BBC Wildlife - UK (2020-05)

30 BBC Wildlife May 2020

Self-medication

Bluetitsdeliberatelyplace

freshsprigsofvegetation

intheirnests,selecting

speciesrichinaromaticoils

toboostnestlinghealthand

haemoglobinlevels,revealsa

University of Lodz study.

Livingthehighlife

A UniversityofOxfordstudy

thatbeganin 2014 hasrevealed

thattheHimalayanwolfisa

uniquewolfcharacteristically

adaptedtoharshlifeinAsian

highaltitudeswherelowoxygen

levels challenge all life forms.

Slugdeterrent

A teamofLatvianbiologists

hasfoundthatlichenextracts

influencethebehaviourof

invasiveSpanishslugs,keeping

thematbay.Theyproposeto

usethepropertiesoflichento

developnewenvironmentally-

friendly molluscicides.

Deadlyscent

Plasticsfloatingintheocean

builda coatingofalgaeand

microorganismswithina week

thatsmellsedibletoturtles,

reportsCurrentBiology. The

turtlesinthestudyresponded

totheodoursofocean-soaked

plastics by foraging.

Nature in brief

B

iologistsinSpainhaveidentifieda

significantdriverbehindthedecline

ofEurope’surbanhousesparrows.

“We’vebeenrecordingnumbersin

Valenciasince2014,”saysEdgarBernat-

Ponceofthecity’suniversity.“Inthattime,

someparkshavereplacedtheirgrasswith

concreteandartificialgrass,sothisgaveus

a chanceto seehowit affectssparrows.”

Theyfoundthatnumbersdroppedby 60

percentinresurfacedparkscomparedto

15 percentinunalteredonesoverthesame

period.Artificialsurfacesyieldfewerinsects

andseedsforthebirds.

“Thelossofgreenareaslookslikethe

mostimportantfactorinValenciaright

now,”saysBernat-Ponce.PerhapsnotinUK

cities,though,wheredeclineshavebeen

recordedsincethe1920s.

“Therearerealdifferencesintheurban

environments of Spain and the UK,”

saysBernat-Ponce.“Youhavemoreurban

gardens,forexample,butwehavemore

urbanparks.”AndsunnySpainmayhave

moreincentivethanthesoggyUKto

concreteoveritslawns.“Realgrassneeds

a lotofwater,”hesays.

Avianmalaria,pollutionandlossof

insectsandnestingsiteshavealsobeen

implicatedinthesparrow’sdecline.

“Thesewillcombineindifferent

waysindifferentcountries,” adds

Bernat-Ponce.

Stuart Blackman

Turfwars

HABITAT

FINDOUTMORE

UrbanEcosystems

bit.ly/34oRq4S

Sparrow:

bckw

nke

/A

amy;

bue

tt:

Konrad

Wothe/FLPA;

turt

e:Serg

Garc

aFernandez/FLPA;

wolf: Mountain Light Photography/Corbis/Getty; slug: Peter Vahlersvik/iStockphoto/Getty

Artificialsurfaces

inurbanparksare

reducinghouse

sparrow prey.

WILDNEWS