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A review of seagrass cover, status and trends in Africa (2024)
Journal Article
Mwikamba, E., Githaiga, M., Briers, R. A., & Huxham, M. (2024). A review of seagrass cover, status and trends in Africa. Estuaries and Coasts, 47(4), 917–934. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12237-024-01348-5

The recognition of the benefits that seagrasses contribute has enhanced the research interest in these marine ecosystems. Seagrasses provide critical goods and services and support the livelihoods of millions of people. Despite this, they are declini... Read More about A review of seagrass cover, status and trends in Africa.

An evidence-based approach to identifying resting sites of Eurasian otter (Lutra lutra) from camera-trap and field-sign data (2022)
Journal Article
Findlay, M. A., Briers, R. A., Ingledew, R. P., & James Ciaran White, P. (2023). An evidence-based approach to identifying resting sites of Eurasian otter (Lutra lutra) from camera-trap and field-sign data. Wildlife Biology, 2023(1), Article e01036. https://doi.org/10.1002/wlb3.01036

Mammals' resting sites (dens) are important features of their ecology. Eurasian otter Lutra lutra resting sites are strictly protected by UK and European legislation and are ostensibly identified from associated field-signs. This legislation is diffi... Read More about An evidence-based approach to identifying resting sites of Eurasian otter (Lutra lutra) from camera-trap and field-sign data.

Effects of pile driving sound playbacks and cadmium co-exposure on the early life stage development of the Norway lobster, Nephrops norvegicus (2022)
Journal Article
Stenton, C., Bolger, E., Michenot, M., Dodd, J., Wale, M., Briers, R., Hartl, M., & Diele, K. (2022). Effects of pile driving sound playbacks and cadmium co-exposure on the early life stage development of the Norway lobster, Nephrops norvegicus. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 179, Article 113667. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2022.113667

There is an urgent need to understand how organisms respond to multiple, potentially interacting drivers in today’s world. The effects of the pollutants of anthropogenic sound (pile-driving sound playbacks) and waterborne cadmium were investigated ac... Read More about Effects of pile driving sound playbacks and cadmium co-exposure on the early life stage development of the Norway lobster, Nephrops norvegicus.

Quantification and Characterisation of Pre-Production Pellet Pollution in the Avon-Heathcote Estuary/Ihutai, Aotearoa-New Zealand (2022)
Journal Article
Hunter, E. C., de Vine, R., Pantos, O., Clunies-Ross, P., Doake, F., Masterton, H., & Briers, R. A. (2022). Quantification and Characterisation of Pre-Production Pellet Pollution in the Avon-Heathcote Estuary/Ihutai, Aotearoa-New Zealand. Microplastics, 1(1), 67-84. https://doi.org/10.3390/microplastics1010005

Plastic pollution is threatening aquatic ecosystems and wildlife. Understanding the characteristics and extent of plastic pollution is the first step towards improving management and therefore the environmental impacts. Pre-production pellets are use... Read More about Quantification and Characterisation of Pre-Production Pellet Pollution in the Avon-Heathcote Estuary/Ihutai, Aotearoa-New Zealand.

Pond ecology and conservation: research priorities and knowledge gaps (2021)
Journal Article
Hill, M. J., Greaves, H. M., Sayer, C. D., Hassall, C., Milin, M., Milner, V. S., …Wood, P. J. (2021). Pond ecology and conservation: research priorities and knowledge gaps. Ecosphere, 12(12), Article e03853. https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.3853

Ponds are amongst the most biodiverse and ecologically important freshwater habitats globally and may provide a significant opportunity to mitigate anthropogenic pressures and reverse the decline of aquatic biodiversity. Ponds also provide important... Read More about Pond ecology and conservation: research priorities and knowledge gaps.

Multi-scale habitat selection and spatial analysis reveals a mismatch between the wintering distribution of a threatened population of Taiga Bean Geese Anser fabalis and its protected area (2021)
Journal Article
Thornton, M., Mitchell, C., Griffin, L., Briers, R., Minshull, B., Maciver, A., & White, P. (2022). Multi-scale habitat selection and spatial analysis reveals a mismatch between the wintering distribution of a threatened population of Taiga Bean Geese Anser fabalis and its protected area. Bird Study, 68(2), 157-173. https://doi.org/10.1080/00063657.2021.1966740

Capsule: Our multi-scale habitat selection and spatial analysis of a threatened population of Taiga Bean Geese Anser fabalis highlights the importance of monitoring and review programmes to determine whether species conservation measures are being im... Read More about Multi-scale habitat selection and spatial analysis reveals a mismatch between the wintering distribution of a threatened population of Taiga Bean Geese Anser fabalis and its protected area.

Marine invertebrate anthropogenic noise research -Trends in methods and future directions (2021)
Journal Article
Wale, M., Briers, R., & Diele, K. (2021). Marine invertebrate anthropogenic noise research -Trends in methods and future directions. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 173(A), Article 112958. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2021.112958

Selecting the correct methods to answer one's chosen question is key to conducting rigorous, evidence-based science. A disciplines' chosen methods are constantly evolving to encompass new insights and developments. Analysing these changes can be a us... Read More about Marine invertebrate anthropogenic noise research -Trends in methods and future directions.

Same data, different conclusions: Radical dispersion in empirical results when independent analysts operationalize and test the same hypothesis (2021)
Journal Article
Schweinsberg, M., Feldman, M., Van Assen, M. A. L. M., Bernstein, A., Staub, N., Sommer, S. A., van den Akker, O. R., van Aert, R., Liu, Y., Althoff, T., Heer, J., Kale, A., Mohamed, Z., Amireh, H., Venkatesh Prasad, V., Bernstein, A., Robinson, E., Snellman, K., Sommer, S. A., Otner, S. M., …Druijff-van de Woestijne, G. B. (2021). Same data, different conclusions: Radical dispersion in empirical results when independent analysts operationalize and test the same hypothesis. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 165, 228-249. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.obhdp.2021.02.003

In this crowdsourced initiative, independent analysts used the same dataset to test two hypotheses regarding the effects of scientists’ gender and professional status on verbosity during group meetings. Not only the analytic approach but also the ope... Read More about Same data, different conclusions: Radical dispersion in empirical results when independent analysts operationalize and test the same hypothesis.

Genetic diversity of the Nubian ibex in Oman as revealed by mitochondrial DNA (2021)
Journal Article
Al-Ghafri, M. K., White, P. J. C., Briers, R. A., Dicks, K. L., Ball, A., Ghazali, M., Ross, S., Al-Said, T., Al-Amri, H., Al-Umairi, M., Al-Saadi, H., Aka'ak, A., Hardan, A., Zabanoot, N., Craig, M., & Senn, H. (2021). Genetic diversity of the Nubian ibex in Oman as revealed by mitochondrial DNA. Royal Society Open Science, 8(5), Article 210125. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.210125

The Nubian ibex (Capra nubiana) is patchily distributed across parts of Africa and Arabia. In Oman, it is one of the few free-ranging wild mammals found in the central and southern regions. Its population is declining due to habitat degradation, huma... Read More about Genetic diversity of the Nubian ibex in Oman as revealed by mitochondrial DNA.

Local contributions to beta-diversity in urban pond networks: implications for biodiversity conservation and management (2021)
Journal Article
Hill, M., White, J., Biggs, J., Briers, R., Gledhill, D., Ledger, M., Thornhill, I., Wood, P., & Hassall, C. (2021). Local contributions to beta-diversity in urban pond networks: implications for biodiversity conservation and management. Diversity and Distributions, 27(5), 887-900. https://doi.org/10.1111/ddi.13239

Aim: An understanding of how biotic communities are spatially organised is necessary to identify and prioritize habitats within landscape-scale biodiversity conservation. Local Contribution to Beta diversity (LCBD) identifies individual habitats that... Read More about Local contributions to beta-diversity in urban pond networks: implications for biodiversity conservation and management.

Component processes of detection probability in camera-trap studies: understanding the occurrence of false-negatives (2020)
Journal Article
Findlay, M. A., Briers, R. A., & White, P. J. C. (2020). Component processes of detection probability in camera-trap studies: understanding the occurrence of false-negatives. Mammal Research, 65, 167-180. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13364-020-00478-y

Camera-trap studies in the wild record true-positive data, but data loss from false-negatives (i.e. an animal is present but not recorded) is likely to vary and widely impact data quality. Detection probability is defined as the probability of record... Read More about Component processes of detection probability in camera-trap studies: understanding the occurrence of false-negatives.

Increasing intensities of Anisakis simplex third-stage larvae (L3) in Atlantic salmon of coastal waters of Scotland (2020)
Journal Article
Kent, A. J., Pert, C. C., Briers, R. A., Diele, K., & Rueckert, S. (2020). Increasing intensities of Anisakis simplex third-stage larvae (L3) in Atlantic salmon of coastal waters of Scotland. Parasites & vectors, 13, https://doi.org/10.1186/s13071-020-3942-5

Background: Red Vent Syndrome (RVS), a haemorrhagic inflammation of the vent region in Atlantic salmon, is associated with high abundance of Anisakis simplex (s.s.) third-stage larvae (L3) in the vent region. Despite evidence suggesting that increasi... Read More about Increasing intensities of Anisakis simplex third-stage larvae (L3) in Atlantic salmon of coastal waters of Scotland.

First genetic evidence that invasive bullhead (Cottus L. 1758) in Scotland is of English origin and the difficulty of resolving the European Cottus species taxonomy (2020)
Journal Article
McLeish, J., Briers, R., Dodd, J., & Rueckert, S. (2020). First genetic evidence that invasive bullhead (Cottus L. 1758) in Scotland is of English origin and the difficulty of resolving the European Cottus species taxonomy. Journal of Fish Biology, 96(3), 617-630. https://doi.org/10.1111/jfb.14247

The European bullhead (Cottus gobio) is widely distributed across Europe and within the UK is native to England and Wales, where it is protected under the Habitats Directive. In Scotland, however, the species is considered invasive and thriving popul... Read More about First genetic evidence that invasive bullhead (Cottus L. 1758) in Scotland is of English origin and the difficulty of resolving the European Cottus species taxonomy.

Response of a marine benthic invertebrate community and biotic indices to organic enrichment from sewage disposal (2019)
Journal Article
Culhane, F. E., Briers, R. A., Tett, P., & Fernandes, T. F. (2019). Response of a marine benthic invertebrate community and biotic indices to organic enrichment from sewage disposal. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the UK, 99(8), 1721-1734. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0025315419000857

Nutrient enrichment is a significant cause of ecosystem change in coastal habitats worldwide. This study focuses on the change in a benthic macroinvertebrate community and environmental quality as assessed through different biotic indices following t... Read More about Response of a marine benthic invertebrate community and biotic indices to organic enrichment from sewage disposal.

From DNA to ecological performance: Effects of anthropogenic noise on a reef-building mussel (2019)
Journal Article
Wale, M. A., Briers, R. A., Hartl, M. G., Bryson, D., & Diele, K. (2019). From DNA to ecological performance: Effects of anthropogenic noise on a reef-building mussel. Science of the Total Environment, 689, 126-132. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.06.380

Responses of marine invertebrates to anthropogenic noise are insufficiently known, impeding our understanding of ecosystemic impacts of noise and the development of mitigation strategies. We show that the blue mussel, Mytilus edulis, is negatively af... Read More about From DNA to ecological performance: Effects of anthropogenic noise on a reef-building mussel.

Optimising camera trap data quality at mammal resting places. (2018)
Journal Article
Findlay, M. A., Briers, R. A., & White, P. J. C. (2018). Optimising camera trap data quality at mammal resting places. In Practice, 24-28

A thorough understanding of how camera traps function is essential for ensuring correct set-up and quality of data. We illustrate the challenges through a case study of camera trapping an otter Lutra lutra resting and breeding place. Appropriate surv... Read More about Optimising camera trap data quality at mammal resting places..

The thin(ning) green line? Investigating changes in Kenya's seagrass coverage (2018)
Journal Article
Harcourt, W. D., Briers, R. A., & Huxham, M. (2018). The thin(ning) green line? Investigating changes in Kenya's seagrass coverage. Biology Letters, 14(11), Article 20180227. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2018.0227

Knowledge of seagrass distribution is limited to a few well-studied sites and poor where resourcesare scant (e.g. Africa), hence global estimates of seagrass carbon storage are inaccurate. Here, we analysed freely available Sentinel-2 and Landsat im... Read More about The thin(ning) green line? Investigating changes in Kenya's seagrass coverage.

The functional response and resilience in small waterbodies along land-use and environmental gradients (2018)
Journal Article
Thornhill, I. A., Biggs, J., Hill, M. J., Briers, R., Gledhill, D., Wood, P. J., Gee, J. H. R., Ledger, M., & Hassall, C. (2018). The functional response and resilience in small waterbodies along land-use and environmental gradients. Global Change Biology, 24(7), 3079-3092. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.14149

There is growing recognition of the essential services provided to humanity by functionally intact ecosystems. Freshwater ecosystems are found throughout agricultural and urban landscapes and provide a wide range of ecosystem services, but globally t... Read More about The functional response and resilience in small waterbodies along land-use and environmental gradients.

Community heterogeneity of aquatic macroinvertebrates in urban ponds at a multi-city scale (2018)
Journal Article
Hill, M. J., Biggs, J., Thornhill, I., Briers, R. A., Ledger, M., Gledhill, D. G., Wood, P. J., & Hassall, C. (2018). Community heterogeneity of aquatic macroinvertebrates in urban ponds at a multi-city scale. Landscape Ecology, 33(3), 389-405. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10980-018-0608-1

Purpose Urbanisation is a leading cause of biotic homogenisation in urban ecosystems. However, there has been little research examining the effect of urbanisation and biotic homogenisation on aquatic communities, and few studies have compared findin... Read More about Community heterogeneity of aquatic macroinvertebrates in urban ponds at a multi-city scale.