Jaime Moyano on the negative impacts of planting trees in treeless ecosystems to mitigate climate change

Climate change is one of the most important challenges of our time. Although reducing energy use and limiting the emission of greenhouse gases are the most effective solutions, this may not be feasible in many countries yet. On the other hand, replacing naturally treeless ecosystems (such as grasslands, shrublands and wetlands) with tree plantations (afforestation) […]

Continue Reading

Creating innovative solutions to manage aquatic invasive species impacts – The Applied Ecologist

Author Sarah Kingsbury shares a new integrated management approach to better assess the effects and risks of aquatic invasive species on Atlantic salmon in Nova Scotia, Canada. Invasive species played key roles in the extinction of 60% of Earth’s plants and animals as reported by IPBES in 2023. While not all alien species introduced to […]

Continue Reading

CO₂ emissions from new cars and vans continued to decrease in 2023 as zero-emission vehicles registrations continued to grow

According to the provisional data published by the European Environment Agency, the average CO2 emissions of new cars registered in Europe continued to decrease in 2023 and were 1.4% below 2022 levels, bringing them to 28% below 2019 levels. For vans too, the downward trend continued as average 2023 emissions fell to 11% below 2019 […]

Continue Reading

Paving the way for the restoration of the Enobieta stream – The Applied Ecologist

Authors of a recently published research article discuss the ecological consequences of large dam removal through their study of instream habitat and invertebrate communities in a temperate, forested catchment in northern Spain. River restoration by dam removal During the last decades, increased awareness on the consequences of a degraded environment has led to new legislation, […]

Continue Reading

CSRHub Integrates a Signal from ESG Analytics

ESG Analytics is an alternative data provider owned and operated by ExtractAlpha, a Hong Kong-based data company. ESG Analytics creates and tracks non-traditional sources to measure how companies, countries and investment funds are implementing ESG (environmental, social and governance) practices. Its dataset was created for investment uses out of its founders’ frustration with what they […]

Continue Reading

Controlling an invasive shrub across the year with basal bark herbicide treatment – The Applied Ecologist

Nick Barber and colleagues share a new invasive plant management technique to better control invasive species and improve biodiversity. Controlling invasive plants can be a never-ending battle for land managers, and this work is costly — not just in materials like expensive herbicide, but costly in time as well. This is especially the case when […]

Continue Reading

The Biological Flora champions Sea Campions

Biological Flora author (and editor) Anthony Davy introduces a fascinating coastal species that offers many more ecological insights than one might imagine. This account of the Sea Campion (Silene uniflora) is the latest contribution to the long-running Biological Flora of Britain and Ireland series. The article itself has a long history: unusually, the authors include […]

Continue Reading

Our Goals and Vision – The Applied Ecologist

In this new series, The Applied Ecologist is amplifying the staff and student voices from the University of Surrey’s Centre for Environment and Sustainability to showcase their diverse, interdisciplinary body of work and to help inspire the next generation. In this introductory post, we share below the Centre’s goals and ambitions.  About the Centre Founded […]

Continue Reading

ETS Market Stability Reserve to reduce auction volume by around 267 million allowances between September 2024 and August 2025

The European Commission has adopted a Communication on the total number of allowances in circulation (TNAC) on the European carbon market. In 2023 this number stood at 1 111 736 535. The TNAC indicator plays an important role in the functioning of the Market Stability Reserve (MSR) of the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS). It […]

Continue Reading

Protecting migratory birds in the North Sea – The Applied Ecologist

Maja Bradarić summarises how, alongside colleagues, they used 5 years of tracking bird radar data, weather and phenological variables to develop seasonal forecasts of bird migration over the southern North Sea. These forecasts of nocturnal bird migration may be used to define curtailment thresholds for offshore wind energy. In May 2023, turbines in two offshore wind […]

Continue Reading