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Mike Shewring

@mikeshewring.bsky.social
864 followers 2.8K following 81 posts

Ecologist / conservation scientist

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Reposted by Mike Shewring
Dr Scott J. Davidson @wetlandresilienceresearchgroup.com · 27/09/2026
It’s my favourite time of year on a peatland! Scroll through the photos from four #PeatColours sites below to see how their colours change through the seasons. Each box in the colour index comes from a photograph taken at that site during the year. #peatlandsmatter #peatlands
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Joey Pickard @bootlegbryos.bsky.social · 02/08/2026
Had a fantastic day talking all things peat at the Gower Show!
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Joey Pickard @bootlegbryos.bsky.social · 01/08/2026
If you’re in South Wales and fancy coming to speak to us about the peatlands of Gower at the Gower Show tomorrow, come and find Adfer!
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Sarah Hickey @sarahehickey.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
I always think it's amazing how much water seeps out of the hills...but we do need rain now! #peatlands
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Joey Pickard @bootlegbryos.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
Really nice good news story from our Welsh peatland restoration area
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Mike Shewring @mikeshewring.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
Wrote a bit more about hill tracks ! - open.substack.com/pub/mikeshew...
open.substack.com
Everybody Builds. Nobody Unbuilds
What 5,190 km of hill track tells us about who the uplands are really for — and why we should start talking about taking some of them out
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RSPB Science @rspbscience.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
New research reveals a substantial decline in the number of European Storm-petrels caught by researchers over the course of a 27-year study Read on for a summary Full paper: doi.org/10.1080/0006... @one-cardiffuni.bsky.social @robthomasbirds.bsky.social @kirstyfranklin.bsky.social #seabird 🪶🧪
A small dark seabird with white at the top of its tail (European Storm-petrel) cupped in a person’s hand against a black background.
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Joey Pickard @bootlegbryos.bsky.social · 24/07/2026
A very rewarding day to be out not only delivering training for BSG Ecology on peat and habitat management, but to find water vole latrines on a forest to bog site that in November 2023 looked like this, a bare stump flipped landscape. An incredible change in only 2.5 years!
The first water vole record for Cregan HRAPeatland restoration at Cregan HRARewet peat at Cregan HRA
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Rob Thomas @robthomasbirds.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
If your new academic year resolution is to improve your statistical knowledge and coding skills in “R” in a friendly and supportive online learning environment, check out our forthcoming courses for autumn and winter 2026-27. #rstats #RStats www.ecoexplore.co.uk/ourcourses
ecoexplore.co.uk
Data Analysis Courses — Eco-Explore
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Mike Shewring @mikeshewring.bsky.social · 20/07/2026
Lovely to see our Track paper (besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....) featured in @inkcapjournal.bsky.social this week - check it out here url.uk.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/PhpvC68O8t... @rspbscience.bsky.social
url.uk.m.mimecastprotect.com
Archaeologists and conservationists unite!
This week's edition of Ground Cover.
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Mike Shewring @mikeshewring.bsky.social · 14/07/2026
5/ Take-home: UK surfaced hill tracks are widespread & overlap carbon-rich, protected & montane habitats. We call for stronger planning controls & evidence-based track-removal frameworks. Funded by @rspb.bsky.social, @rspbscience.bsky.social .
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Mike Shewring @mikeshewring.bsky.social · 14/07/2026
4/ Track density varies most by land use: highest on wind farms (0.49 km/km²) & grouse moors (0.25), lowest on land managed for conservation (0.09). Designation alone isn't preventing track development in sensitive places.
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Mike Shewring @mikeshewring.bsky.social · 14/07/2026
3/ Why it matters: ~1,815 km run over deep peat — our largest terrestrial carbon store. And designation doesn't seem to help — track density is basically the same inside & outside SACs/SPAs (0.27 vs 0.30 km/km²), and higher in National Parks (0.35).
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Mike Shewring @mikeshewring.bsky.social · 14/07/2026
2/ The model (F1 = 84%) mapped 5,190 km of surfaced hill track across GB, at a mean density of 0.29 km/km². Scotland holds the most (3,392 km), with the densest hotspots in SE Wales & NE Scotland. Automated detection replaces slow, manual mapping.
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Mike Shewring @mikeshewring.bsky.social · 14/07/2026
1/🛰️🧠 New open-access paper! We built a deep-learning (U-Net) model to automatically map surfaced vehicle "hill tracks" across the UK uplands from 25 cm aerial imagery — the first spatially comprehensive assessment of their extent. 🔓 doi.org/10.1002/2688...
doi.org
Vehicle tracks in the <fc>UK</fc> uplands vary in occurrence with land use and overlap with peatlands and protected areas
Surfaced vehicle tracks are widespread across GB uplands, yet their extent and environmental footprint have until now been poorly quantified. Using remote sensing and a semi-automated detection model...
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Mike Shewring @mikeshewring.bsky.social · 04/07/2026
Excellent news! Well done mate. Can’t wait to see and hear your results.
media.tenor.com
a man with a mustache is holding a piece of paper with the word science written on it .
ALT: a man with a mustache is holding a piece of paper with the word science written on it .
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Joey Pickard @bootlegbryos.bsky.social · 02/07/2026
swyddi.cyfoethnaturiol.cymru/VacancyInfor... There is a new role out for the Welsh National Peatland Action Programme (NPAP) for all you peaty people who are looking for a role in GIS/Remote Sensing/Modelling. Lots of very positive peatland action in Wales and a great time to get involved!
An aerial view of Cors Fochno, a raised bog in mid wales. The picture is advertising a job as specialist advisor for modelling and remote sensing
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Mike Shewring @mikeshewring.bsky.social · 29/06/2026
At the @britishecologicalsociety.org #NBS symposium? Come see our @rspbscience.bsky.social poster on wildfire and habitat restoration!
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Richard K Broughton @richardkbroughton.bsky.social · 26/06/2026
New in #BirdStudy and the media today: Swifts are very faithful to nest sites, partners & colonies. Providing nest sites could help maintain populations. High fidelity to nest sites and partners in the Common Swift Apus apus: doi.org/10.1080/0006... www.theguardian.com/environment/... #ornithology
theguardian.com
Migrating swifts loyally return every year to nests in buildings, study finds
Conservationists emphasise importance of protecting nesting sites used by ‘strongly faithful’ red-listed species
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Journal of Vegetation & Applied Vegetation Science @jvs-avs.bsky.social · 24/06/2026
Roads inside protected areas are invasion highways! Zardetto & Fidelis find that roadside edges fuel invasive plant spread in tropical forests & savannas, hitting native species hard. 🌿🚧 #VegetationScience
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
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Mike Shewring @mikeshewring.bsky.social · 17/06/2026
Nice blog post from Tom Aspinall at @rspb.bsky.social for the @iucn-uk-peat.bsky.social on how we can build landscapes that are resilient to fire www.iucn-uk-peatland programme.org/blog/tom-aspinall/building-fire-resilience-natures-way
iucn-uk-peatlandprogramme.org
Building fire resilience, nature's way | IUCN UK Peatland Programme
In this guest blog, RSPB Senior Policy Officer Tom Aspinall presents his views on the journey from fire risk to resilience for UK peatlands.
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Mike Peacock @peatymike.bsky.social · 16/06/2026
Calling all peaty people. Still time to submit to our special issue on peatlands. Details below. Free free to DM/email me if you want to ask any questions.
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Adfer Natur CIC @adfernatur.bsky.social · 09/06/2026
Prynhawn Da Pawb! If anyone is at the IUCN peatland conference Adfer Natur has a stand set up and we’d love to talk to you! We’re right next to the main IUCN desk. We have microscopes set up for the duration of the conference so if you have samples from field trips, bring them to us for a look & ID
A stand at a conference with a banner and screen on the desk
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Haven Ecology @havenecology.bsky.social · 09/06/2026
Lovely night to be out surveying for nightjar around the wind farm peat sites in the Rhondda (before the rain comes in)
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Joey Pickard @bootlegbryos.bsky.social · 09/06/2026
PSA for any of my peaty friends who are at the IUCN - bring me your Sphagnum and mosses and liverworts that you find on your field trips and I’ll ID them for you if needed and you can use our set up to take some photos under the microscope that I can send you. Bring on your peat and bog finds!
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TK (Takashi DY) Kozai @bioniclab.bsky.social · 30/05/2026
🪼 Your tax dollars paid a scientist to squeeze jellyfish through cheesecloth. Osamu Shimomura processed tens of thousands on an NSF grant to understand why they glow. He found a protein that glowed green under UV light. Called it "green protein." Nobody cared. For decades.
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Mike Shewring @mikeshewring.bsky.social · 30/05/2026
This is so cool! zslpublications.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
zslpublications.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
Tracking Wintertime Behaviour of Emperor Penguins Using High‐Resolution Synthetic Aperture Radar Imagery
Using 25–30 cm Umbra synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imagery combined with ground validation of our observations, we introduce a method to track the phenology of emperor penguins during the Antarctic ....
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Mike Shewring @mikeshewring.bsky.social · 28/05/2026
Interesting piece on #WoodlandCarbonCode parkswatchscotland.co.uk/2026/05/25/t...
parkswatchscotland.co.uk
The Woodland Carbon Code (1) - tree carbon at the expense of soil carbon - parkswatchscotland
The Woodland Carbon Code (WCC) describes itself (see here) as ‘the UK’s government-backed standard for creating new woodlands that generate high-integrity carbon credits’ and is managed by Scottish Fo...
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@PeatlandCymru @peatlandcymru.bsky.social · 19/05/2026
NPAP team members were delighted to see the progress on the @rspbcymru.bsky.social Gadfa peatland restoration site. The dams and pools are now colonised by sphagnum; moss that forms layers of peat to lock carbon in the land. Impressive work Team Vyrnwy! #WalesPeatlandAction @natreswales.bsky.social
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Mike Shewring @mikeshewring.bsky.social · 19/05/2026
Many thanks to my co-authors for a really rewarding collaboration on this. 📄 Full paper: iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1... #Peatlands #AirQuality #PM25 #UplandsManagement #PrescribedBurning #Conservation #PublicHealth #RemoteSensing
iopscience.iop.org
Prescribed moorland burning in Great Britain exposes 2.3 million people to PM2.5 levels exceeding the WHO 24 h guideline limit
Prescribed moorland burning in Great Britain exposes 2.3 million people to PM2.5 levels exceeding the WHO 24 h guideline limit, Graham, Ailish M, Spracklen, Dominick V, Shewring, Mike P, Douglas, David J T, Pope, Richard J, Chipperfield, Martyn P
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Mike Shewring @mikeshewring.bsky.social · 19/05/2026
⚠️ 2.3 million people — 19% of the affected regional population — were exposed above the WHO PM2.5 threshold This research adds important evidence to ongoing debates around upland land management. Prescribed burning is not just a biodiversity or carbon question — it's a public health one too.
iopscience.iop.org
Prescribed moorland burning in Great Britain exposes 2.3 million people to PM2.5 levels exceeding the WHO 24 h guideline limit
Prescribed moorland burning in Great Britain exposes 2.3 million people to PM2.5 levels exceeding the WHO 24 h guideline limit, Graham, Ailish M, Spracklen, Dominick V, Shewring, Mike P, Douglas, David J T, Pope, Richard J, Chipperfield, Martyn P
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Mike Shewring @mikeshewring.bsky.social · 19/05/2026
🌬️ On peak burning days, 2.69 million people experienced a 15%+ increase 📍 In Yorkshire & Humber, North East England, and East Scotland, 100% of the population experienced at least one day above that 5% threshold across the burn season
iopscience.iop.org
Prescribed moorland burning in Great Britain exposes 2.3 million people to PM2.5 levels exceeding the WHO 24 h guideline limit
Prescribed moorland burning in Great Britain exposes 2.3 million people to PM2.5 levels exceeding the WHO 24 h guideline limit, Graham, Ailish M, Spracklen, Dominick V, Shewring, Mike P, Douglas, David J T, Pope, Richard J, Chipperfield, Martyn P
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Mike Shewring @mikeshewring.bsky.social · 19/05/2026
The headline findings are striking: 🔥 Moorland burning produces 0.7–1.6 kT of PM2.5 per year — equivalent to ~30% of PM2.5 from all road transport in the UK 👥 On active burning days, more than 2.32 million people on average were exposed to at least a 5% increase in PM2.5 concentrations
iopscience.iop.org
Prescribed moorland burning in Great Britain exposes 2.3 million people to PM2.5 levels exceeding the WHO 24 h guideline limit
Prescribed moorland burning in Great Britain exposes 2.3 million people to PM2.5 levels exceeding the WHO 24 h guideline limit, Graham, Ailish M, Spracklen, Dominick V, Shewring, Mike P, Douglas, David J T, Pope, Richard J, Chipperfield, Martyn P
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Mike Shewring @mikeshewring.bsky.social · 19/05/2026
Delighted to share our new paper, just published in Environmental Research Letters, on the air quality (AQ) impacts of prescribed moorland burning. We combined burn area estimates, fire hotspot data, and meteorological records to estimate emissions, then a AQ model to simulate population exposure.
iopscience.iop.org
Prescribed moorland burning in Great Britain exposes 2.3 million people to PM2.5 levels exceeding the WHO 24 h guideline limit
Prescribed moorland burning in Great Britain exposes 2.3 million people to PM2.5 levels exceeding the WHO 24 h guideline limit, Graham, Ailish M, Spracklen, Dominick V, Shewring, Mike P, Douglas, David J T, Pope, Richard J, Chipperfield, Martyn P
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Joey Pickard @bootlegbryos.bsky.social · 07/05/2026
Hey #PeatSky, going to be at the IUCN conf in Swansea? come and say hi! On day 1 I’m on the Adfer Natur CIC stall with my directors hat on, day 2 I’m doing some of the Rhigos trip for Swansea Uni, day 3 I’m part of the AM EC workshop for BES and the PM community engagement workshop for Adfer Natur
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Kyra Simone @sciencewithkyra.bsky.social · 08/05/2026
Very excited to announce that my first PhD research paper is out! 🎉 We think shallow #peatlands represent #ClimateChange "sentinels" for deeper peats, but we don't know much about their #evapotranspiration (ET) dynamics 🧵 doi.org/10.1002/hyp.70558 @nobel-water.bsky.social #PeatPaper #OpenAccess
doi.org
Persistent Evapotranspiration in a Shallow Boreal Shield Peatland Despite Summer Drought: Implications for Ecohydrological Resilience
We examine energy balance and evapotranspiration dynamics in a shallow peatland as an analogue for projected climate change impacts in deeper peatlands. Across nine growing seasons, we document simil...
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Dr. Merritt Rae Turetsky @queenofpeat.bsky.social · 08/05/2026
Boglands around the world are considered wastelands and continue to be destroyed to make room for more “productive” land. With this ignorance, we lose some of the most beautiful, diverse, and innovative ecosystems-and one of our best climate allies. Please share and become a #BogChampion.
Image of a bog with red moss in the foreground and green conifer trees and blue sky in background. Image of a sundew plant with droplets.
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William (Bill) Sutherland @billsutherland.bsky.social · 05/05/2026
This is such an important and engaging book (including an excellent chapter on our work on evidence-based conservation). Makes a completely compelling case for learning what is effective and then doing what we know works and not doing what we know doesn’t work.
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Lorna Harris, PhD @lornaharris.bsky.social · 04/05/2026
Where are the world's bogs, fens, and swamps? Are there peatlands still waiting to be mapped within the dense tropical forests of the Amazon and Congo? 🌎 Mapping #peatlands is a global challenge. For more, see my new post on Peatpedia: open.substack.com/pub/peatpedi...
open.substack.com
Peatland Mapping
The quest to identify and map the world’s bogs, fens, and swamps
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Mike Shewring @mikeshewring.bsky.social · 01/05/2026
Lovely day looking for Chough on South Gower cliffs with @nationaltrust.org.uk . Three active Chough nests found. Plus some botanical niceties yellow whitlow grass (too quick for photo) and hoary rock rose.
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Mike Shewring @mikeshewring.bsky.social · 01/05/2026
Interested in terrestrial biodiversity indicators at a landscape scale? Me too. Check this new paper out - url.uk.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/KwdZCM838t...
url.uk.m.mimecastprotect.com
Assessing Potential Data Sources for Landscape-scale Terrestrial Biodiversity Indicators
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RSPB Science @rspbscience.bsky.social · 30/04/2026
RSPB Scientist Simon Wotton shares a summary of the results from two recently published reports: Breeding Bird Survey and Wetland Bird Survey. Read on to learn more about the ups and downs of the UK’s birds www.rspb.org.uk/whats-happen... #CitSci @jncc.bsky.social @btobirds.bsky.social 🪶 🧪
rspb.org.uk
Two new reports reveal how the UK’s birds are faring
Little Egrets continue to rise whilst Blue Tits are declining. Read on to learn more about the ups and downs of the UK’s birds.
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People and Nature @peopleandnature.bsky.social · 30/04/2026
🌍️ Using childhood landscape memories to uncover the dynamics of Anthropocene in African Urbanscapes 📖 Read the full paper here ➡️ buff.ly/tUE5lBx
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Alice Milner @alicemmilner.bsky.social · 28/04/2026
Peatlands store more carbon than the world's forests yet fundamental questions remain unanswered. Today we publish 50 priority research questions, identified by 467 participants from 54 countries #PeatQuest #Peatlands www.nature.com/articles/s43...
Peatland landscape with scattered trees
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Alice Milner @alicemmilner.bsky.social · 28/04/2026
We've written a piece for @uk.theconversation.com accompanying our #PeatQuest study identifying priority questions in #peatland science, explaining how the questions aren't just technical priorities, but encompass communities, livelihoods, power and fairness. theconversation.com/peatlands-ar...
theconversation.com
Peatlands are vital for tackling climate change, yet scientists still haven’t found them all
Peatlands are central to climate change, yet basic questions remain unanswered. A global research community has mapped out what we most urgently need to know.
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Mike Shewring @mikeshewring.bsky.social · 27/04/2026
Excellent!! Will the trial methods be publicly available?
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Mike Shewring @mikeshewring.bsky.social · 27/04/2026
Peatland restoration has been tripled to 1,800ha/year with no feedback for evaluating whether any of it works (especially for biodiversity). Capital spend without a learning loop, written into national policy. www.gov.wales/nature-recov...
gov.wales
Nature recovery action plan: 2026 [HTML] | GOV.WALES
Our framework to embed and drive long term nature recovery in Wales.
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Mike Shewring @mikeshewring.bsky.social · 27/04/2026
The Welsh Government's own Nature Recovery Action Plan 2026 is telling. There's a whole aim on 'evidence and monitoring' — but it's almost entirely about tracking species status and reporting against targets.
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Mike Shewring @mikeshewring.bsky.social · 27/04/2026
Perhaps as a result of this there is also a capacity issue and an over reliance on expert knowledge (which is not the same thing as evidence). Rather than building the knowledge of what works through identifying questions and testing solutions.
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Mike Shewring @mikeshewring.bsky.social · 27/04/2026
So why don’t we see more of this in Wales? If you can name such a project, please tell me! I’m struggling. I think the focus of funding from Welsh Government on capital expenditure coupled with the between year uncertainty in funding inhibits any long term evidence base building.
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