100 Acre Wood

With more than 1,200 different species, bats make up about a quarter of all the Earth's mammals. Their numbers, however, are declining due to threats that include deforestation, disease and hunting. Meanwhile, many people are actually seeing morebats as changes in land use, agriculture, food industry practices, climate change and human population growth actually bring the remaining animals -- and their viruses -- closer to us.

Dans une grande rue de Lille : un panneau, un platane, un panneau, un platane, une salade, un plata… Une salade ? Une salade. Et même des pommes de terre. Et même des tomates. Depuis quelques mois, des micro-potagers ont germé dans Lille là où on ne les attend pas. Sur des bouts de terre que plus personne ne regarde, comme les carrés au pied des arbres qui bordent les routes. Pas grand-chose, un ou deux mètres carrés de liberté.

A zone-by-zone to do list for the month of June. There's so much to do to now that summer is here.

German researchers have discovered the biological keys to the success of an invasive species, wreaking havoc across Europe and the US,

 

The Asian ladybird was originally brought in to control aphids in greenhouses.

 

But it has escaped and is increasing uncontrollably across Europe, wiping out native species.

 

The alien is winning, say scientists, because its body fluid contains a parasite toxic to other insects.

 

The research is published in the Journal, Science.

A stunning new species of pit-viper has been discovered in the cloud forest of Honduras. The venomous snake is described in the journal ZooKeys. ...

The newly described species lives in Texiguat Wildlife Refuge, a protected area that was established in 1987 to safeguard endangered wildlife like jaguars and tapirs. The snake, which is highly toxic, was collected during two expeditions in 2010. Initially it was confused with a more widely distributed Honduran palm pit-viper, but genetic analysis revealed it to be a distinct species, a status that warrants its protection, according to the scientists who discovered it.

A Layered Approach ... Build a better vegetable patch with this no-dig method, borrowed from organic farmsin rural Australia. The no-dig piles are fairly stable, but some gardeners prefer to build boxes to contain them. The materials on the next slide are enough to build a 4-by-8-foot raised bed.

Now I get that may not sound like the most gripping blog theme in the history of Grow Your Own, but stick with it, because Soil Matters – big time.

 

In every gardening handbook – whether it’s by tried and trusted gardening stalwarts like Adam the Gardener (now there’s a cartoon character who knows his onions!) to today’s celebrity veggie gardeners like Bob Flowerdew – the thing they tell you to do first is to test your soil. There are lots of websites that can tell you how to do this without forking out for a pricey soil type and pH test kit, but here’s a quick overview:

It looks like the Giant African Snail that was discovered in Houston, Texas, was actually a Rosy Wolf Snail, which is native to North-America.

The UK's first national collection of tree seeds has been established, which scientists say is crucial as a growing array of pests threaten native species.

 

Co-ordinated by Kew's Millennium Seed Bank, it aims to safeguard the genetic diversity of the UK's tree flora.

 

The scheme will initially target 50 native species, including the common ash, which is under threat across Europe from ash dieback.

For several years now, scientists have been struggling to determine why bee colonies across the world are disappearing—a phenomenon dubbed colony collapse disorder (CCD).

 

As reported by Dan Rather, the US has recently experienced the highest loss of honeybee populations so far, with most of the nation’s beekeepers losing anywhere from 50 to 90 percent of their bee population.

 

Honeybees are perhaps one of the least recognized workers in the agricultural industry. They contribute $15 billion in annual agriculture revenue to the US economy alone, as a full one-third of the American food supply depends on them pollinating crops.

 

Just about every fruit and vegetable you can imagine is dependent on the pollinating services of bees. Apple orchards, for instance, require one colony of bees per acre in order to be adequately pollinated. So, unless the mysterious disappearance of bees is reversed, major food shortages could result.

A smartphone app has been released that can measure the impact of construction work on waterbirds in protected areas.

 

The software offers advice on how development projects, in the guise of noise levels and other disturbances, can affect birds' behaviour.

 

Researchers from the University of Hull, UK, developed the app that built on a study carried out on behalf of the Environment Agency.

 

The team hopes it will minimise the disruption from flood prevention work.

Researchers say the app is designed to help planners assess the possible effects of proposed work before they consent to a development going ahead.

 

It also will allow contractors to measure noise levels on the site and offer advice on the degree of disturbance the work will have on bird species.

This winter's losses of honey bee colonies were the worst since records began six years ago, according to a survey carried out by the British Beekeepers Association.

 

It says more than a third of hives did not survive the cold, wet conditions.

All regions of England saw dramatic declines with the numbers lost more than double the previous 12 months.

 

This year's poor winter, following on from a disastrous summer, is said to be the main reason for the losses.

Edible flowers add a special touch to salads. Once the salad has been tossed with dressing, pick off petals from edible flowers and toss them on top. Many flowers have a strong flavor, so use a light hand when adding them to your greens.

 

And they make wonder edible bouquets too. Try growing Edible flowers in your organic garden. Edible flower arrangements make wonderful gifts, too.

Researchers found that moths are more attracted by the brighter white lighting that is increasingly being installed on roads around Britain compared to the older traditional orange street lights.

 

They say moths find white light or slightly bluish light irresistible and will exhaust themselves by flying around the lights rather than mating or searching for food.

 

Predators also find it easier to pick the insects off due to the large congregations that gather around modern street lamps.

Prince William says he hopes his "generation is not the first to consider elephants, rhinos or tigers as historical creatures" while speaking at an international poaching conference.

 

The Duke joined his father the Prince of Wales in co-hosting the wildlife conference with Environment Secretary Owen Paterson at St James's Palace.

 

Prince William is passionate about Africa's wildlife and people and is royal patron of the wildlife conservation charity Tusk Trust, which works in the continent on projects to preserve endangered animals.

Britain is pretty poorly off for butterflies, all things considered, with a measly 58 breeding species: cross the Channel and you’ll find nearly five times as many. So something that sets your average British butterfly-lover’s heart a-thumping is the occasional chance meeting with a rare migrant from elsewhere.

 

The Camberwell beauty, from the Nordic countries, with its maroon wings bordered with cream, is a quite stunning one, while very handsome, too, is the Queen of Spain fritillary from France; but the greatest prize is almost certainly the monarch, for anyone who sees one in Britain is witnessing something extraordinary: an insect which has just flown the Atlantic.

Scientists have developed the first map of the world's most unique and most endangered mammals and amphibians.

 

The map highlights the fact that only a fraction of the areas identified as critical for the conservation of these species are protected.

 

Among the species highlighted by the map are the Mexican salamander, the Sunda pangolin and the black and white ruffed Lemur.

 

The research is published in the journal Plos One.

Understanding the importance of organic matter is crucial to success with organic gardening. Organic matter is a term that encompasses a wide variety of living or dead plant and animal material, ranging from kitchen wastes andshredded leaves to well-rotted manure and compost. Here's what adding organic matter to your soil can do: Supply nutrients for plants by providing surfaces where nutrients can be held in reserve in the soilFacilitate better drainage by loosening soil structure Store water in the soil Help increase air drainage Increase the activity and numbers of soil microorganisms Encourage earthworms

“All over Europe the stork is a migratory bird, but since the mid-1980s increasing numbers of White Stork have chosen to stay in Iberia all year rather than migrate to Africa in winter. There are now over 10,000 storks that no longer migrate but stay resident here in Portugal, including some from elsewhere in Europe that stop here rather than continuing on to Africa”, explains Nathalie Gilbert, a student at the University of East Anglia, Norwich (UK).

Ms. Gilbert is studying the winter and breeding season habitat selection of the white storks in Portugal for her PhD.

“Storks are highly opportunistic and adaptable so this change in behaviour is probably due to the year-round abundant food supply from landfill sites and also milder European winter temperatures”, she elaborates, adding: “Storks live for 20-30 years in the wild so all these changes are within the lifetime of some storks, which makes it very interesting.”