<
https://www.positive.news/society/cutting-edge-tech-is-guiding-nature-restoration-in-the-uks-forests/>
"Drones, DNA profiling and ultra-sensitive listening devices are being deployed
in conservation efforts safeguarding the UK’s forests as the battle to reverse
biodiversity decline and manage climate change goes hi-tech.
Forestry England (FE) is gathering data on the variety of wildlife in some of
its 1,500 woodlands at an unprecedented pace and level of detail.
The body is harvesting environmental DNA – genetic material shed by organisms
in an ecosystem – from soil, water and air samples to build a picture of the
range of species across 21 forests.
Results from four months of sampling have revealed more than 5,000 unique
species of fungi – more than have been found in the last century using
traditional sampling methods – alongside 1,000 species of invertebrates.
The data will create a new biodiversity baseline enabling FE to monitor the
success of its conservation work.
Meanwhile, bioacoustic listening devices have been installed in four wild areas
in Somerset, Dorset, North Yorkshire and Northumberland. The technology is
being used to track bumblebee activity by listening to the sound of their wings
in flight.
Andrew Stringer, Forestry England head of environment and nature recovery,
called the fungi and invertebrate data ‘mind-blowing’ and said the new
techniques represented a step-change in its biodiversity monitoring work.
“These emerging technologies mean soon we’ll have ‘weather stations for nature’
throughout the nation’s forests telling us what is happening to nature at a
level of detail we’ve never had before,” Stringer added."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
