat that you do eat and adjusting the ratios on your plate.

Perhaps most importantly, try to remain mindful of the impact your consumerism has on the world around you and strive to make minor adjustments accordingly.

Veganism doesn?t have t o have t he st igma at t ached t o it , fueled by misguided and malnourished individuals who furiously declare their stance at every opportunity and refuse to drive through any town with ?ham in the name. It should be a guide, not a goal. A direction, away from apathy, towards reduction, awareness, progression and compassion for the world we?re trying not to destroy.

Reference Tubiello, F.N., Salvatore, M., Cรณndor Golec, R.D., Ferrara, A., Rossi, S., Biancalani, R., Federici, S., Jacobs, H. and Flammini, A., 2014.

Agriculture, forestry and other land use emissions by sources and removals by sinks.

Statistics Division, Food and Agriculture Organization, Rome.

The impact of meat indust ry on t he environment

by Abigail Hargreaves, BSc Zoology With the continuous population growth, how can we possibly provide enough animal products to support over 7 billion people?

It is t ime for us t o t ake responsibilit y for our act ions. The impacts of the meat industry are proving to be catastrophic on public health, the environment and the welfare of all the animals being exploited. Public health should be of up most importance.

related to land utilization. The land required for animals in food product ion syst ems equat es t o 30% of t he eart hs land surface.

This land could be used to grow crops, which could have the potential to feed thousands more people than the meat produced on the same amount of land, making eating less meat more sustainable (Pimentel and Pimentel, 2003).

Elegant Organ Pipe Coral If 16 pounds of grain is fed t o a cow, it

Meat consumpt ion has been linked to diseases such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes mellitus and forms of cancer (Walker et al., 2005). There is also some concern relating to the t ransfer of ant ibiot ics and arsenic t o humans through consumption, which could lead to worrying, and potentially lethal, health complications. Meat production is also responsible for a large amount of greenhouse gases being released into the atmosphere. It is estimated that 15% - 24% of greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide, are a product of meat production (Fiala, 2008). The increase in greenhouse gases partially attribute to global warming. This rise in temperature is also affecting public heath by thermal stress, extreme weather events and the spreading of infectious diseases (McMicheal et al., 2006).

Another side of this argument is

only provides a t hird of human daily caloric needs, whereas if t hat grain was fed direct ly t o humans it would meet t he caloric needs of up t o 10 people for a day (PETA, 2017).

Of the world?s grain production, 60% is fed to farm animals, whilst over 925 million people do not have enough t o eat .

A huge amount of water is also required in meat production.

884 million people do not current ly have access t o clean wat er.

Reducing the demand for meat would make more water available to provide to people in need (Pimentel et al., 1997). As an example, 5 trillion gallons of water was used in the soy industry in 2005, this may seem like a lot, but a massive 235 t rillion gallons of water was used for meat production (PETA, 2017).

Wikimedia Commons

There are other problems associated with meat production such as the rights of the animals involved and its sustainability. It would be a lot to ask for the whole world to become vegetarian or vegan but more awareness is needed.

If everyone took part in meat-free Mondays, it would lead to15% reduction in meat consumption, which would be the equivalent of removing 240 million cars off the road in the reduction of greenhouse gases (Meatless Mondays, 2015). Swapping meat for an alternative, such as Quorn, even if it?s simply to see if you like it. There is a great variety of milk alternatives now available; oat, coconut, soya and almond are all examples ? why not try a new recipe, maybe a vegan one, just to try new things!

Small t hings have t he pot ent ial t o make a big difference. So st and up, t ry somet hing new and t ake responsibilit y!

References Fiala, N., 2008. Meeting the demand: An estimation of potential future greenhouse gas emissions from meat production. Ecological economics, Vol 67(3), pp.412?419 McMicheal, A., J., Woodruff, R., E., Hales, S., 2006. Climate change and human health: Present and future risks. The Lancet, Vol 367 (9513), pp.859?569 Meatless Mondays, 2015. Join Meatless Mondays in celebrating earth day Available at: http://www.meatlessmonday.com PETA, 2017. Meat and the environment. Available at: http://www.peta.org/issues/ animals-used-for-food/meat-environment Pimentel, D., Houser, J., Preiss, E., White, O., Fang, H., Mesnick, L., Barsky, T., tariche, S., Schreck, J., Alpert, S., 1997. Water Resources: agriculture, the environment and society.

Bioscience, Vol 47 (2), pp.97?106 Pimentel, D., Pimentel, M., 2003. Sustainability of meat-based and plant-based diet and the environment. The American journal of clinical nutrition, Vol 78 (3), pp.6605?6635 Roos, E., Sundberg, C., Tidaker, P., Strid, I., Hanson, P.-A., 2013. Can carbon footprint serve as an indicator of the environmental impact of meat production? Ecological indicators, Vol 24, pp.573 ? 581

Meat consumption per capita, in kilograms. Light shaded colour indicate average between 2010-2012 and darker colours on the right show estimated averaged for 2012-2022 (CECO/FAO).

Walker, P., Rhubart- Berg, P., McKenzie, S., Kelling, K., Laurence, R., S., 2005. Public health implications of meat production and consumption. Public health and Nutrition, Vol 8 (4), pp. 348?356 24

Defying gravit y: a falconry experience

by Alessandra Di Graziano, BSc Animal Behaviour Falconry is t he sport of hunt ing game species wit h a t rained bird of prey. It has been practiced since ancient times (Cooper, 1970; Glasier, 1978), one of the earliest and the most known documented evidences being ?De arte venandi cum avibus?literally, ?On the art of hunting with Birds?, a treatise in Latin written by Fredrick II in the 1240s.

As well as a leisure, falconry has also been employed to cont rol pest species, and nowadays falconers employ their trusted companions in airports to chase away birds that might cause damage to the aircrafts or harm to the travellers.

The species of bird of prey depends on a variety of factors such as the game species, the habitat and the availability of native birds of prey.

The latter recently changed due to the introduction of non-native species in the past century.

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programs to help rebuild raptor populations across Europe.

So they take training of future conservationists really seriously, as you will see now.

The most commonly used species in the UK are the Peregrine falcon It st art s wit h cleaning!

(Falco peregrinus) (Blokpoel, 1977), different species of Buzzard (Buteo My experience started with just spp.), the Harri?s Hawk (Parabuteo that. Anyone who has ever had a unicinctus), the Goshawk (Accipiter pet, knows that their keeping gentilis) (Erickson et al, 1990). involves a lot of cleaning. So does falconry. Removing the pellets, scrubbing the walls, remove fallen My falconry experience feathers (I now have an astounding In my second year at ARU, I found a collection), readjust the substrate, flier from the Rapt or Foundat ion cleaning the perches, clean the offering a 5 day experience in baths is part of their daily care. falconry and decided to give it a try.

The only reason you would be The Raptor Foundation is an allowed to touch a bird would be to organisation of amazing people help moving them from the devoted to the protection and conservation of birds of prey. They weathering to perches in the sun.

But first, you need to learn the provide medical care for injured raptors and return them to the wild falconer?s knot . once they are rehabilitated. If they The falconer?s knot is essential in can?t be released back into the wild falconry because it allows you t o they will provide them with t et her t he birds so t hat you won?t sanctuary for the rest of their lives. lose t hem. It just happens that birds They provide research into of prey are fairly expensive animals environmental problems and and are as much an investment as conservation matters and are they are a beloved companion. involved in "Breed & Release"

Training of a young Harri?s Hawk called Grant on the training line; he will soon be able to fly free.

I spent my first day cleaning and learning how to tie a falconer?s knot to the falconry glove and to the perch.

Once the bases were covered, I gradually got more and more involved in all of the aspects of husbandry, feeding, health checks, training, hunting, and also finding lost birds by mean of a radio transmitter!

All of these and some other skills that I?ve been taught are necessary to guarantee not only t hat t he bird?s welfare respect s t he norms st at ed by t he Animal Welfare Act (2006), but a ?happy?and healt hy bird will perform bet t er the purpose for which it has been trained.

Throughout the experience, I had the opportunity to handle a wide variety of species including the Indian Eagle owl (Bubo bengalensis), the Bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus), the Kestrel (Falco sparverius), the Harris hawk (Parabuteo unicinctus), the Little owl (Athene noctua), the White-faced scops owl (Ptilopsisleucotis), a Peregrine-saker hybrid and my personal favourite, the Barn owl (Tyto alba).

One hand is always gloved and holding the bird, the falconer?s knot has to be easy to tie and untie with one hand, but also sturdy enough to prevent a bird from accidentally untying it and escaping.

References Animal Welfare Act, 2006. Available at: http://www.legislation.gov.uk Blokpoel, H., 1977. The use of falcons to disperse nuisance birds at Canadian airports: an update. Proceedingsof World Conference on Bird Hazardsto aircraft, Vol 3, pp. 179?187 Cooper, A.D., 1970. Falconry: a biological method of control in accident prevention.

International Biodeterioration Bulletin, Vol 6, pp. 105?107

Get involved!

The staff is extremely welcoming and friendly and even if you find out you won?t dedicate your life to birds of prey it surely will be an experience you?ll never forget.

Courses by t he Rapt or Foundat ion:

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Parry-Jones, J, 2002. Training Birds of Prey.

Reprint. Sheridan House Parry-Jones, J, 2003. Falconry. Revised.

David & Charles Publishers Parry-Jones, J., 2001. Understanding owls.

Reprint. David & Charles Publishers.

Bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) won the vote as America's symbol by 1% against Ben Franklin's proposal to make America's symbol the Turkey (Meleagris) because he felt America shouldn't be represented by an animal that bullies other birds to get their prey.

If you?re int erest ed in a falconry experience, visit t heir websit e: www.rapt orfoundat ion.org.uk

Meet the Birds Hawk Walk Falconry Day Hunting Day Experience Five Day Experience in Falconry

Glasier, P., 1978. Falconry and hawking, B.T. Batsford Ltd London, pp. 312

Did you know?

If you are interested in reading a bit more about falconry, here are some excellent books by Parry-Jones, see references.

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Erickson, W.A., Marsh, R.E., Salmon, T.P., 1990. A review of falconry as a bird-hazing technique. Proceedingsof the Fourteenth Vertevrate Pest Conference, Vol 3(6), pp.

314?316

Twilight Flying Photographic Days Meerkat Experience Illustration by Zachary I Ulm

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Shepret h Hedgehog Hospit al http://www.swccharity.org/

by Sophie Mott and Zinnia Thorpe BSc First year Life Science students

There are five genera of hedgehogs (Erinaceus, Paraechinus, Mesechinus Atelerix and Hemiechinus) with a total of 16 species. (Hutterer, 2005).

Our garden visitor is Erinaceus europaeus, t he European hedgehog that has around 7,000 spines and are Britain?s only spiny mammal.

Hedgehogs, on average live for around five years but have been recorded up to ten.

Spines or hairs?

The spines of a hedgehog are modified hairs, about 2-3cm long and ending in a bulb to absorb impact and stop the hedgehog being impaled by its own spike. The spines are hollow with strengthening ridges which makes them very durable but lightweight.

Like hair, spines do moult, however, each spine moults individually, not synchronised like moles and shrews.

The underside of a hedgehog is covered in fur; it is coarse but sparse so doesn?t provide particularly good insulation.

Hedgehogs focus on smell rather than vision to forage and navigate.

27 In their first year, hedgehogs

@SheprethHedgehogHospital

usually weigh between 450?680g, the following year an adult hog may double it s weight .

They have their own subfamily (within Erinaceidae family) and have been for millions of years.

W here t o find hedgehogs

Decline in Brit ain

Gardens can provide perfect habitats for hogs, with plentiful invertebrates to eat, protection from badger predation and cover for nesting and hibernation.

The British hedgehog population has declined by 30% in the last decade and is continuing to decline at the same rate that tigers are globally. Hedgehogs are declining for many reasons but the main one is loss of habitat.

Hedgehogs can roam up t o 3km in one night, but are generally not territorial so don?t fight to defend their home ranges.

As wild count ryside is convert ed t o farmland, hedgehogs lose t heir shelt er and nest ing habit at s not t o ment ion loss of food due t o agricult ural use of pest icides.

British hedgehogs hibernate throughout the winter but this is variable and weather dependent.

Warm weather can bring them out of hibernation and continued warm weather prevents hibernation entirely.

From an evolutionary point of view, hedgehogs have no living relat ives (Corbet , 1988).

Changes in garden culture to patios, tidy gardens and solid fences have also reduced suitability for habituation in our urban environments. Road traffic accidents kill large numbers of hogs and are also contributing to population declines. It has been suggested (Young et al., 2006) that increasing badger populations are impacting hedgehog numbers, but research has shown the same rate of decline in areas shared with badgers as areas without.

Hedgehogs carry small burdens of internal parasites, fleas and ticks, without affecting their health.

However, when hedgehogs become overburdened or weak and susceptible to disease, these parasites and diseases like

ringworm and lungworm can severely affect the health of a hedgehog and may prove fatal.

Hedgehog rehabilit at ion Shepret h W ildlife Park has been running hedgehog rehabilitation for the past 25 years. It began to outgrow its facilities and so the Shepret h W ildlife Conservat ion Charit y (SW CC) was founded. The existing hedgehog hospital was built to allow more hogs to be treated and stored while they are rehabilitated.

At Shepret h Hedgehog Hospit al the aim is to treat and rehabilitate ill hedgehogs before releasing them back into their natural habitat.

Injured, sick and orphaned hedgehogs are brought to the hospital where a team of hospital staff, volunteers and SWCC trustees help to improve their health and keep them healthy until the right time to release them. Ill hedgehogs that arrive at the hospital in September usually spend the winter in the hospital as it would be too cold to release them during the hibernation season.

Hedgehog Weight Wat ching Hedgehogs are kept in the hospital and are cleaned out, fed and given fresh water daily by the hardworking volunteers who give their time to help at the hospital.

Each hedgehog lives in a bed of newspaper and eats cat or dog food as well as dried biscuits. Some of the hedgehogs are on ?Weight

2011-12: 201 2012-13: 367 2013-14: 407 2014-15: 562 2015-16: 652

Increasing numbers of hedgehogs admit t ed at Shepret h Hedgehog Hospit al

Baby hedgehogs require a lot of attention to their handling and feeding.

Watchers?as they are too large and therefore cannot curl up.

Other hedgehogs are picky eaters who only like certain food types.

All the hedgehogs at the hospital have names and their own personalities, many volunteers become quite attached to their favourite hogs.

W it h habit at loss, agricult ural int ensificat ion, road mort alit y and climat e change (Hof, 2009) the European hedgehog has been declining for over 50 years. In order to sustain hedgehog populations everyone can help just in their garden to give refuge to these much loved animals.

How can you help hedgehogs at home?

- Creat e a ?wild?garden: a garden wit h coverage and veget at ion.

Plant wild flowers, leave fallen leaves and log piles t o encourage hogs int o your garden.

- Hedgehog highways: a 5 cm hole in fences t o allow for connect ivit y and encourage you neighbours t o do so as well - Avoid pest icide usage in your garden - Wat er bodies in your garden need t o be ?ramped?t o help hedgehogs (and ot her wildlife) get out of t he pond if t hey fall in.

References Corbet, G.B., 1988. The family Erinaceidae: a synthesis of its taxonomy, phylogeny, ecology and zoogeography.

Mammal Review, Vol 18(3), pp.117-172

Visit Shrepret h and educat e children!

The hospital is within the wildlife park., It is the perfect location to interact with the public and educate them about hedgehog care. The hospital staff also lead educational enrichment programs in local schools and encourage children to protect the spiky British mammals, which make up a unique part of our ecosystem.

Juniper Kiss

The hospit al is always aft er t inned cat or dog food (must be in jelly, no fish) and newspapers (no st aples). These donat ions can be left at t he Hedgehog Hospit al in t he donat ion bins.

Hof, A.R., 2009. A study of the current status of the hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus), and its decline in Great Britain since 1960. PhD Thesis. University of London Hutterer, R. 2005. Order Erinaceomorpha. In: Wilson, D.E.; Reeder, D.M. Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 212?217 Rondinini, C. and Doncaster, C.P., 2002.

Roads as barriers to movement for hedgehogs. Functional Ecology, Vol 16(4), pp.504-509 Young, R.P., Davison, J., Trewby, I.D., Wilson, G.J., Delahay, R.J. and Doncaster, C.P., 2006. Abundance of hedgehogs (Erinaceuseuropaeus) in relation to the density and distribution of badgers (Meles meles). Journal of Zoology, Vol 269(3), pp.349-356 Zinnia Thorpe 28

Cat Survival Trust

by Steph Robertson BSc Zoology There are over 350 regist ered charit ies in t he UK that are dedicated to protecting wildlife, native or non-native.

The Cat Survival Trust (ht t p:// www.cat survivalt rust .org/ ) is one such charity, formed back in 1976, solely focused on the preservation of the 37 endangered species of wild cat in the wild.

Located in Hertfordshire, England, the charity?s main focus is educating the public and pursuing conservation efforts for cats in the wild, with habitat protection forming a critical role.

A Safehouse for t he Unwant ed A key role of the charity is to provide housing for ?unwanted?and surplus wild cats from zoos and other collections, successfully breeding 250 individuals and placing over 2000 cats since its start up. There are currently 25 wild cats residing in the headquarters in Hertfordshire.

These comprise of an array of species: Amur leopard (Panthera pardusorientalis), Caracal (Caracal caracal), Northern lynx (Lynx lynx), European wild cat (Felissilvestris silvestris), Gordon?s wildcat (F. silvestrisgordoni), jaguar (Panthera onca), Leopard cat (Prionailurus bengalensis), Puma (Puma concolor), Serval (Leptailurusserval), Snow Wikimedia Commons

Steph Robertson

Leopard (Panthera uncia) and Temminck?s golden cat (Catopuma temminckii).

current population of 25 - 53 adults known to inhabit the Misiones Province (Haag et al., 2010).

These animals living on-site are also used to raise awareness to the public through educational lectures and pushing conservation efforts.

Due to the ongoing success of the El PiĂąalito Provincial Park in Argentina, The Cat Survival Trust is planning to further purchase and acquire more natural habitats to convert into protected areas. If the process is successful, the new reserves will be located in seven different countries, providing protection to a substantially larger number of wild cat species, that will be present in reserves bought by the Trust itself.

Ensuring t he Survival of t he Amazon?s ?Top Cat ?

In 1992, the Cat Survival Trust successfully purchased 10,000 acres of virgin cloud forest in the Province of Misiones, in nort heast Argent ina, to primarily protect endangered species of cat, but to also benefit the local flora and fauna.

It has since gained protected status as a Provincial Park, protecting the whole ecosystem. Ever since, research in the park has identified four new species of orchid and one bird species not believed to inhabit Argentina.

There are currently 40 animals, including Ocelot (Leopardus pardalis), Margay (Leopardus wiedii), Oncilla (Leopardus tigrinus), Jaguarundi (Puma yagouaroundi) and puma (Puma concolor) living in this stretch of forest.

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Jagu ar u n di (Puma yagouaroundi) is a f u n n y look in g w ild cat f r om Nor t h an d Sou t h Am er ica.

With additional funding, the trust is hoping to expand the park to allow jaguar reintroduction and increase the

The Cat Survival Trust unfortunately is not open to the public, however, people are encouraged to become annual members for as lit t le as ÂŁ9, with the opportunity to book a viewing time to visit the Trust and its resident cats and learn more about its ongoing work.

Did you k n ow ?

Th e n am e " jagu ar " com es f r om a Nat ive Am er ican w or d m ean in g " h e w h o k ills w it h on e leap."

Reference Haag, T., Santos, A.S., Sana, D.A., Morato, R.G., Cullen Jr., L., Crawshaw Jr., P.G., De Angelo, C., Di Bitetti, M.S., Salzano, F.M. and Eizirik, E., 2010. The Effect of Habitat Fragmentation on the Genetic Structure of a Top Predator: Loss of Diversity and High Differentiation among Remnant Populations of Atlantic Forest Jaguars (Panthera onca). Molecular Ecology, Vol 19, 4906 - 4921

Phot ographs by Alex Merchan BSc Animal Behaviour @alexmerchanphotos The Red-billed leiot hrix, Leiothrix lutea, according t o t he IUCN redlist is a Least Concern species. It is nat ive t o count ries in Asia such as China, India and Pakist an, however, it has been int roduced t o European count ries and even t he Unit ed St at es. Despit e t heir wide dist ribut ion, t heir populat ion is decreasing due t o habit at loss and pet t rade (Birdlife Int ernat ional, 2016).

The European ot t er, Lutra lutra can be found on t hree cont inent s (Europe, Asia and Africa). It is considered t o be a Near Threat ened species and t heir numbers are cont inuously decreasing.

The main t hreat s European ot t ers face are man-made changes of wet lands, pollut ion and road kills (Roos et al., 2015).

BirdLife International. 2016. Leiothrix lutea. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species Roos, A., Loy, A., de Silva, P., Hajkova, P. and Zemanovรก, B. 2015. Lutra lutra. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species

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