Hot summer days might seem like a blessing. People flock to the beach, flowers bloom and insects thrive, providing food for birds and bats. But a warm summer can be an issue for other species, particularly those that rely on our rivers and wetlands.
People have been modifying Scotland’s rivers in many ways for centuries. Legislation is now driving the restoration of engineered river systems to their previous, natural state.
Many of our rivers have been:
UK Research and innovation is launching a new £400,000 funding call to encourage researchers and innovators to experiment with citizen science.
Citizen science is an important way in which diverse groups of people can participate and collaborate in research and innovation. This could include crowdsourcing data, working with volunteers to analyse existing datasets, collaborating with communities in designing research programmes, and approaches to innovation that involve diverse groups of people in the innovation process.
The River Colne Catchment are looking for volunteers for a new river improvement
Some of the UK's most iconic habitats and species, such as blanket bog and dormice, remain in a bad or poor condition, according to government data.
Some animals, such as the mountain hare, have actually seen their status downgraded due to their ongoing decline, according to the latest environmental assessment of the UK’s European designated sites, published earlier this month by the Joint Nature Conservation Committee on the European Environment Agency’s data collection website, Eionet.
The wait is over! We’re delighted to announce the 2019 Finalists of the Thiess International Riverprize. The finalists have all demonstrated remarkable achievements and success in their river restoration work.
Chicago River, USA
To support vital research being carried out into climate change, Mendeley has created the Climate Change Library - a collection of over 5,000 articles published across 412 Elsevier journals in 2018 and 2019.
Insect life has rebounded in a river receiving all of Swindon's wastewater thanks to substantial investments to improve sewage treatment, according to a DEFRA-funded study.
The River Ray in Wiltshire, which lies downstream of Swindon’s major sewage plant, is largely formed of treated wastewater and had seen steep declines in wildlife populations from the 1960s onwards.
Get involved in this European Citizen Science research project, and help by sampling water quality in the Thames Valley.
