June 2012

Nam  id  velit  non  risus  consequat  iaculis.  

 

DURESS Gazette This  month  has  been  incredibly  productive  for  the  DURESS  project.    

The  DURESS  sites  are  now  established  and  a  field  guidebook  in  now  available  thanks  to  the  hard  work  of  Marian  Pye  and  our  Toulouse  intern  Mathilde  Fert.    

Field  work  has  started  earlier  than  initially  planned  and  data  are  already  flowing  in.  Work  packages  are  now  well  organized  and  running  smoothly,  and  we  hear  that  BESS  directorate  is  duly  impressed.    

The  DURESS  administrator,  Miss  Jenniffer  Peach,  will  join  the  team  on  the  16th  of  July.    

 

WP1

• Initial  meetings  on  scenario  developments  have  taken  place  with  Environment  Agency  Wales  and  the  Land  Use  Sub-­‐Group  of  the  Climate  Change  Commission  Wales.  

• Liaison  is  being  established  with  Environment  Agency  Horizon  Scanning  and  Futures  team,  and  Aberdeen  University  RELU  scenario  development  team.  

• Scenarios  for  upland  management  and  land  use  are  being  reviewed  -­‐  particularly  UK  NEA  and  Foresight  Land  Use  and  RELU  scenarios.  

WP2

• Samples  of  invertebrates  and  basal  resources  from  the  50  extensive  food-­‐web  sites  are  now  all  collected  

• Sampling  of  fish  at  the  50  sites  is  occurring  throughout  June  and  July  led  by  the  Game  and  Wildlife  Conservancy  Trust  under  contract.  We  appreciate  the  help  and  support  of  CCW  and  EAW  Wales  with  permissions.  

• Biofilm  samples  have  been  collected  across  the  20  Intensive  food-­‐web  sites  to  provide  the  basis  for  molecular  analysis  

WP3

• Invertebrate  samples  from  the  Welsh  Acid  Waters  Survey  (WAWS)  sites  are  now  all  collected  and  sorting  has  begun  

• Water  quality  sampling  at  the  WAWS  sites  will  occur  during  the  coming  week  -­‐  with  samples  to  be  processed  by  the  Forestry  Commission  

• Sampling  for  trout  genetics  is  occurring  during  June  and  July  through  GWCT  and  support  from  the  Environment  Agency  on  the  ground.    

 

• The  Cardiff  and  QMUL  teams  have  collected  material  for  invertebrate  genetic  samples  focusing  on  Amphinemura  sulcicollis,  Plectrocnemia  (conspersa)  and  Baetis  rhodani  agg.  with  the  predator  Isoperla  grammatica  also  collected  from  a  proportion  of  the  sites  

• Anne  Laure  Sauvadet,  and  Hugh  Feeley  have  been  recruited  as  post-­‐docs  in  Cardiff  and  will  start  work  in  July  

WP4

• Prof  Bridget  Emmett  is  now  CEH  PI  

• Detailed  site  selection  visits  to  Llyn  Brianne  &  Pontbren  undertaken;  two  further  booked  for  July.  

• Final  specification  &  ordering  of  almost  all  hydrometric  and  water  quality  equipment.  

• Specification,  internal  approval  &  national  advertising  of  Lancaster  PDRA1  post.  

• Requested  EIDC  search  for  old  Llyn  Brianne  hydrometric  data;  data  found  &  now  licensed  to  Lancaster  PI.  

 

WP5

WP  5.1:  Economic  benefits  

• Although  this  economics  research  hasn’t  officially  started  yet,  work  on  other  related  projects  (NERC  VNN,  and  Defra  NEA2)  is  being  developed  to  directly  feed  into  the  methods  to  be  used  in  DURESS  

WP5.2:  Health  benefits  

• Fieldwork  for  the  pilot  study  of  Cryptosporidium  in  invertebrate  larvae  was  carried  out  in  June  

• A  wide  range  of  grazers,  shredders  and  filter  feeders  were  collected  from  replicate  sites  representing  three  different  land  uses  at  Llyn  Brianne  

• Novel  seeding  trials  are  currently  being  designed  to  demonstrate  the  potential  for  detection  of  Cryptosporidium  in  these  vectors  

WP6

• The  DURESS  project  was  presented  at  the  BESS  launch  on  the  22nd  of  June  (http://www.nerc-­‐bess.net/index.php/bess-­‐news/66-­‐bess-­‐launched)  

• The  project  will  be  presented  in  Portland  at  the  Ecosystem  Service  Partnership  Conference  on  the  4th  of  August  

• Our  twitter  account  is  reaching  100  followers  thanks  to  some  hard  tweeting  from  Jon  and  Steve  @DURESS_HQ  

• Our  website  www.nerc-­‐duress.org  is  in  press  but  should  be  live  very  soon  

 

And let’s celebrate:

Publications  in  Nature  (Nick  Chappell  and  Guy  Woodward),  in  Science  (Guy  Woodward)  and  Global  Change  Biology  (Ian  Vaughan)  

Steve  Ormerod’s  nomination  as  Chair  of  RSPB  Council  

Havard  Prosser’s  nomination  to  Chair  of  RSPB  Wales  

Mike  Christie’s  promotion  to  Professor  of  Environmental  and  Ecological  Economics  

The  very  hard  work  of  all  our  teams  in  the  field  

 

There  must  be  more  good  news  that  we  haven’t  heard  yet,  so  let  us  know!