Glis glis

Tagged by Andrew:

1. Pick up the nearest book.
2. Open to page 123
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the next three sentences.
5. Tag five people, and acknowledge who tagged you.

“It feeds mainly on insects, which include earwigs, gall-insects, beetles, moths, ants, blow-flies and tipulid flies. It also eats spiders, centipedes and worms, while its vegetable food includes small fruits, such as currant, yew, hawthorn, raspberry and blackberry, and also small seeds. In winter it will feed on almost any household scraps.”

From The Life of the Robin by David Lack (1943), which goes on to say that on the basis of its food, the robin was assessed as 43.5% beneficial, 48.5% neutral and 8% harmful to man.

My computer desk is next to my wildlife books, so this selection is not all that surprising

…And the April Fool effort prize goes to the BBC for their flying penguins

=D

Hurray, the water vole will finally receive full protection under the Wildlife and Countryside Act!

The new UK Biodiversity Action Plan (UKBAP) priority species list was released a couple of weeks ago. Browsing through websites and forums, one article caught my attention, as it asked ‘why are herring gulls on the list, but not golden eagles’.
I have no involvement with UKBAP, therefore this is just my interperation; UKBAP is about highlighting the rapid decline of species (and therefore biodiversity), not sizes of populations. The criteria for priority species is a decrease of more than 50% of the population in the last 25 years, ie. if the rate continues, there is potential for the species to be extinct from the UK in the next 25 years.

It highlights a need for action due to the population decline (though of course, a small population can also increase the risk of extinction). UKBAP is not a statutory protection, however there is plenty of legislation protecting rare species. Obviously, the two can overlap e.g. great crested newts are a European Protected Species and a UKBAP species.

So adding the Herring Gull is not as ridiculous as it sounds..! Just because there’s so many, doesn’t mean we can afford to lose them at a high rate…

Over the next few months, Dorset Wildlife Trust are auctioning signed pictures of butterflies drawn by loads of celebrities, including Katie Melua, Graham Norton, Ricky Gervais - go have a look at their eBay page! =)

Nirah is a new proposed “freshwater sanctuary” near Bedford. The overall concept is very appealing, although I haven’t quite made up my mind about it yet. It looks Eden Projecty, but a bit more commercial (with the water rides and 4D cinema stuck on). It’s definitely a good idea to have a centre dedicated to freshwater, and it actually surprised me to learn that this is the first (as an aside, I don’t really know about fish genetics, but I wonder how if this will have an effect on genetic diversity of the Nirah populations?).

There are a number of defensive FAQs on the site, but this mainly seems to be in response to a “Say no to Nirah” campaign, of the “all zoos are bad” vein. While I’d prefer Nirah not to take animals from the wild, people need to realise that while habitat conservation is extremely important, it is also very complex and often too risky to be used as a single strategy. This is particularly true for huge interlinked freshwater systems - it’s not like you can put a fence round them. Not to mention that human interest will always win when it’s a question of drinking water supply versus river levels.

I’d like to hear more about their research plans - and hope they stick to the ‘non-invasive’ policy.

Anyway, something to watch out for =) E. O. Wilson is the patron, so that’s a good sign =D

Environmental activists have apologised to a farmer after planting thousands of organic potatoes in a field which they had mistaken for a crop trial site.

Hehe that sums it up nicely… full of admirable but somewhat misinformed enthusiasm =P

Not that you’re going to see me dancing around with ‘Go GM’ placards anytime soon - I think genetic engineering has the potential to positively affect several issues (e.g. malnutrition, disease, use of insecticides) but sadly I’m not sure if that’s where the priorities (ie. money) lie. However, a lot of anti-GM arguments are based on fanciful media/campaign claims with little supporting evidence. While I very much accept that GM may not be right for the UK (that’s not just a NIMBY statement I promise!) and that approaches such as herbicide-tolerant crops are likely to lead to adverse impacts upon biodiversity, I’m not so convinced by the “there might be horrible health effects” and other doom-and-gloom-with-no-evidence arguments.

Creationist museum challenges evolution

“On a rocky ledge, there is a pair of small theropods - young T. rex individuals, we’re told. And near to them (”hold onto your hat”, says Ken, anticipating our disbelief) there are two human children playing by a stream.

Most geologists would say humans and dinosaurs were separated by more than 60 million years. And those dinosaurs have very sharp teeth!

“So do bears”, says Ken, “but they eat nuts and berries! Remember, before the sin of Adam, the world was perfect. All creatures were vegetarian.” One of the dinosaurs lets out a rather contradictory roar.”

Hahaha XD Okay let’s ignore the stomach contents of dinosaur fossils then… And the fact that bears definitely eat meat =P

Everyone has a right to their own beliefs… However, desperately manipulating Bible stories to fit rock formations, and saying it’s equal to science is rather silly! Still, I can’t wait to hear what the rest of the exhibits are like

Hehe you should always listen to Dr Who Today’s episode demonstrated that traffic congestion causes you to sing hymns and give birth to kittens, before being eaten by a giant crab

Following on from an earlier post, do I want to buy fairtrade bananas in non-recyclable packaging, or normal bananas in no packaging?

Possibly the best answer is no bananas, but I need my potassium