Cold war spy satellite images used to track ecological change
The findings shed new light on wildlife and the natural world after the Second World War
Bomb craters converted into fish ponds in Vietnam
Credit: Mihai Daniel Nita
Cold War spy satellite photos can help tackle climate change, scientists have said.
US military intelligence photographs taken over the former Sino-Soviet bloc are being analysed anew for clues about the changing landscape, in research presented at the British Ecological Society s Festival of Ecology.
Declassified in 1995 by then-president Clinton, the photographs have been stitched together using state-of-the-art drone image processing software to create a Google Earth-style map.
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England s proposed mandatory Biodiversity Net Gain requirement for new developments might not deliver on promises to increase biodiversity, according to research being presented at British Ecological Society s Festival of Ecology.
A research team at the Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology, University of Kent, analysed ecological changes occurring under Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG)-type policies in four early-adopter councils in England. They found that although a net gain in biodiversity was being promised across the BNG assessments, these translated into considerable losses of habitat area. Habitat losses were compensated for by commitments to deliver higher quality habitats years later in the development project cycle.
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Credit: Credit Sarah Rühmkorff
Common starfish cannot survive amplified marine heatwaves projected at the end of the century and experience lasting negative effects from current heatwaves, according to new research being presented on at the British Ecological Society s Festival of Ecology.
In experiments simulating extreme ocean conditions, researchers at GEOMAR Helmholtz-Centre for Ocean Research Kiel found that heatwaves of +8 °C, projected by 2100, killed 100% of starfish tested. Heatwaves of this magnitude are only 1 degree warmer than heatwaves recorded in 2018 in the Kiel Fjord, where the research took place.
They also found that present day heatwaves of +5 °C - experienced in summer months - negatively affected starfish feeding. If the heatwave was short, star fish were able to recover, but during extended heatwaves, starfish were unable to recover and lost weight.