As I cycle to work for the third time in a row not wearing any gloves, it is inevitable that I ask myself - Is the mild November weather to do with climate change? Like the weather the ialeUK autumn articles address the concerns of climate change in two different ways – one by looking at the likely impacts of a changing climate on UK biodiversity and the other by adapting our built environment to accommodate sustainable sources of energy, whilst also providing homes for pollinators.
This year ialeUK conference was held in Edinburgh and titled Seascape Ecology- connecting land, sea and society. The ocean is truly the last frontier, and a joint article about the value of seagrass meadows as carbon stores shows its wider benefits! A PhD student provides feedback of this year’s conference and identifies the benefits of the discussions had during the event. A number of articles focus on certain initiatives happening in the city. These include the London Wildlife Trusts recent publication, an IPhone App that records how the city affects your mental well-being, and last but not least the radical campaign to make London the first National Park City….why not?
Landscape is also the topic of three articles in very different ways. We here about a living landscape managers' job role working on the Upper Ray Project, including some useful tips to young landscape ecologists. The issues of multiple landscape character assessment methodologies are discussed in the context of Spain, and thirdly, feedback from a conference 'Wild Thing: Managing Landscape Change and Future Ecologies' is given by Ian Rotherham from Sheffield Hallam University.