June Gazette - latest news from the DURESS project

1. 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
th
16
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.

2. • 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!