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Rob Yorke

@robyorke.bsky.social
1.6K followers 42 following 314 posts

environmental/rural commentator, curator, moderator, unaffiliated robyorke.co.uk/curate-convene-moder… | sharing research with a pithy twist and pic🧪

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Rob Yorke @robyorke.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
'rewetting forestry-drained temperate fens can lead to partial vegetation recovery and jump-start peat formation' besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.... #wetland #ecology 🧪
a stand of thicket stage Norway spruce
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Rob Yorke @robyorke.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
matching the hatch in a wild Welsh fish hunting habitat
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Rob Yorke @robyorke.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
hosting and moderating a conversation on nature restoration with Derek Gow and Ben Goldsmith at the Linnean Society after talk by the former (link to full session in comments) youtu.be/Zod85KFfjiM #environmental #dialogue
youtu.be
Ben Goldsmith and Derek Gow - in conversation, incl Q&A
YouTube video by Rob Yorke
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Rob Yorke @robyorke.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
my latest, if irregular, blog on …https://robyorke.co.uk/2026/09/what-people-think-not-what-they-say/
robyorke.co.uk
What people think, not what they say - Rob Yorke
post Wolf moon In my 60th year, after a couple of nights under snow and ice, I explore some of the thinking going on ‘out there’. Even if this might complicate my argument or challenge my prejudices, ...
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Rob Yorke @robyorke.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
patchy prescribed fires in Brazil can enhance habitat heterogeneity for bees besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.... #Conservation #Ecology 🧪
a patchy prescribed burn in Wales, not Brazil 
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Rob Yorke @robyorke.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
oiling eggs of an increasingly common corvid enables grouse species of conservation concern to rebound #conservation #ecology 🧪 wildlife.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
wildlife.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
TWS Journals
We oiled and sham-oiled raven nests across 7 sites in the Great Basin to measure the effects of egg-oiling on co-occurring populations of ravens and sage-grouse. Oiling raven eggs ended embryonic dev...
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Rob Yorke @robyorke.bsky.social · 25/07/2026
beaver habitat and migratory* fish in Scotland (*salmon and eels) besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... #river #ecology 🧪
beaver gnawed trees in Devon, UK
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Rob Yorke @robyorke.bsky.social · 14/07/2026
opportunities for land practitioners to deliver nature without a prescriptive protected land designation #30by30 #OECMs #NatureRestoration
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Rob Yorke @robyorke.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
slugging it out .... 'in strip cropping fields in slug-prone areas, potential slug-source crops should be spatially separated from slug-sensitive crops' besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.... #farmland #ecology 🧪
strips of tulips within Dutch fields viewed through a rail carriage window, with reflection of the internal lights of the carriage)
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Rob Yorke @robyorke.bsky.social · 25/06/2026
want nature in protected areas? 30x30 OECMs etc don't ‘parachute’ in with your ideas support locals to ‘pilot’ research on their lands besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.... #human #wildlife #ecology 🧪
besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
Parachutes, partnerships and pilots: Indigenous people re‐setting research in a jointly managed protected area
We make 10 general recommendations to foster equitable and inclusive research collaborations centred on Indigenous-led partnerships, applicable across a range of contexts.
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Rob Yorke @robyorke.bsky.social · 22/06/2026
a distraction a spotted flycatcher in awe of mate's waste disposal skills #ornithology #birds
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Rob Yorke @robyorke.bsky.social · 18/06/2026
farmers 'prefer' environmental works perceived to directly support farming - such as soil quality and water availability - rather than indirect benefits to climate etc i.e. framing matters and avoid jargon #farmer #ecology 🧪 besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
an agricultural irrigator in a field of sunflowers in southern France
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Rob Yorke @robyorke.bsky.social · 12/06/2026
"We present convincing evidence that biodiversity offsetting, if implemented well, can be an effective tool for pollinator biodiversity conservation" besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... #grassland #ecology 🧪
hoverfly on leaf of a broad bean plant adjacent to broad bean flowers
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Rob Yorke @robyorke.bsky.social · 10/06/2026
on landscape fire management "actively engage with complexity and uncertainty whilst highlighting areas of agreement" besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... #landscape #ecology 🧪
a wildfire in bracken and heather with larch trees in the foreground on Sugar Loaf mountain, south Wales, UK. Pic credit: George Foster
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Rob Yorke @robyorke.bsky.social · 06/06/2026
the joy of wildlife in wild bleak UK places – indulge me, turn the volume up, 60th #environmental #dialogue
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Rob Yorke @robyorke.bsky.social · 28/05/2026
'Traditional restoration often focuses on indicator species, but inclusion of all species may drive a greater ecosystem complexity' besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... #nature #restoration 🧪
cattle grazing in a permanent pasture grass field, with herbs and orchids, within a wider landscape of woodland, hedges, clumps of trees, bracken and open upland heath
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Rob Yorke @robyorke.bsky.social · 22/05/2026
establishing woodland and deer / let them nibble a few trees besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.... [spot the roe deer in the Black Mountains, south Wales, UK] #woodland #wildlife #ecology 🧪
hawthorn, holly and mountain ash trees scattered on a dead-brown bracken hillside in south Wales with flowering bluebells and a roe deer standing in the centre of the picture
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Rob Yorke @robyorke.bsky.social · 15/05/2026
on white-tailed eagles, ecology of fear, red kites, and more my 140th environmental letter published in The Times today a related blog, revised robyorke.co.uk/2015/07/rapt... #wildlife #ecology 🧪
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Rob Yorke @robyorke.bsky.social · 14/05/2026
that was great fun testing ways to curate dynamic interactive diverse panellist/audience moderated discussions on nature restoration at the Linnean Society #environmental #dialogue
Charlie Burrell, Amanda Anderson, Jake Fiennes seated as panellists / with Rob Yorke, standing as moderator in the Linnean Society The audience seated in the Linnean Society assembly room being addressed by the CEO of the Linnean SocTwo volunteers manoeuvring audience mics around the seated audience
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Rob Yorke @robyorke.bsky.social · 07/05/2026
when large mammals bounce back ‘how to minimize these conflicts in the context of rural depopulation through non-lethal approaches, managed hunting and understanding the human dimensions’ besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.... #human #ecology 🧪
besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
Large mammal recovery in the wake of human population decline
Human depopulation, particularly in rural areas, has contributed to the recovery of some large mammal populations. While recovery is generally good news for conservation, it can also lead to human-wi....
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Rob Yorke @robyorke.bsky.social · 24/04/2026
I look forward to moderating this nature restoration Assembly next week @linneansociety.bsky.social members.linnean.org/events/699dd... #Environmental #Dialogue
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Rob Yorke @robyorke.bsky.social · 15/04/2026
a panel session discussion at a farming conference on the use of glyphosate [herbicide] within regenerative agriculture and land management practices orfc.org.uk/session/resi... #farming #ecology 🧪
an ecologist in full PPP spraying herbicide via a knapsack sprayer to kill grass to prevent great crested newts from climbing over a newt fence erected around a development site set within open countryside in Bedfordshire, UK
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Rob Yorke @robyorke.bsky.social · 26/03/2026
use all the farming practice tools to head towards 'nature positive' agriculture not just the obvious agroecological ones (see full text of Target 10 under the Global Biodiversity Framework adopted at COP15) www.nature.com/articles/s44... #farming #nature 🧪
field-scale wide drip water irrigator spread across a desiccated maize field in south west France with woodland in the background
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Rob Yorke @robyorke.bsky.social · 18/03/2026
keep experimenting with trees / agroforestry, silvo-pasture / especially as it’s often not as easy as it’s made out to be #environmental #dialogue
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Rob Yorke @robyorke.bsky.social · 10/03/2026
extensively grazed cattle improve grass and wildflower diversity in upland calcareous areas besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/... caveat: social science and funding required to nudge cultural farming switch from sheep #farming #ecology 🧪
cattle standing in green bracken with some trees and a mountain in the background, South Wales, UK
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Rob Yorke @robyorke.bsky.social · 27/02/2026
curlews calling in the English uplands (Forest of Bowland) 📢 up! #ornithology
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Rob Yorke @robyorke.bsky.social · 20/02/2026
be realistic - more gritty, less cute - on "interrogating how idealisations of ‘how nature should look’" besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/... #rewilding #socialscience 🧪
extract from a rewilding the uplands graphic showing what seems to be a wild cat kitten staring at a marbled white butterfly, blueberries, heather and a yellow wagtail in the foreground with grazing deer, roads, fields, woodland, trees, housing, river and a lake in the background
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Rob Yorke @robyorke.bsky.social · 16/02/2026
an experimental woodland, in under 60 seconds, at 14 years old with song thrush and woodcock, to boot context > robyorke.co.uk/2018/04/natu...
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Rob Yorke @robyorke.bsky.social · 11/02/2026
diverse farmland landscapes provide for healthier soils besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.... #farmland #ecology 🧪
farmland bird feeder in hedge-line alongside a grass/mixed species headland and infield crop of oil seed rape in Leicestershire, UK
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Rob Yorke @robyorke.bsky.social · 05/02/2026
Kielder forest provides a reservoir of roe deer of huge cull proportions
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Rob Yorke @robyorke.bsky.social · 02/02/2026
'increased mowing frequency of productive grass verges may benefit arthropods' convenient for beetles, inconvenient for #NoMowMay campaigns besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.... #wildlife #conservation 🧪
a bright green coloured thick-legged flower beetle on a yellow buttercup with a backdrop of blurred grass
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Rob Yorke @robyorke.bsky.social · 28/01/2026
resilience of nature land abandonment natural regeneration of trees stranded asset semantics, how you frame it, matters #environmental #dialogue
a tree growing around an unused circular metal fodder feeder for livestock with other trees growing on ex-pasture
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Rob Yorke @robyorke.bsky.social · 22/01/2026
what I do - my specialist skill hosting environmental and rural in-person events robyorke.co.uk/track-ii-com... #Environmental #Dialogue
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Rob Yorke @robyorke.bsky.social · 20/01/2026
recurring fire can mitigate negative effects of invasive grasses and create conditions favourable for oak regeneration in temperate deciduous forests besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.... #woodland #conservation 🧪
a controlled fire burning grassland with oak trees in the background, UK
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Rob Yorke @robyorke.bsky.social · 17/01/2026
on nature-rich hotspots, gardening, farming, rewilding and breakfast my letter published in the Financial Times #environmental #dialogue
a copy of a letter in the financial times
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Rob Yorke @robyorke.bsky.social · 16/01/2026
chilly badger's impact on breeding lapwing in rough farmland nsojournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/... #wildlife #conservation 🧪
blurred cameratrap picture of a badger at night
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Rob Yorke @robyorke.bsky.social · 12/01/2026
if you want woodland and forestry, lean-in towards planting a resilient diversity of tree species a paywall-free version of statements from the Chair of the Forestry Commission and the Chair of Natural England robyorke.co.uk/wp-content/u... #trees #socialscience 🧪
a screengrab of a piece in the Sunday Times in Jan 2026 with the headline 'Trees are a national security issue. We are not planting enough'
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Rob Yorke @robyorke.bsky.social · 09/01/2026
if you want nature, engage with agriculture, honestly - a provocation from a set of old (90 yrs) and new (16 yrs) UK farming conferences in Oxford [ford of the oxen] #farming #food #nature
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Rob Yorke @robyorke.bsky.social · 07/01/2026
farmers / land managers - reclaim your ponds as places of water within the landscape #land #conservation #management
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Rob Yorke @robyorke.bsky.social · 31/12/2025
'the recognition of reality is the beginning of wisdom' a blog for 2026 on stuff learnt from a broad-church 'field intel' trip robyorke.co.uk/2025/12/norw... #environmental #dialogue
robyorke.co.uk
Nor'west by east field intel - Rob Yorke
An invite to the far east meant an opportunity to head north to garner ‘field intel’ on what going on ‘out there’. Mainly in pictures, as the word content would take up too much space. [spoiler, as ev...
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Rob Yorke @robyorke.bsky.social · 24/12/2025
seasonal greetings and goodwill to all resilient rural communities, remote, close and beyond
a man carrying a Norway spruce grown and harvested from his 13 year old woodland, to be placed in a local church - Patricio  - way up in the Black Mountains, south Wales
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Rob Yorke @robyorke.bsky.social · 18/12/2025
closer scrutiny of woodland creation in relation to breeding wading birds of conservation concern within open landscapes besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.... #wildlife #conservation 🧪
lapwing on grazed pasture in north Kent, Elmley
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Rob Yorke @robyorke.bsky.social · 11/12/2025
pine marten prefer pine woodland, in the loosest of terms, though best connected to other suitable habitat besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.... #wildlife #conservation 🧪
Scots pine and birch trees with understory of rhododendron and bracken in East Anglia
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Rob Yorke @robyorke.bsky.social · 04/12/2025
30 sec snapshot of what I learn on my ‘field intel’ trips in off-beat places observing rural/environmental landscapes as they evolve #Environmental #Dialogue
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Rob Yorke @robyorke.bsky.social · 30/11/2025
on ‘field intel’ manoeuvres – finding out what people really think rather than what they say #Environmental #Dialogue
a person (rob yorke) looking through a pair of binoculars A screenshot showing a road trip route around west north and east England and south ScotlandA picture of a sign saying Terras Valley Nature reserve, previously known as Langholm Moor, in South West ScotlandA person standing next to a sign at the research demonstration farm run by the game and wildlife conservation trust
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Rob Yorke @robyorke.bsky.social · 15/11/2025
on swifts, insects, sparrows and nest sites my letter in The Times today with some backstory/context bills.parliament.uk/bills/3946/s... #ornithology #ecosystems 🧪
a screenshot of letter on swifts from The Times
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Rob Yorke @robyorke.bsky.social · 12/11/2025
Retaining red grouse moor management at lower intensities could mean declines in moorland species [such as golden plover] would be weaker than predicted besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.... #moorland #ecology 🧪
a golden plover in the Black Mountains, south Wales
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Rob Yorke @robyorke.bsky.social · 06/11/2025
if we want diversely structured woodlands, then we have to deal with Bambi (via carnivore or copper-tip) besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.... @britishecologicalsociety.org #woodland #ecology 🧪
besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
Light and ungulate browsing interact in shaping future woody plant diversity through natural regeneration
Our results provide strong evidence that in the current context of increasing tree mortality and subsequent light availability, roe deer act as a keystone species. It is crucial to implement browsing...
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Rob Yorke @robyorke.bsky.social · 03/11/2025
urban pressure and agriculture : based on the British beef cattle industry and including this quote “I do not want to see, and we will not have, U.S.-style farming in this country” from a past Defra Sec of State academic.oup.com/erae/advance... #agriculture #socialscience 🧪
a Hereford beef cow in a pasture field with a woodland and hillside as a backdrop framed within a timber field gate in Walesan explanatory panel referring to biotech and ecology at the Science Museum's temporary exhibition 'Future of Food', in Londonan exhibit at the Science Museum's temporary exhibition 'Future of Food', in London asking 'would you eat cell-grown meat?'
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Rob Yorke @robyorke.bsky.social · 30/10/2025
forget honey: bears just want to dig out armies of calorific moths wildlife.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1... (pity not open access, as sure to contain a breadth of splendidly obscure grizzly detail) #wildlife #biology 🧪
wildlife.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
TWS Journals
Grizzly bears (Ursus arctos) in the interior of North America have a wide dietary breadth. One key resource, army cutworm moths (Euxoa auxiliaris), migrate from the central plains to aggregate within...
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